MY DREAM - VISIT TO MANASAROVAR

MY DREAM - VISIT TO MANASAROVAR

Lake Manasarovar

Manasarovar
Location	Tibet
Coordinates	30°40′00″N 81°30′00″E 30°40′00″N 81°30′00″E
Surface area	410 km2 (160 sq mi)
Max. depth	90 m (300 ft)
Surface elevation	4,590 m (15,060 ft)
Frozen	Winter

Lake Manasarovar or Manasa Sarovar/Lake Manas, is a freshwater lake in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China 940 kilometres (580 mi) from Lhasa. To the west of Lake Manasarovar is Lake Rakshastal; toward the north is Mount Kailash.

Geography

Lake Manasarovar lies at 4,590 metres (15,060 ft) above mean sea level, a relatively high elevation for a large freshwater lake on the mostly saline lake-studded Tibetan Plateau. Despite claims to the contrary, there are hundreds of higher freshwater lakes in the world, including a larger and higher freshwater lake at 4,941 metres (16,211 ft) above sea level and 495 km² in size, Angpa Tso (East Chihpuchang Hu), further east on the Tibetan Plateau at 33-24N 90-17E. The largest freshwater lake of its size (290 km²) over 5000 meters elevation is Pumoyong Tso (Pumuoyong Tso), also on the Tibetan Plateau, at 28-34N 90-24E and 5,018 metres (16,463 ft) elevation.

Lake Manasarovar is relatively round in shape with the circumference of 88 kilometres (55 mi). Its depth reaches a maximum depth of 90 m (300 ft) and its surface area is 320 square kilometres (120 sq mi). It is connected to nearby Lake Rakshastal by the natural Ganga Chhu channel. Manasarovar is near the source of the Sutlej River which is the easternmost large tributary of the Indus. Nearby are the sources of the Brahmaputra River, the Indus River, and the Karnali River (Ghaghara), an important tributary of the Ganges River.

Religious significance

View from Chiu Gompa

Satellite view of lakes Manasarovar (right) and Rakshastal with Mount Kailash in the background

In Hinduism

As per Hindu theology, Lake Manasa Sarovar is a personification of purity, and one who drinks water from the lake will go to the Abode of Lord Shiva after death. He is believed to be cleansed of all his sins committed over even a hundred lifetimes.

Like Mount Kailash, Lake Manasa Sarovar is a place of pilgrimage, attracting religious people from India, Nepal, Tibet and the neighboring countries. Bathing in the Manasa Sarovar and drinking its water is believed to cleanse all sins. Pilgrimage tours are organized regularly, especially from India, the most famous of which is the Kailash Manasa Sarovar Yatra which takes place every year. Pilgrims come to take ceremonial baths in the cleansing waters of the lake.

Manasasarovar lake has long been viewed by the pilgrims as being nearby to the sources of four of the greatest rivers of Asia, namely the Brahmaputra, Karnali, Indus and Sutlej. Thus it is an axial point which has been thronged to by pilgrims for thousands of years. The region was initially closed to pilgrims from the outside; no foreigners were allowed between 1949 and 1980. After the 1980s it has again become a part of the Indian pilgrim trail.

According to the Hindu religion, the lake was first created in the mind of the Lord Brahma after which it manifested on Earth. Hence, in Sanskrit it is called "Manas sarovara", which is a combination of the words manas (mind) and sarovara (lake). The lake, in Hindu religious belief, is also supposed to be the summer abode of the Hamsa goose. Considered to be sacred, the Hamsa is an important element in the symbology of the subcontinent, representing wisdom and beauty.

In Buddhism

Buddhists also associate the lake with the legendary lake known as Anavatapta in Sanskrit and Anotatta in Pali, where Queen Maya is believed to have conceived Buddha. The lake has a few monasteries on its shores, the most notable of which is the ancient Chiu Gompa Monastery built on a steep hill, looking as if it has been carved right out of the rock. The lake is very popular in Buddhist literature and associated with many teachings and stories in Buddhism. Lord Buddha, it is reported, stayed and meditated near this lake on several occasions. Buddhists say that famous Uturu-kuru divaina (island or mountain range) was nearby the Anavatapta vila. However, more evidence shows that Uturu-kuru divaina was the Kuril Islands Kuril Islands, as the Sanskrit meaning of Uturu-kuru is Northern-men as Kur meaning man, in the Ainu language. Lake Manasarovar is also the subject of the meditative Tibetan tradition, "The Jewel Tree of Tibet". A modern narration and description of the meditation was made popular by Robert Thurman.