Circumambulating Khawakarpo

Published: Jan. 15, 2016

Photo Essay by Emily Yeh

Khawa Karpo (Kha ba dkar po), in the southeastern corner of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning what is now the boundary of Yunnan province and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), is many things: one of the most sacred mountains of Tibetan Buddhism, a major pilgrimage site, a biodiversity hotspot, a tourism destination, the centerpiece of a prominent protected area, the Meili Snow Mountain National Park, and a rich source of minerals. At 6740 meters, it has never been climbed, a fact that is at the forefront of the minds of many residents in the context of the region’s fraught ontological and environmental politics. In 1991, when a Sino-Japanese climbing team approached the peak, hundreds of Tibetan villagers gathered at a nearby temple in protest of the deity’s submission to the mountaineers. The next morning, an avalanche swept away all seventeen climbers. Several years later, villagers’ ongoing opposition to climbing garnered the attention of Chinese environmentalists who petitioned the government, which banned mountaineering on the peak.

Pilgrims to Khawakarpo undertake both the inner circumambulation path, or kora (skor ra), and a much longer outer circumambulation. The inner route is associated with the village of Lekbam (Gleg bam) or Yubeng in Chinese, beyond which lies a sacred waterfall as well as numerous treasures (terma) buried by Padmasambhava as well as footprints, handprints and springs that mark the activities of the 2nd and 3rd Karmapas. It also includes two temples (lhakhang) above Melong village near the rapidly retreating Melong glacier. This area has become particularly popular with tourists, and was the site of many of The Nature Conservancy’s conservation efforts from roughly 2000-2009.

The outer kora, 150 kilometers in length, crosses over seven passes, including the Doker la (4080 meters) and the highest Shola (4800 meters), going from east to west and west to east, respectively, and crosses from the Mekong River on the Yunnan side to the Nujiang (Salween) river in Tsawarong, in the TAR. The well-trodden footpath brings pilgrims through old-growth forest with gnarled conifers hosting epiphytes and masses of hanging lichens, deep valleys, scree-laden passes, lush pastures, clear streams, big river, and in view of many glaciated peaks. The region’s extreme altitudinal gradients make it an epicenter of biodiversity, home to more than 6000 species of plants, many endemic. It is particularly well known as a source of rhododendrons, and “plant hunters” Joseph Rock, F. Kingdon Ward, and George Forrest all based themselves in the region and traveled the outer kora in their explorations.

The pilgrimage route has a history of at least seven hundred years, and is said to have been “opened” either by Namkha Chogyi Gyatso, or the 2nd or 3rd Karmapas, Karma Pakshi and Rangjung Dorje. It is particularly important to circumambulate during the Year of the Sheep, the zodiac year of the mountain deity Khawakarbo. In 2003, the first Sheep Year since the founding of the PRC when the pilgrimage was allowed and in addition the particularly auspicious water-sheep year (which occurs only every 60 years), more than 60,000 pilgrims performed the outer circumambulation.

This photo-essay documents my participation in the inner kora and outer kora in the summer of 2015, another Year of the Sheep. I was particularly interested in learning more about local conservation efforts in the area, as well as about accounts of the agency of the mountain and its political ontology vis-à-vis reports of a dispute between villagers and the government over gold mining along the circumambulation route. Since 2003, the network of simple shelters along the circumambulation route had become more developed, but this has also resulted in large piles of plastic beverage containers, ramen bowls, and other garbage along the route, particularly on the TAR side of the path, where garbage bins and organized collection were absent. Given the ongoing political crackdown across the Tibetan Plateau, the pilgrimage was much more tightly controlled than in 2003. Tibetan villagers from the Yunnan side were required to apply for Tibet Entry Permits to complete the circumambulation, cadres from the TAR were reportedly not allowed to travel there, and foreigners were checked and denied entry at multiple checkpoints. Some pilgrims now do the stretch of the route from Aben to Chawalong and then to Gebu via shared mini-van, cutting down the total time of the circumambulation, though it still takes them six very long days. Planned dams on the upper Salween may eventually flood this lower section of the route where there is now a road. Another relatively recent development, particularly on the Yunnan side, is the intensification of the Shugden controversy which has led to bitter animosities within villages.

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Photos from the Field

Circumambulating Khawakarpo

View of Khawakarbo peak from Bu Village, on the eastern side of the Mekong. It is one of many villages that now rely heavily on wine grape production for income.

Former hunter turned environmentalist, 70-year old Sonam Norbu of Bu Village.

Sonam Norbu built a small temple, in which is this wall sculpture of the entire mountain range around Khawakarbo, to atone for his past sins as a hunter. It is located by a remarkable old grove of ancient cypress trees on the banks of the Mekong River at the edge of Bu Village.

Temple just beyond lower Lekbam village.

Cairns along Yubeng River on the way to the sacred waterfall. Though generally a marker of propitiation of territorial deities, some cairns in the area are piled in the shape of small houses, which are variously said to be just like other cairns or symbolic of building a home for one’s next life.

The sacred waterfall (babchu or bsod nams babchu). One of many sayings is that the waterfall distinguishes between those who have accumulated merit, virtue and fortune (bsod nams), who get wet from walking under the water fall during the summer, and those who do not.

Road construction and erosion along the banks of the Mekong.

Village house in Yongju, on the way up to Yongzhi village which now serves as the beginning of the outer circumambulation for most pilgrims.

Along the route many pilgrims fasten stones to strings and hang them from trees. These are said to be loaded with the pilgrims’ sins, now left behind on the path.

Many parts of the outer circumambulation are through old growth forest.

A rest stop along the way, including a rudimentary medicine dispensary (given out by a Tibetan from a local village with no medical training) in a Chinese Red Cross tent of unknown origin.

Rhododendrons

Looking down on the ascent of the first major pass, Dokela, or the “stairway of stones” (rdo skas la).

Prayer flags at the top of Dokela. In addition to the standard five colored prayer flags, there are many white prayer flags printed simply with Om mani padme hum, and on which a deceased person’s name is written.

Unfortunate scene on the way down from Dokela. On the Yunnan side, there is more infrastructure including garbage cans tied to trees along the route and semi-regular collection as part of the management of the National Park, but on the TAR side, there is very little.

Typical simple accommodations along the route. Pilgrims generally no longer need to bring their own bedding material as a result. Along the way as well, many local Tibetans set up stands offering tea and sometimes tsampa for free to pilgrims, because of the auspiciousness of the year and the merit of circumambulation.

Having tea and tsampa with a family of pilgrims from Chamdo.

Epiphytes

At Asela (lho ‘od gsal la), another smaller pass, pilgrims hang many clothes – new chubas, sweaters, pants, face masks, shirts, etc. -- on trees. Some say these are offerings for dead relatives and friends who might need them in the bar do while others say that one’s dead relatives follow one on the pilgrimage, and that by leaving the clothes there, the deceased are able to rest there rather than following for the whole journey. Still others stated that they believed that the clothes are used for one’s next life. This pass was also a site of huge heaps of tsampa, some burnt, on which were hundreds of bowls, some broken and some whole. These are said to be offerings to the deceased, who some stated consume scents rather than material food.