KATHMANDU CITY W/C Congratulations ! This is the first popular map of Kathmandu that is precise in its representation of roads, paths, rivers and land use. It marks the city's outer districts, inner toles and their streets and lanes. It locates hotels and restaurants, airlines and travel agents offices and embassies and governments offices. It shows the major temples and monasteries, power places and pilgrimage destinations. It is comprehensive and up- to- date. By itself it is a great guide to Kathmandu.
KEITH DOWMAN
Author of "Power Places of Kathmandu"
AROUND ANNNAPURNA WITH DHAULAGIRI W/C Since the Annapurna Circuit opened in the late seventies, this trekking route combining two ancient trading paths has become one of the world's classic hiking routes. From the humid Paddies of the foothills, the flowering Rhododendran forests, to the arid desert of the Tibetan Plateau, nowhere else can one experience such a wide variety of flora, fauna, geology,language, culture, religious beliefs and racial types. Through the deepest gorge in the world , to views of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Manasulu, three peaks over eight thousand meters, the Annapurna Circuit is unparalled in it diverse scenery.
...While the tea houses have made the Annapurna Circuit more comfortable for the independent trekker and this detailed and up-to-date informative map will enable the independent trekker to explore side vallies and alternative routes of along the Annapurna Circuit.
Andrew Stevenson
Author : Annapurna Circuit
KAILASH W/C The magnificent Mount Kailash in the extreme west of Tibet, is Asia's most sacred
mountain. Mount Kailash is a highly important place of pilgrimage for adherents of Bon, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The origins of this pilgrimage center are shrouded in remote antiquity. It was firmly established as a place of pilgrimage for those living on the Indian Subcontinent no later than the Puranic period of the 4th century. However, it is likely that people were trekking over the Himalaya to visit this mountain at a much earlier date as attested to in Hindu legend and Epic literature. Likewise, in Tibet, indigenous peoples have been supplicating the holy mountain since time immemorial. The oldest Tibetan name for Mount Kailash, Kang Tise is derived from the now extinct Shang Shung language, and is said to mean ‘Summit Waters’ or ‘Colossal Snowy Form’ . The most common Tibetan name for the mountain in contemporary usage is Kang Rinpoche, ‘Precious Mountain’
In Hindu mythology Mount Kailash is the abode of the lord of the Himalaya, Shiva. Shiva, the supreme deity who rules over cosmic dissolution, is said to reside on the summit with his wife Parvati and their family and retinue. In tantric Buddhism (the form prevailing in Tibet) Mount Kailash is equated with the palace of Demchok, an invincible twelve-armed deity, and his consort Dorje Phagmo. The embrace of Demchok and Dorje Phagmo represents the ultimate union of the means and wisdom leading to enlightenment. As their palace, the location where this awesome spectacle transpires, Mount Kailash is considered a fit object of worship. In the indigenous Bon religion of Tibet, Mount Kailash is perceived to be the home of Kangri Labtsan, an ancestral warrior spirit. Red in color and wielding ancient armaments such as a spear with a flag attached, Kangri Labtsan protects the people and livestock of Tibet. In another Bon tradition, Mount Kailash is inhabited by a yak-headed tutelary deity named Gekod.
For all those whose religion ordains pilgrimage to Mount Kailash it is a journey invested with profound spiritual meaning. The circuit around the sacred mountain (called Kora in Tibetan and Parikarama in Sanskrit) is likened to the spiritual path that takes one from birth, to old age and again, to rebirth. It is believed that if one conducts a round of the mountain with a pure heart the journey helps rid them of sin and extinguishes the propensity to indulge in negative behavior. The circumambulation of Mount Kailash has many spiritual sign posts from prostration points along the four quarters to places were one sheds personal possessions and even bits of one’s own body.
Just as important as Mount Kailash is the sacred lake lying to the south, Manasarovar. In Hindu mythology Lake Manasarovar is symbolic of the mind of lord Brahma, the god of creation. In the Bon and Buddhist religions Lake Manasarovar is called Tsho Mapham and is said to be inhabited by a benevolent goddess whose ministrations sustain the world
With a reverent altitude and this Shangri-La map a journey to Mount Kailash may proved most extraordinary.
John Vincent Bellezza
Co-author of Lonely Planet Tibet
Nepal
