Mount Kailash (6,638 m, 21,778 ft), Kang Rinpoche to Tibetans, is the sacred mountain of four religions — Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and followers of Bön — and a mountain that nobody has ever climbed. It rises as a snow-capped, almost symmetrical pyramid in the far west of Tibet, China, near the borders with India and Nepal, above the holy Lake Manasarovar and close to the sources of the Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra and Karnali. Climbing it is forbidden.
Instead, pilgrims walk around it. The kora, a circuit of about 52 km starting and ending in the village of Darchen (4,670 m), crosses the Drolma La pass at about 5,630 m and usually takes three days; some pilgrims walk it in a single day, and the most devout cover it in body-length prostrations. Foreigners can visit only on an organised tour with Tibet permits, and Indian pilgrims travel on a government-run yatra via the Lipulekh or Nathu La passes.
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Kailash is not famous for its height — at 6,638 m it is far lower than the Himalayan giants to the south — but for what it means. Hindus revere it as the home of Shiva, Buddhists as the centre of the universe, Jains as the place where their first teacher reached liberation, and followers of Tibet's old Bön religion as the soul of their faith. Every year thousands of pilgrims walk around it, and none of them sets foot on its slopes: climbing is forbidden, and there is no recorded ascent.
The mountain also sits at a remarkable place on the map. The sources of four great rivers of South Asia — the Indus, the Sutlej, the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) and the Karnali, a tributary of the Ganges — all lie within about 60 km of it, and at its foot lie two large lakes, the freshwater Manasarovar and the saline Rakshastal. This geography is one reason why Kailash was identified with Mount Meru, the mythical mountain at the centre of the world, from which four rivers flow in the four directions.
Kailash stands in the Gangdise range (also called the Kailash Range) of the Transhimalaya, on the western Tibetan Plateau, in Burang (Purang) County of Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, just north of the point where China, India and Nepal meet. The plateau around it lies at more than 4,500 m, and the mountain rises well above everything nearby. Its shape is what pilgrims remember: a four-sided, snow-capped pyramid with faces turned almost exactly to the cardinal points. On the south face a long vertical cleft crossed by horizontal bands of rock is seen as a swastika, an ancient symbol of permanence in Bön and Buddhism.
The mountain is built of thick conglomerate resting on granite; the conglomerate is visible from about 4,700 m to the summit. The height of 6,638 m is the modern figure; older maps give 6,714 m, and a popular claim that Kailash is exactly 6,666 m high has no basis in survey data.
Hinduism. Kailash is the abode of Shiva, who sits in meditation on the summit with his consort Parvati and their sons Ganesha and Kartikeya. The epics Ramayana and Mahabharata mention it, and one well-known story tells how the demon king Ravana tried to shake the mountain and was pinned under it when Shiva pressed down with his toe.
Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhists call it Kang Rinpoche, "precious snow jewel", see it as the earthly form of Mount Meru and associate it with the deity Demchok (Chakrasamvara). Lake Manasarovar is the mother to the mountain's father.
Jainism. For Jains the mountain is Ashtapada, where Rishabhadeva, the first Tirthankara, attained liberation.
Bön. In Bön it is Yungdrung Gutseg, the "nine-storey swastika mountain", the spiritual centre of the ancient kingdom of Zhang Zhung, where the founder Tonpa Shenrab descended from heaven. Bön pilgrims walk around it anticlockwise; Hindus, Buddhists and Jains go clockwise.
In 1926 the British official Hugh Ruttledge walked around the mountain, judged it utterly unclimbable, and explored its north-east ridge with Colonel R. C. Wilson, who was turned back by heavy snow after his Sherpa suggested the south-east ridge. When the Austrian Herbert Tichy asked in 1936 whether Kailash could be climbed, a local official answered that only a man entirely free of sin could do it — and he would simply turn into a bird and fly to the top. In the mid-1980s the Chinese government offered Reinhold Messner a chance to climb it; he declined, saying that conquering this mountain would mean conquering something in people's souls. In 2001 a Spanish team was refused permission after worldwide protests, and the authorities declared all climbing on Kailash strictly prohibited. Setting foot on its slopes is forbidden as well.
