Kailash-Manasarovar yatra put off

          New Delhi, May 26: The annual pilgrimage organised by the External Affairs Ministry to Kailash-Manasarovar is as good as cancelled. The Chinese Government has asked New Delhi to postpone this year's yatra citing precautionary measures against SARS. Unless allowed within the limited months during which the high passes would remain open, the yatra will have to be cancelled. If and when the ban is lifted, only those teams selected for the remaining months will be able to go. More than 500 pilgrims travel each year to the Himalayan shrine of Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet, mostly through the Lipulekh pass which goes through Nepal. Mansarovar lake and the flanking Mount Kailash, which is the highest mountain in Tibet at 22,022 feet, are revered by Hindus as the abode of Lord Shiva.

          The Kailash-Mansarovar route has been an ancient trade route between India and China. Hindus used to undertake the pilgrimage for many years until 1962 when India and China fought a brief war. But the pilgrimage was resumed in 1981 following improvement in bilaterial relations. Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani has urged China to throw open more pilgrimage routes to the lake. Though the communist nation is wary of opening up more access routes to Tibet across the Himalayas, its suspicions would be overcome in the near future as mutual confidence takes firm roots, he said. Advani said Indian Defence Minister during his recent visit to Beijing had discussed the issue of allowing pilgrims through a safer and easier route from Leh across the Himalayas. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is visiting China next month and he will raise the issue with them, the deputy premier added.

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