The Meru of Mahabharata Era –

Dr Uday Dokras

[1] Let’s look for Meru upon the pages of Mahabharata and

let’s see what this great epic has to say about this topographical entity. It may be noted that
we have already, though cursorily, proposed the Bhubaneswar Model of Meru Parvata in the
Article “Scenario : The Sida River of Buddha Era”, one of the series “Easternization and The
Brown Arya”. So, our findings on Meru upon the pages of Mahabharata would have to be
seen with reference to this Meru Model as well.

Firstly, we shall lay down the actual Mahabharata-Meru findings one by one along with some
collateral classical and/or plausibly-historical information, and short remarks, if necessary,
which will be later reflected upon and analyzed in steps, in order to elicit surer historical
implications and inferences.

[2] In Mahabharata Khanda-1 / Adi Parva / Adhyaya-17 / Sloka-5-6, Ugrashrava replies

Saunaka’s certain question thus :

“There is a radiant mountain, named Meru, shining uniquely, reflecting sun’s rays upon own
bright golden peaks. This mountain, that thus looks to be adorned with golden ornaments, is
inhabited by Devas and Gandharvas. Its extents are immeasurable and happens to be a region
where no impious person can really stay on.”

In Sloka-7-8, he further tells Saunaka about this mountain :

“Snakes and divine medicinal plants are plentiful in this region. The latter adds to its beauty.
The Meru Mountain covers (includes) Svarga. It remains unthinkable (unreachable) for
common men. This tract is crossed by several rivers and endowed with thick plantations. Its
natural beauty includes great flocks of twittering birds of numerous species.”

In Sloka-9 he further adds :

“Its peaks are ingrained with jewels.”

[3] In Mahabharata Khanda-1 / Adi Parva / Adhyaya-62 / Sloka-48, Mahabharata is being

extolled as the receptacle of gem-like matters through analogies which describe Ocean and
Meru as great sources of gems. It is a revelation about Meru’s status with respect to wealth.

[4] In Mahabharata Khanda-1 / Adi Parva / Adhyaya-85 / Sloka-7-10, King Yayati is seen
romancing with Visvachi, an Apsaras (race). The Alaka Puri (palace) and the mount on the
northern part of Meru were their favorite meeting places. It may be noted that Yayati was an
ancestor of the Pandavas.

[5] In Mahabharata Khanda-1 / Adi Parva / Adhyaya-99 / Sloka-5-7, Ganga tells Santanu, her
husband that Vasistha, aka Apava, son of Varuna had his Ashram upon Meru, the Mountain
King. She also describes the attractive characteristics of the Ashram. These were abundance
of deers, variegated birds, all-season flowers, fruits, roots and water.

It may be noted that Vasistha “is one of the oldest and most revered Vedic rishis. He is one of
the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis) of Ancient India. Vasishtha is credited as the chief author
of Mandala 7 of Rigveda. Vasishtha and his family are mentioned in Rigvedic verse 10.167.4

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and in other Rigvedic mandalas and in many Vedic texts. … Yoga Vasishtha, Vasishtha
Samhita, as well as some versions of the Agni Purana and Vishnu Purana are attributed to
him” [wikipedia].

[6] In Mahabharata Khanda-1 / Adi Parva / Adhyaya-175 / Sloka-45, Vasishtha is seen

jumping off the peak of Meru in a suicidal bid, though the rocky fall-point turns as soft as
cotton for him. Vasishtha had acceded to such a severe mental state following death of his
sons at the hand of King Visvamitra.

It may be noted that “Brahmarshi Vishvamitra is one of the most venerated rishis or sages of
ancient India. He is also credited as the author of most of Mandala 3 of the Rigveda,
including Gayatri Mantra. … Vishvamitra was originally a king, also called Kaushika
(descendant of Kusha) and belonged to Amavasu Dynasty. He was the Chandravanshi
(Somavanshi) King of Kanyakubja. He was a valiant warrior and the great-grandson of a
great king named Kusha (a brainchild of Brahma, father of Kushabhadra and grandfather of
Gaadhi.” [wikipedia]

[7] In Mahabharata Khanda-3 / Vana Parva / Adhyaya-82 / Sloka-111, Pulastya tells Bhishma
about Vinasana Tirtha, where River Sarasvati flows upon the breast/ surface of Meru (Meru-
Prishtha) “latently”.