The circuit, called kora by Tibetans and parikrama by Hindus, is about 52–53 km long. Hindus believe it washes away sins; Tibetan tradition holds that one circuit cleanses the sins of a lifetime, that 108 circuits bring enlightenment, that thirteen circuits open the shorter inner kora closer to the mountain, and that in the Tibetan Year of the Horse each circuit counts several times over. Most visitors take three days; some pilgrims walk it in one long push, and the most devout make it in full-body prostrations, which takes about three weeks.
The Indian government's 2026 yatra itinerary gives a good picture of the standard three days:
The path is a well-worn trail without technical difficulty, but the altitude makes every step slow, and snow and ice can cover the Drolma La even in summer. Monasteries and simple guesthouses stand at Dirapuk and Zutulpuk; prayer flags, stupas and praying stations line the way. Yaks and ponies with local handlers can carry luggage or riders; for Indian yatris in 2026 the official rates were RMB 990 for a porter and RMB 2,370 for a pony with handler, both ways, subject to revision by local authorities. The biggest crowds come for the Buddhist festival of Saga Dawa, when thousands of pilgrims and tourists gather at the mountain.
South of Kailash lies Lake Manasarovar, in Tibetan Mapam Yumtso, at about 4,600 m: a round freshwater lake of about 320 km² with a circumference of 88 km and a depth of up to 100 m, often described as one of the highest freshwater lakes in the world. Hindus take a ritual bath in it and drink its water before the kora, and many pilgrims also walk or drive around it, a circuit of about 90 km. To the west a natural channel, the Ganga Chhu, carries its overflow to Rakshastal, the "lake of the demon", a saline lake that Buddhists see as darkness to Manasarovar's light.
Kailash is extremely remote, and there are four main overland approaches:
The nearest airport is Ngari Gunsa (4,274 m, opened in 2010), about 90 km from Ali; Darchen is a full day's drive, about 330 km, from Ali on the paved G219. Darchen itself, also called Tarchen or Kangsa, is a small settlement with guesthouses, restaurants, shops and a Tibetan medical institute. For almost 300 years until 1959 it was an enclave of Bhutan.
Foreign visitors. Independent travel is not allowed. You need a Chinese visa and a Tibet Travel Permit, which only a Tibet-based travel agency can obtain, and only as part of a guided tour with a guide and private transport for your entire stay in Tibet. The permit can be applied for about 20 days before the trip and usually takes 8–9 days. Western Tibet also requires an Alien's Travel Permit issued by the Public Security Bureau and a military permit for the border zone; agencies arrange both. Coming from Nepal you need a Chinese group tourist visa issued in Kathmandu after a confirmed, paid tour. Permits are checked many times, for example at Saga, Paryang and Darchen, where pilgrims also have them stamped and buy the ticket for the kora. Agencies bundle permits, fees, transport and lodging into one price; Tibet can close to foreigners at short notice, so keep plans flexible.
Indian pilgrims. The Ministry of External Affairs organises the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra from June to August. It is open only to Indian citizens (OCI card holders are not eligible) aged 18 to 70, with a body-mass index of 25 or less; selection is by computerised draw, with priority for first-timers, and applicants must pass medical tests at the Delhi Heart and Lung Institute and the ITBP base hospital in New Delhi. In 2026 there were ten batches on each route: via Lipulekh, about 22 days at an estimated ₹2.09 lakh per person; via Nathu La, about 21 days at ₹3.31 lakh. Part of that, US$1,400 (Lipulekh) or US$2,700 (Nathu La), is paid in Tibet for lodging, transport and entry tickets. The Lipulekh route runs from Dharchula past Gunji (3,160 m, with a second medical check) and Nabhidhang (4,260 m) over the pass to Purang (3,940 m). The yatra was suspended from 2020 and resumed in 2025; Nepal objects to the use of Lipulekh, which lies in territory it claims.
