Mystical Himalayas: What secrets do the highest mountains in the world hold

In the north of the Indian subcontinent, stretching through several Asian countries, on an area of about 650 thousand square kilometers, there is our planet’s highest, majestic, and inaccessible mountain system. Its name, the Himalayas, translates as “abode of snow.” The highest point in the world, Mount Everest, is located here. These places have always been shrouded in mystery, mysticism, and legends, attracting pilgrims, explorers, and climbers from all over the globe. But few people manage to conquer the Himalayas and comprehend these secrets, which they safely keep in their snowy abode.
Shambhala

The most mysterious and incomprehensible phenomenon of the Himalayan Mountains is considered to be Shambhala, which is difficult to give a specific definition due to its mythical and ambiguous nature. In various cultures and religious traditions, Shambhala is described as a kingdom hidden in snowy mountains, inaccessible to most people. It symbolizes an ideal world and spiritual perfection more than a material object.
Translated from the ancient Indian Sanskrit language, Shambhala means “place of power” or “place of peace.” Hindus also call it Aryavartha, which means “land of the worthy.” In Tibetan, its name sounds like a “source of happiness.”
In Buddhism, Shambhala is associated with Kalachakra’s teachings, a unique Tantric Buddhism system. According to this teaching, Shambhala serves as a sacred refuge and spiritual center for enlightened teachers. It is considered a symbol of the ideal world on Earth, where harmony, wisdom, and spiritual enlightenment reign.
According to ancient Tibetan manuscripts, Shambhala does exist, but it opens up and entrusts its secret knowledge only to a select few. Only a virginally pure person with a kind soul and bright thoughts can find the way into it. The way to Shambhala is believed to be closed for people hungry for fame, power, money, or material benefit. She will forever remain a myth for them, no matter how hard they try to find her in the snowy kingdom of the Himalayas.
According to legend, Shambhala is inhabited by people who have reached spiritual perfection. They have access to the highest knowledge and secrets of the universe, invaluable information about immortality, and healing from all diseases. Visit. A F R I N I K . C O M .For the full article. They can control the processes taking place on Earth and move between worlds. Tibetan sages, the so-called mahatmas, connect the outside world and the divine riches hidden in Shambhala.
Many researchers have tried to find the mysterious Shambhala at different times. The famous Russian philosopher, traveler, and artist Nicholas Roerich and his wife Elena spent a lot of time in the Himalayas in search of this mythical place in the 20s of the last century. In their works and letters, they claimed that they had managed to find Shambhala far in the mountains and gain important spiritual knowledge from Tibetan sages. However, there is no independent evidence for this.
British writer Alexander David-Neal and American researcher Joseph Rosenstein also traveled to the Himalayas in search of Shambhala, published articles and books describing their research, and participated in mystical ceremonies conducted by Mahatmas.
Ancient temples and monasteries in the Himalayas

Legend has it that the entrance to Shambhala is hidden inside an abandoned Tibetan monastery located far in the mountains. But to get to it, you must overcome the path of the maximum difficulty – with steep trails, landslides, and rock falls intersected by insurmountable mountain gorges. Therefore, many researchers trying to get to Shambhala seek ancient settlements, temples, and monasteries in remote places.
Such structures exist in the Himalayas, and many active monasteries and temples attract tourists worldwide. Most of them relate to Buddhism and its Tibetan trend.
One of the most famous temples in the Himalayas is the Kailash Temple, located in India. It is considered a great wonder of world architecture, created in the 8th century when modern technologies did not exist. The temple, 32 meters high, was hand-carved into a vertical rock of monolithic stone. The walls and ceiling of the temple are decorated with sculptures of gods, mythical animals, and various decorative elements.
The construction of the Kailash temple began under King Krishna I and lasted for more than 100 years. Twenty-two thousand tons of stone were carved from the rock. The temple is dedicated to the god Shiva and is a shrine for followers of Hinduism.
The Tibetan Buddhist monastery of Ki, located in the village of the same name in the Himalayas, looks like a set from The Lord of the Rings. It was founded in the 11th century and is one of the oldest and most famous Buddhist monasteries in India.
Ki Monastery is over 4,000 meters on top of a large hill, offering magnificent panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and valleys.
It is currently a training and religious center for lamas. The monastery’s library contains rare Tibetan texts, manuscripts, Buddhist icons, and relics collections. The temple also serves as a refuge for monks studying Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and rituals.
The Tibetan Buddhist monastery of Ki, located in the village of the same name in the Himalayas, looks like a set from The Lord of the Rings. It was founded in the 11th century and is one of the oldest and most famous Buddhist monasteries in India.
Ki Monastery is located at over 4,000 meters on top of a large hill. It offers a magnificent panoramic view of the surrounding mountains and valleys.
It is currently a training and religious center for lamas. The monastery’s library contains rare Tibetan texts, manuscripts, Buddhist icons, and relics collections. The temple also serves as a refuge for monks studying Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and rituals.
One of the most famous Buddhist shrines in the Himalayas is Taktsang Lhakhang Monastery, which means “tiger’s nest” or “tiger’s den.” This monastery, located on a cliff and hanging over a precipice at an altitude of three thousand meters, is called “Soaring over the Rocks.” It is considered the birthplace of Mahayana Buddhist practice in Bhutan.
Various Buddhist relics and Buddha statues are kept in rooms carved into the rocks, and panoramic mountain views are available from balconies and observation decks.Narrow, steep paths lead to the monastery, which is decorated with ritual flags that are believed to protect against evil forces.
The Bigfoot

