Title: Mānasarovara

Affiliation:
Professor K.T.S. Sarao
Department of Buddhist Studies
University of Delhi
Delhi-110007, INDIA.
ktssarao@hotmail.com

Synonyms: Anavatapta, Anotatta, Lake Manas, Manas Sarovar, Mapham Yutso,

Manasarovar, Tso Rimpoche.

Definition: A fresh water lake located in Tibet which is sacred to the Hindus, Buddhists,
Jains, and Bönpas.

Main Text
Lake Mānasarovara, along with Mt Kailash and lake Rākṣas/Rākas, is located in the western
Tibetan plateau between the Gurla Mandhata mountain in the southeast and Kunlun mountain
in the northwest. The name mānasarovara, i.e., manas (‘mind’ or ‘consciousness’)+sarovara
(lake) means ‘Lake of Consciousness and Enlightenment.’ According to a legend mentioned
in the Rāmāyaṇa, this lake was created by the mind of Brahmā at the request of ascetics who
needed a water source for their daily religious ablutions. The Tibetan name for Mānasarovara
is Mapham Yutso which means the ‘Unconquerable Turquoise Lake.’ It is also known as Tso
Rimpoche (Precious Lake) to the Tibetans. This holiest of lakes of the world, located thirty-
six kilometres southeast of Mount Kailash, is like a giant magic mirror. Situated at a height of
14,900 feet from the sea level, it is perhaps the highest fresh water lake on earth.
Buddhists consider Mānasarovara as the earthly manifestation of lake Anavatapta
(Pāli: Anotatta), where Queen Māyā, the Buddha’s mother, had been taken in her dream to be
bathed before conceiving the great being. The Buddhist texts talk of the Buddha often going
to Anavatapta for his ablutions and then proceeding to Uttarakuru for alms, returning to have
his meal and to meditate on its banks. Buddhist texts also talk of many buddhas, pratyeka
buddhas, arahants, devas, and yakṣas bathing and/or sporting on its banks. Four channels
open out of the lake in the direction of the four quarters viz., Sīhamukha, Hatthimukha,
Assamukha, and Usabhamukha. Four rivers, viz., Brahmaputra, Karnali, Indus, and Sutlej are
said to flow from these channels
Mānasarovara is considered a personification of purity and someone taking a dip or
drinking its water is believed to be cleansed of all sins, being awarded after death with a place
in the heavenly abode of Lord Śiva (Śivaloka). According to ancient Buddhist cosmological
view, Anavatapta lies at the center of the world and would be the last to dry up at the end of
the world. As the light of both the sun and the moon never falls directly on the water of this
lake but only in reflection, its water stays perpetually cool. Buddhist texts also mention that
as the name anavatapta means free from heat, the waters of the lake are considered as having
the quality of soothing the fires that torment beings.
Though some scholars believe that the practice of pilgrimage began in Tibet at the
earliest in the seventh century CE with the arrival of Buddhism from India, it is almost
certain that Indians have been visiting Mānasarovara as pilgrims since 1000 BCE, if not
earlier. It must be noted that in those early centuries Tibet did not exist in as much isolation
as is generally believed and Indian and Tibetan cultures have been enriching each other since
pre-historic times. Thu, it has been suggested that there may have been links between
Brāhmaṇical-Hinduism and the early Tibetan faith, Bön. Such links may well have been
stimulated by the presence of gold and other precious metals in the Kailash-Mānasarovara
region.

[Picture to be added here]

With a circumference of ninety-one kilometres and a maximum depth of 230 feet, this
lake is viewed as an eight-petalled lotus or a maṇḍala-square with four doors to the cardinal
directions. A person who has the wisdom eye can see on its eastern shore jambuvrikṣa, the
tree of life. The Buddha blesses this lake and sits along with his 500 bodhisattvas
(enlightened beings) on lotus flowers blooming in it. For the shamans, the holy water from
the lake purifies the pollution of being born from a human womb. A ritual bath in the lake
endows a shaman with divine wisdom enabling him to work as a mediator between the
worlds of gods and humans. Thus, he can interpret devavāṇi (godly speech) to his lay
devotees, thereby solving their dilemmas.
In modern times, those pilgrims who perform the complete parikramā
(circumambulation) of Mānasarovara on foot take three to four days. Indian pilgrims
generally do the parikramā in cars and buses. In the pre-1959 period the parikramā included
a visit to each of the eight gompas (monasteries) located around it: Chiu, Charyip (Cherkip),
Langbo-nan (Langpona), Bonri, Seralung, Yerngo (Nyego), Trugo (Thugolho/Trus), and
Gossul. However, now only Chiu, Seralung, and Trugo are visited by the pilgrims.
Its disc is shaped like the sun and represents the power of consciousness, and is a
symbol of good fortune and fertility. But just as consciousness is balanced by
unconsciousness, Mānasarovara is matched by the conch-shaped Rākas Tal to the west. It is
the abode of the mountain god, Gombo Beng, the great guardian of Tantrism. This god is
sometimes identified with Rāvaṇa, the demon king of Lanka, who once was a serious devotee
of Śiva. An historical issue which arises, concerns Mānasarovara which, at least in recent
times, has been considered auspicious, in contrast to Rākas Tal, envisaged as inauspicious. It
has been suggested that this is a comparatively recent understanding, and that the early
Buddhist pilgrims who reached the region via the Satluj identified Rākas Tal as Lake
Anavatapta. He argues that later Hindu pilgrims identified Mānasarovara as the auspicious
lake due to its location on the right-hand side of the mountain in the view of the pilgrims
coming from the south. Others have suggested the possibility that initially only one lake
existed.

Cross-References: Kailash.

References
1. Allen, Charles.1982. A Mountain in Tibet: The Search for Mount Kailas and the
Sources of the Great Rivers of Asia, London, André Deutsch.
2. Buffetrille, K. 1998. “Reflections on Pilgrimages to Sacred Mountains, Lakes and
Caves,” in Alex McKay (ed), Pilgrimage in Tibet, Curzon Press, Richmond Surrey,
pp.18-34.
3. Hamsa, Bhagwan Shri. nd. The Holy Mountain: Being the Story of a Pilgrimage to
Lake Manas and of Initiation on Mount Kailash in Tibet, Faber and Faber, London.
4. Johnson, R. & K. Moran. 1989. Tibet’s Sacred Mountain of Tibet: The Extraordinary
Pilgrimage to Mount Kailas, Park Street Press, Rochester.
5. Pranavananda, Swami. 1949. Kailās-Mānasarovar, Calcutta: S.P. League Ltd.
6. Sarao, K.T.S. 2009. Pilgrimage to Kailash: The Indian Route, Aryan Books
International, Delhi.