Współczesna indyjska pielgrzymka narodowa do góry Kailas i jeziora Manasarowar w Tybecie

Abstract

This article presents a contemporary Indian national pilgrimage called Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra,
organized every year by the government in Delhi for about 650 Siva worshipers. The pilgrims go on an
extremely difficult over-a-month pilgrimage to Mount Kailas in Tibet (China). It is a challenge for them,
a dream come true and a socio-religious prestige. They obtain the honorary title “Kailashi Yatri”. This
article has been prepared based on the ethnological fieldwork done in 1998 and 2007. Seeing religious
phenomena in the socio-ethnological context, which is the organization and conduct of the KMY, origins
of pilgrims, their relationships, self-presentation, private opinions about yatra, and also the historical
and political background of the pilgrimage to Kailas, relating to the uncertain political situation of the
Himalayan border between India and China, give a picture of contemporary social and cultural phe-
nomenon, in which the great policy directly affects the lives of ordinary people and local communities;
both those in the Indian mainland and on the mountainous borderland.