KATHMANDU: Kailash has this magnetic attraction, it is challenging but at the same time it’s awe-inspiring, while Manasarovar gives you a sense of great peace and tranquillity. You are comforted by Manasarovar,” said Deb Mukharji, former Indian ambassador to Nepal (2000-2001) summing up his experience of this holy sanctum.

Mukharji is here to launch his book on Kailash and Mansarovar titled Visions of the Infinite that is published by nepa-laya.

Mukharji was the liaison officer of the 1981 Indian pilgrim group — the first one to visit the place after a ban on pilgrimage from India was lifted. The ban had been put for nearly 20 years. This was also his first trip and Mukharji still recalls all the excitement and novelty attached to the trip.

“Kailash means so much for many people and obviously there was excitement and I felt wonderful to be a part of the trip,” he said.

He maintains that there was equal excitement on the Chinese side too for this was the first time they were conducting such a pilgrimage.

However, the whole trip was not without its share of difficulties — harsh weather conditions and high altitude were major ones. “Some people had to return as they could not cope with the altitude,” added Mukharji.

Going back to those days he narrates how there was no place for the pilgrims to stay and a local Tibetan man on horseback came with a tent which was the shelter for the group of 17.

Mukharji said things have improved on that route with more shelters being built for the pilgrims. But sadly, he added, pollution has followed development. “I saw so many plastic cups and glasses all over the place and I strongly feel something needs to be done about this.”

Mukharji has made two more trips to Kailash — in 1993 and 2002. His trip of 2002 bears special significance for not only did he go through Nepal across the Tibetan plateau but he also got to visit the inner sanctum of Kailash.

“One has to complete 12 pari-kramas to be allowed in the inner sanctum. It (2002) was the year of horse when one parikrama was considered equivalent to 12, so technically including the two pa-rikramas of my earlier visit, I had managed 14,” said Mukharji as his face lit up recalling the time.

So how was the whole

experience?

“Awesome,” he replied adding “Everyone is completely overwhelmed by Kailash. When you go there the presence of Kailash is so enormous and full of influence. It distinctly stands out and is much higher than others; you cannot miss it for it also has a very interesting shape. It has six sides and looks different from each side.”

An avid photographer Mukharji never parted from his favourite travel companions — his three cameras — during his trips to Kailash. Now he has compiled his and his camera’s experience and views of Kailash and Mansarovar in Visions of the Infinite. Along with 200 photographs — he says he didn’t have much problem sorting out 200 from some 2,000 pictures — Mukharji has encompassed the innumerable connections people have with Kailash. The religious connection of Hindus, Buddhists, Bons and Jains, the account of travellers for centuries and even the architectural influence of Kailash seen in temples and stupas of countries like India, Cambodia and Indonesia — Mukharji has touched upon diverse subjects.

When asked about his plan for another trip he simply said, “The Kailash attracts you and calls you to come back again and I would surely love to.”