This fact about this great river contradicts and undoes the rumor that “Sarasvati dried up in a
desert”.

In Sloka-112, the narration on Sarasvati is extended to include the facts that the Tirthas of
Chamasodveda, Shivodveda and Nagodveda are situated upon this river. In Sloka-113,
Nagodveda Tirtha has been connected to Nagaloka insofar as ablution at his site situated
upon Sarasvati would facilitate a believer’s accession to Naga-Loka.

Consideration of this possible connection is important in view of the fact that Naga-Loka is
likely to emerge through further discussion as a real geographical site of historical
importance.

The other mentions about Sarasvati in the same Parva need to be noted as these are too
important clues to Meru’s topology. Sloka-60-61 of the same Parva talks about the Tirtha
incident at the confluence of Sarasvati and Sagara (Ocean). This Tirtha has been connected to
Svarga-Loka.

Like Naga-Loka, Svarga-Loka too is likely to emerge through further discussion as a

geographical locality of great historical importance.

Slokas-114-116 describe the Shashayana Tirtha on Sarasvati which gathers special

importance on Kartika Purnima (Kartika Fullmoon Day). The story of Puskara Tirtha is
interlaced with this one inasmuch as the believers tend to be reminded of the outline of
Puskara by the marks on the full moon they witness at Shashayana on Karika Purnima.

Sloka-126 returns to Sarasvati Samgama, the confluence of Sarasvati and Sagar (Ocean), a
Tirtha, which is connected to special worship of Kesava (Krishna) in general and is related to
a special Tithi (calendar day), viz. Chaitra Sukla Chaturdashi (the 14th day of Bright
Fortnight of the month of Chaitra).

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We are noting down these bits of information for possible future use in settling Meru-
Sarasvati topology with respect to Bhubaneswar Model of Meru Parvata (Meru Mountain).

The following excerpts represent short classical descriptions of these two giant topological
elements of the ancient-most part of Modern India.

“Sarasvati River was one of the rivers mentioned in the Rig Veda and later Vedic and post-
Vedic texts. The Sarasvati River played an important role in Hinduism since Vedic Sanskrit.
The first part of the Rig Veda is believed to have originated when the Vedic people lived on
its banks.” [wikipedia]

“Mount Meru is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology
and is considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes.”
[wikipedia]

Coming back to the Parva-82, the sequence of the numerous Tirthas that Pulastya reckons
one by one and narrates before Bhishma couldn’t include ones separated by very great
distances. The style of narration implies that these Tirthas could belong to one geographical
domain of a diameter not exceeding a hundred miles or so.

We may take this opportunity to note down these Pulastya-enumerated Tirthas for future
reference. These are : Puskara, Jambumarga, Tandulika-ashram, Agastya Sarovara, Kanva-
ashram, Dharmaranya, Yayati-patana, Mahakala-tirtha, Koti-tirtha, Bhadra-vata, Narmada
River, Dakshina Samudra, Charmanvati River, Arbuda aka Himalaya-putra, Vasishtha-
ashram, Pinga-tirtha, Prabhasa-tirtha, Sarasvati Samgama aka Varuna-tirtha
(Samudra/Ocean), Varadana-tirtha, Dvaraka, Pindaraka-tirtha, Sindhu Samgama aka Varuna-
tirtha, Dami-tirtha, Vasudhara-tirtha, Sindhuttama-tirtha, Bhadratunga-tirtha, Shakra-
Kumarika-tirtha, Renuka-tirtha, Pancha-Nada-tirtha, Yoni-tirtha, Vimala-tirtha, Vitasta-tirtha,
Vadava-tirtha aka Sapta-Charu-tirtha, Maniman-tirtha, Devika-tirtha, Kama-tirtha, Dirgha-
Satra-tirtha, Vinasana-tirtha, Chamasodveda, Shivodveda, Nagodveda, Shashayana,
Kumarakoti-tirtha, Rudrakoti-tirtha.

