Pilgrimage around Snow Mountain
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Visiting Lhasa is probably the most important lifetime religious mission for most Tibetans. For Tibetans in Kangba area, however, trekking around Peak Kawagebo at least once in one’s lifetime is also a must. It turns out that Tibetans have a millennium-year-old tradition of taking a pilgrimage around a sacred mountain or lake. In Kangba region, Kawagebo stands for the greatest deity of mountains, although it is known as the Meili Mountain to people outside Kangba. No mountaineers have ever reached the summit of Kawagebo since their first endeavor in 1902. This fact adds a dimension of mystery to the peak.
There are two pilgrimage routes around Peak Kawagebo towering on the border between Yunnan Province and Tibet Autonomous Region. The inner route takes about 2 days, passing the Mingyong glacier and a waterfall, which, known among the locals as “a deluge of rain and God-mandated cascade”, tumbles down from a breathtaking height of 1,000 meters. This route has also grown into a routine for hikers.
The second pilgrimage route around Kawagebo and other 13 snow-capped peaks is recognized as the most dangerous and most mysterious pilgrimage route in the world. The trek takes about 15 days, passing around all the 14 snow-capped peaks, through primitive forests and two mountain passes. Expect for two bridges built in modern times, the route remains as heartbreakingly arduous as it was for hundreds of years in the past.
The year 2003 marked the birth year of the peak’s deity and dictated a pilgrimage on the outer route in a 60-year-cycle. My friends and I, fully equipped with tents, sleeping bags and food, set out and followed Tibetan pilgrims on the outer route. We learned that Tibetan pilgrims could be seen on the outer route all the year round in 2003. We did not count how many we encountered on our trek. Tibetans in all ages walked, carrying food and tea-cooking utensils and bedrolls. Months-old babies on the back of their young mothers and gray-haired elders were not a rare sight.
In the first few days we just traveled through wilderness where no people lived. Beyond the desolate area, we often traveled half a day or a whole day before we could spot a small ranch or a hamlet. On this pilgrimage route, pilgrims need to carry an adequate supply of food, for it would be impossible to find food on the route. The mountain pass at the altitude of 4,479 meters was steep and cold and oxygen was thin. A pilgrim died there a few days before our arrival. We spotted a dead mule in a place off the road, with its four stiff feet up in the air. It must have died just a few hours before. An eagle hovered above our head. Eagles would gather and pick the carcass clean the next day. In one part, the road along the Nu River went through a landslide area. The road became extremely treacherous. One of our pack horses stepped on a loose rock and slipped. It almost fell into the river. The rock splashed into the river. Our horse-keeper was injured in his desperate effort to prevent the kicking horse from falling into the river.
During the fifteen-day trek, we got up around five o’clock every morning and traveled all the day before we camped and built a bonfire around 9 o’clock every night. Even though we traveled that hard, our speed was much slower than that of Tibetans. It seems to me that they were on the road all the time except for eating their meals and sleeping for a few hours under the sky. We noticed that nearly all of the Tibetans on the road limped. Pilgrims leaning on their bedrolls to give their feet a rest were not a rare sight. Occasionally we would spot a sick pilgrim sleeping under a makeshift shelter near the road. Some pilgrims walked around the peaks several times on end. We encountered a few pilgrims who had trekked nonstop more than 30 laps around the Meili Mountain. Some kowtowed all the away, believing dying on the pilgrimage was a great blessing. For those of us who do hot have Tibetan faith or those who have never seen Tibetans trekking on a pilgrimage, such commitment would be unimaginable.
Originally, Kawagebo is a god in the primitive Tibetan religion. In the early years when Buddhism came to Tibet from India, local Tibetans refused to succumb to the foreign gods. It was not until Buddhists built a temple and enlisted all the local gods into Buddhism that the locals changed their minds. Kawagebo gloriously joined Buddhist gods and became a guardian of Buddhism with all ferocious powers. In ancient Tangka paintings, Kawagebo looks extremely fierce with three heads and six arms. Dressed in a white robe, he rides a white horse and wields a halberd.
Although Kawagebo is still fervently worshiped in Kangba area, the primitive religion can hardly be detected on the pilgrimage routes. Wherever there was a cliff by the route, there were images of Buddha and texts of religious scriptures carved on it. Colored flags and sutra pennants fluttered at every mountain pass. Seeing these signs of Buddhism, a pilgrim would never feel lonely. Landscape on the route is otherworldly. Snow-capped peaks, glaciers, primitive forests, streams, meadowlands combine to offer a glimpse into majesty and splendor of another world. Eagles are a constant sight in the sky. Now and then we spotted an animal passing behind trees. The innocence and simplicity of isolated Tibetan hamlets in sparsely populated areas were beauty beyond description.