On the 9th day of the yatra (15-05-2011) the yatris took up the most important part of the yatra , the parikrama (circumbulation) of the Holy Kailash. From Darchen camp they got he darshan of the top part of the South face of the Lord called Akor and then they travelled by jeep upto Yamdwar. From yamdwar they got the full view of the south face of the Lord along with the darshan of Ganesh and Nandhi.
YamdwarYamdwar means the gate of Yama ( Lord of death) . Upto this point yama rules and above this place it is heaven or the worls of Lord Shiva. those who enter yamdwar and have the Darshan of Lord Shiva , they are relieved of the cycle of death and birth. They neednot worry about untimely death.
View of AKOR face of Lord from Yamdwar
According to mythology this Akora face is facing south on the right shoulder of the Lord it is bearded with protruded teeth like that of an old man which produces fear and is black. This face symbolizes Agni ( fire) in the five elements and stands for destruction ( destroyer and stands for annihilation ) and so is considered as Rudra. According to mythology at the end of the final great deluge Pralayam all the jivatmas rest at the feet of the Lord and only Shiva and Parvati remain. Out of infinite compassion Mother Parvati prays to Lord to start the creation again and so creation again starts. Of the five syllables this face symbolizes the first syllable ‘Si”. This face is also called Dakshinamurthy. Lord Shiva as the dancing Lord of Nataraja also faces south. The face looks like that the Lord is sitting upon 1008 petalled golden lotus in perpetual meditation. According to Tibetan mythology this face shines like sapphire akin to that of ocean. Gajasamharar, Virabadrar, Dakshinamoorthy, Kirathamurthy, Vishapakaranar are the aspects of this Ahor face.
To the right side of the Lord is a small peak which represents Lord Ganesha. According to mythology when there was a quarrel between Lord Ganesh and Lord Muruga (Karthik) for the fruit of wisdom, Lord Ganesha won the same by circumambulating His father and mother Shiva-Parvati. Thus the practice of circumambulation of Holy Kailash we do today was started by Lord Ganesha from that day.
On the first day of the parikrama the yatris get to see all the faces of the Lord , from Darchan they can see east and south faces and from yamdwar they see the full south face and after trekkinf further they have the darshan of the west face which is calles as Satyojat. Later they reach Derapuk camp where the camp is situated right at the feet of the Lords North face.
Satyajot Face of the Lord
Frozen La Chu River. The trekking route of the parikrama on the first day is parallel to this river.
Different views of West face of the Lord
According to mythology this face is called as Satyojat which is facing west and is white in color . Of the five elements this face represents earth. This face stands for creation, Of the five syllables this face stands for ‘Na’ . According to Tibetians this face shines like Ruby. All the other faces of Kailash are convex but this west face is concave.Lingothpavar,Umamahesar, Harihara, Ardhanari are aspects of this face.
Yatra continues.........