Tracking down geographical locations of these Tirthas individually would help us improve
accuracy of positioning of erstwhile Meru upon Indian topography.

Out of this cluster of Tirthas, as many as six Tirthas, viz. Vinasan, Chamasodveda,
Shivodveda, Nagodveda, Shashayana and Sarasvati Samgama, fall along the length of
Sarasvati intercepted by Meru. Multilateral interlacing of the other Tirthas lurks in the finer
details, when available. Could the whole lot form a single cluster superposing Meru locality?

The two Tithis (calendar days of ceremonial observance), viz. Kartika Purnima (Fullmoon of
the month of Kartika) and Chaitra Sukla Chaturdasi (14th day of the bright fortnight of the
month of Chaitra), that we came across in the narrations about the various Tirthas are too
noteworthy. These could serve as clues in our endeavor to finetune the identity of Meru.

The Bhunaneswar Meru Model is heavily supported by at least the Kartika Purnima legacy.

The features of Meru that have surfaced in this section of our discussion invites Kuakhai-
Daya River of Bhubaneswar, a distributary of Mahanadi-Kathajodi River of Modern Odisha,
to be the erstwhile Sarasvati in the Bhubaneswar Model of Mount Meru. We are not in a
haste to conclude anything now. We shall continue to gather evidences.

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It is a cosmic mountain emerging from cosmic ocean Garbodaka. Vedic Scriptures clearly
state that it is there in the middle of Bhuloka planetary system but is not seen there. Mt. Meru
isn’t a physical mountain that can be seen with human eyes. Mt. Meru links Bhuloka to
Swarga Loka. All the heavenly bodies in the universe somehow revolve around Mt. Meru.

When Lord Shiva destroyed Tripur, Mt. Meru was his bow and serpent Vasuki his strings.

Mt. Meru is mostly described as five peaked mountain which are abode of devas. In modern
cosmology, Mt. Meru doesnot exist but is there in Jain, Buddhist and hindu Scriptures as a
mountain with height that is more than 80,000 yojans (75 times the earth’s diameter).

Meru Peak is a mountain that lies in the Garhwal Himalayas, in the Uttarakhand region
of India. It lies between Thalay Sagar and Shivling, and has some highly challenging routes.
The name "Meru" likely originated from Sanskrit word for spine, attributing to the shape of
the mountain. Meru (मेरु) means mountain is a sacred cosmological mountain with five
peaks in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the center of all the
physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes.Meru to which is added the approbatory prefix
su-, results in the meaning "Excellent Meru", "Wonderful Meru" or "Great Meru".

Many famous Hindu and similar Jain as well as Buddhist temples have been built as symbolic
representations of this mountain. The "Sumeru Throne" 座 xūmízuò style base is a common
feature of Chinese pagodas.
Mt. Meru is a shark Fin shape mountain located in gangotri valley. Mt. Meru is one of the
toughest mountain to climb on earth. The ratio of climbing attempt and successful climb is
very low. First of all you should reach gangotri and then from there you have have to trek to
mt. meru via Gomukh.

Mount Meru is the conceptual (spiritual)Centre of the universe in Indian Cosmology. As the
cosmic centre of the the physical(what we see and obsreve around us) Universe remains
unknown, so does the physical/geographical/astronomical/cosmological location of Mount
Meru. As it is a spiritual location, so it can be reached through sufficient spiritual endeavour.

Ancient scriptures say this :

Zoom in and you will see the Tortoise lifting the elephants and earth and the mountain
located on earth, on its back which itself is standing on the snake.