One of the most famous mysteries of the Himalayas is the Bigfoot or yeti, which was mentioned in ancient times and whose image is found in Nepali and Tibetan religious images.
For more than a hundred years, scientists, researchers, and amateur enthusiasts have been trying to find its tracks, setting up numerous expeditions to search for it, installing hidden cameras, and studying wool samples found in the places of the alleged yeti habitat. In some photographs, the authenticity of which is difficult to prove, the Bigfoot is depicted as a large humanoid creature.
According to eyewitnesses who allegedly saw him, this creature lives in the remote mountainous regions of the Himalayas, on the border of the snow, where it quickly hides from the human eye in impenetrable forest thickets.
The first scientific expeditions to search for Bigfoot were organized in the 60s of the last century by a group of New Zealand researchers and biologists, but no positive results were obtained. A large-scale search was also organized by the English journalist Ralph Izzard, who was even lucky enough to find traces of the Bigfoot, but he never saw the yeti himself. Later, he wrote the book In the Footsteps of the Snowman, which became the most comprehensive publication devoted to this topic.
The media occasionally reports that footprints or other evidence of a Bigfoot have been found, but so far, all these findings have not been scientifically confirmed.
Dead climbers and missing expeditions

The Himalayas are one of the most attractive places on the planet. They have always attracted people with their secrets, the highest mountain peaks, the most ancient Buddhist and Hindu attractions, unique relics, and extreme travel. Every mountaineer dreams of visiting the Himalayas, climbing their peaks, and conquering Mount Everest.
Even the vast number of scary stories related to this place, including dead climbers and missing expeditions, do not deter people. Everyone who looks at this place knows that the Himalayas inspire spiritual perfection in some, while others are rejected and deprived of their lives. However, how a person is built makes him willing to take risks. Every traveler to these mysterious places will say that the Himalayas are a state of mind.
One of the mysteries that modern scientists are trying in vain to solve is connected with the small alpine lake Roopkund, also called Skeleton Lake. Due to snow drifts and glaciers, it remains inaccessible most of the year, so when numerous human remains were discovered at the bottom of the lake, this discovery shocked scientists.
Genetic analysis has shown that the remains belong to at least 500 people of different ages, unrelated to each other, who lived at various times, many centuries ago. What could have brought them to the lake to die there remains a mystery.
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the Himalayas, but Mount Chogori, located in the central part of the Karakoram range, is the most difficult to climb. Its name translates as “Wild Mountain.” Although it is inferior in height to Mount Everest, ten times fewer climbers have been able to conquer it. According to statistics, every fourth climber dies while climbing Chogori.
Many people have disappeared here, including a Russian expedition of four Siberian climbers caught by bad weather while climbing to its peak in 2006. The bodies of many people who disappeared in the mountains have not yet been found under the snow and permafrost. And yet, the Himalayas are among those places on our planet worth visiting at least once.