The season runs from May to September. April to June is fairly dry, with daytime temperatures of about 5–17 °C and nights of 0–6 °C; the monsoon brings rain and cold winds from late June to August, and landslides can block the roads between Saga, Purang and Gyirong. It gets colder from October; in winter daytime temperatures stay around −4 to 0 °C and nights fall to about −20 °C, with January the coldest month. Weather changes fast at this altitude: sun can turn to snow within an hour, especially near the Drolma La.
Bottled water is sold in Darchen and around Lake Manasarovar, but supplies are limited, and there are no shops along the kora itself. The monasteries and guesthouses at Dirapuk and Zutulpuk serve hot butter tea or sweet tea and simple meals such as noodles and potatoes, so you can refill there. If you take water from streams, treat it with tablets or a filter. Carry at least two litres for the long second day over the Drolma La; the dry air makes you lose water fast, and drinking enough helps with the altitude.
Mobile coverage around Kailash is patchy, and electricity in guesthouses may be rationed, so keep devices charged and carry a power bank. Do not rely on a signal along the whole kora, and tell your guide your plans. Emergency numbers in China, free from mobile phones: 110 (police), 120 (ambulance) and 119 (fire). Your guide is the practical first contact in an emergency.
Altitude is the main risk. Darchen lies at 4,670 m and the Drolma La at more than 5,600 m, and acute mountain sickness, pulmonary oedema and cerebral oedema can strike even fit travellers. Spend several days acclimatising, for example in Lhasa, walk slowly and descend if symptoms grow worse. Medical care is limited to small clinics in Saga, Purang and Darchen; serious cases must be evacuated to Lhasa, Kathmandu or India, and the Indian government warns that evacuation from the Chinese side can take time. Its doctors also note that young people aged 19–30 and those returning for a second or third time are often more prone to altitude illness than first-timers. Western Tibet is seismically active, and landslides and floods close roads in the rainy season.
The Sanskrit name Kailasa may come from kelasa, "crystal". Tibetans call the mountain Kang Rinpoche or Gang Tise. Pilgrimage here is very old, but its modern history follows politics: India's right to send pilgrims was guaranteed by a 1954 agreement with China, restricted after the 1959 Tibetan uprising and ended by the border closure after the 1962 war. Pilgrimage from India resumed in 1981, a second route via Nathu La opened in 2015, and after the pandemic pause the yatra returned in 2025. Many shrines along the kora were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. In 2003 the Chinese government began work on a road around the kora, but stopped it in 2004 after international protests.
How high is Mount Kailash? 6,638 m (21,778 ft). Older maps give 6,714 m; the popular figure of 6,666 m is a myth.
Can you climb Mount Kailash? No. Climbing is prohibited for religious reasons, and no ascent has ever been recorded. Visitors walk around it instead.
How long is the Kailash kora? About 52–53 km from Darchen and back, usually walked in three days, with the Drolma La (about 5,630 m) on the second day.
How difficult is the kora? Not technical, but hard because of altitude: you sleep at about 5,060 m at Dirapuk and cross a pass above 5,600 m. Good acclimatisation is essential; ponies and porters can be hired.
Can foreigners visit Kailash? Yes, but only on an organised tour with a licensed Tibetan agency, which arranges the Tibet Travel Permit, Alien's Travel Permit and military permit; independent travel is not allowed.
How much does the pilgrimage cost? For Indian citizens on the 2026 government yatra, about ₹2.09 lakh via Lipulekh or ₹3.31 lakh via Nathu La per person. Foreigners pay a tour price set by the agency, which includes permits and kora fees.
Is there water on the kora? No shops on the circuit, but the guesthouses at Dirapuk and Zutulpuk serve tea and meals; buy bottled water in Darchen and treat stream water.
Is there mobile coverage? Patchy; do not count on a signal everywhere on the kora. Emergency numbers are 110, 120 and 119.
When is the best time to go? May to September; April to June is drier, while the monsoon from late June to August brings rain and possible road closures.
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