One description in the Vishnu Purana of the mountain states that its four faces are made of
crystal, ruby, gold, and lapis lazuli where can such minerals be found…Now lets see the
mountain itself on the right with the slops and the mountain depicting light probably sunlight
from the East. Lets see the modern Mt.Meru images from Google earth and few modern
images. The topography of Mount Meru and the Remote sensing satellite images :

To some one who has hiked Mt Meru and is standing on the West side facing East, the
summit would look exactly like the depiction in the scriptures specially during sun rise, Is it
me or do the images from space look like the entire mountain and crescent behind it is on a
green tortoise facing east towards sunrise, if you look at the google images the mountain
conveniently is pointing east with engineering precision. Ikt is said that in Hinduism the

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minor deities had to travel from one location to another to meet the three big/major gods and
had to spend time doing so therefore Mt.Meru really cannot be located in or near Kailash.

In the Indian Geographies, Meru Peak is a mountain that lies in the Garhwal Himalayas, in
the Uttarakhand region of India. It lies between Thalay Sagar and Shivling, and has some
highly challenging routes. The name "Meru" likely originated from Sanskrit word for spine,
attributing to the shape of the mountain. Mount Kailash:

Anyone knowing about Hinduism knows about Lord Shiva, Lord Bishnu and Lord
Brahma (TRIMURTI, three Deity of Hinduism) even though we mention the number of
Indian Gods and Goddess as 33 billion. Mount Kailash is sacred to Hindus, Jains, Budhists
and Bon religion. In Hindu mythology it has been referred to as abode of Lord Shiva.

It lies in Tibet (Kailash Range) near lake Rakas and Mansarovar. As far as question regarding
ascent of Kailash obviously reason is beyond human perception because Mt Everst (8850m)
has been climbed several times and Kailash despite being 6638m has never being climbed so
It can be inferred that a supernatural force is in play as testimony of many professional
climber also point in this direction.

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Hugh Ruttledge studied the north face, which he estimated was 6,000 ft (1,800 m) high and
"utterly unclimbable". Herbert Tichy when asked one of the Garpons of Ngari whether
Kailash was climbable, the Garpon replied, "Only a man entirely free of sin could climb
Kailash. And he wouldn't have to actually scale the sheer walls of ice to do it – he'd just turn
himself into a bird and fly to the summit."

According to ancient Tibetan legends and writings, “No mortal ever be allowed to walk atop
Mount Kailash, where, among the clouds, is the abode of the gods. He who dares to start the
top of Mount holy and see the faces of the gods will be put to death!”

1. Colonel Wilson, one of the many mountaineers who tried to climb the summit of
Mount Kailash explained, “Just when I discovered an easy walk to the summit of
the mountain, heavy snow began to fall, making the ascent impossible.”
2. Sergei Cistiakov, a Russian climber gives an explanation to not being able to finish
the summit which will stun you – “When we approached the foot of the mountain,
my heart was pounding. I was in front of the sacred mountain, Mount which says it
cannot be beat. I felt extremely emaciated and suddenly I became captivated by the
thought that I do not belong on this mountain, it must necessarily come back! As
soon as we started the descent, I felt liberated.”

Those who visit the area around the mountain have seen their nails and hair grow to a length
in 12 hours, which in normal conditions would happen in 2 weeks! The mountain has an air
that causes rapid ageing.

In 2001 Chinese govt. gave permission to a Spanish team to climb the peak, but in the face of
international disapproval the Chinese decided to ban all attempts to climb the mountain.

Some Russian scientists have studied the mountain to a great extent and have put forward an
idea that Mount Kailash could be a man-made pyramid, and might be the ultimate paranormal
phenomenon that connects all the other such monuments in the world where similar things
have been observed. It is believed to be the centre of this world-wide system. Mt. Kailash is
believed to be the Axis Mundi, literally the ‘Axis’ of the world that provides a connection
between the earth and heaven, between the physical world and the spiritual worlds, the
celestial centre of the world where heaven meets earth.

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According to legends a Tibetan Monk and mystic Milarepa is said to have climbed atop
mount Kailash around 900 years ago from now.Not everything in this world can be equated
with science and rationality, some phenomenons are beyond human reasoning.Those who
return from circumnavigatinh the Mountain a voyage called back from Mount Kailash
Parikrama, start by doing the outer kora, however, at Dirra Phuk we changed the plan and
managed to go to Charan Sparsh. Charan Sparsh is believed to be the nearest point of Kailash
one can go. Let us not discuss the religious and Political issues for which Mount Kailash is
difficult to climb in here; those aspects have already been addressed in other answers.

One of the main reasons why we chose to go to Charan Sparsh, is to get technical clues about
climbing mount Kailash. Supported with some research, I am of the opinion that, Mount
Kailash is very very dificult to summit with the mountaineering techniques available till date.
Let me get some facts to explain the same.

Meru Parvat also recognized as Sumeru, is the sacred five-peaked mountain in Hindu, Jain,
and Buddhist religion and is considered to be the Spine of the world

A. The rock structure of Mt. Kailash is very different from the same of the narby mountains.
Some believe that the Mount has been there before formation of the Himalayays, i.e. since the
time of the Tethys Sea. Metamorphic rocks of the mountain are very hard and have a smooth
surface. For the same reason, deposition of ice on the mount is also not very stable, which is
again aggravated by lower altitude of the peak (6638 m). On an unstable ice formation, the
risk of climbing becomes very high.

B. Mount Kailash has four distinct sides( Resembling a pyramid), and we are lucky to have a
very clear view of South, West and the popular Northern Face. At some altitude, all the faces
have almost vertical planes raising upto a few hundred meters. For any mountaineer, those
vertical wall will be something impossible to conquer (Remember what happened with
Hillary Step in Mount Everest; these walls are much higher than the Hillary step, and the rock
faces will be very smooth)

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C. Mount Kailash is illusive, it happenes with all mountains, but I feel it is a bit more illusive
than others.

Therefore though not impossible, it will be a technically very difficult and risky business to
try to summit the Mount Kailash. And because of these technical difficulties, combined with
Religious and Political issues, Mount Kailash has remained un-defeated, and I am sure it will
remain so for quite sometime in the future.

pic- At Charan Sparsh Place.

To take the pilgrimage journey of a lifetime to Kailash Charan Sparsh offers an awe-
inspiring pilgrimage experience for those looking to trek around Mount Kailas and take in all
that eye-catching beauty that is sacred Mansarovar lake.

At kailash charan sparsh, one gets to explore and experience the wonders of one Hindus's and
Buddhist most sacred sites –the pilgrimage to Pashupatinath Temple before heading
Mansarovar lake in footsteps from Mt.Kailsah. Charan Sparsh is a sacred walk from Derapuk

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monastery to the feet of Kailash Parvat from north face side of kailash mountain. (about 7km
distance from derapuk). Meaning you reach to the feet (base of Mt. Kailash Parvat) of Mt.
Kailash physically. The walk goes along the Gange River. It come milky water and snow fall
from the top of kailash mountain that people get bless from Lord Shiva and they will get
many positive energy. And the bless received from Lord Shiva like invisible amour. They
motivate and give strength. And it is the axis point of Ganges. By touching the miracle feet of
mount Kailash and ganges axis people get mokshya prapti-( LIBERATION of the SOUL ) .It
is believed that the Ganges is a formed of Lord Shiva Jatta (hair) and the water that flows
from the melted snow of Kailash and Lake Mansarovar.
The perfect time to visit Kailash Charan Sparsh and Mansarover yatra is from mid-May to
September. However July to until half of August is Monsoon time in Nepal and it may have
some rail while you are in Yatra.. From November, The winder begin in Tibet and the
temperature will go down. So why its not good time to jo for Kailash Journey after October
until March. Mt. Kailash and Mansarovar Lake will be fully covered of snow. During this
time very difficult to go kailash kora and crossing the Dolma La Pass and Gauri Kund. The
local lodges will be also closed and no service.
People Republic of China has updated their visa and travel permits to Tibet and Mount
Kailash for 2024. While travelling to Tibet Autonomous Zone a travelers or pilgrimage
yatries required a special travel permit and from the foreign affairs of China. The permits is
issuing under controlled by the local travel agents of China/Tibet. After submitting the
passport copy and travel the entire group get an entry permits and sponsor granted paper.

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