Mount Jomolhari

Jomolhari (Dzongkha: ཇོ་མོ་ལྷ་རི; also spelled Chomolhari, "mountain of the goddess") is a Himalayan peak rising to 7,326 metres (24,035 feet) on the border between Paro District in western Bhutan and Yadong County in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.^[1] Its dramatic north face rises more than 2,700 metres above the Tibetan plains, and the mountain feeds two important rivers: the Paro Chu, which flows south into Bhutan, and the Amo Chu, which flows north.

Jomolhari is one of Bhutan's most revered mountains, sacred in Tibetan Buddhism and an anchor of the country's growing trekking tourism. It gives its name to the Jomolhari trek, a high-altitude route from the Paro valley that ranks among the kingdom's most popular, and to the Jomolhari Mountain Festival held in the herding settlements at its foot.^[1]

Religious significance

The mountain is held to be the dwelling of one of the Tsheringma sisters — a group of female protector goddesses (jomo) of Tibet and Bhutan who, according to tradition, were bound under oath by Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) to protect the land and the Buddhist faith.^[1] A Jomolhari temple stands on the Bhutanese side, on the approach between Thangthangkha and the Jangothang base camp at around 4,150 metres, and the peak features in local pilgrimage and protective ritual.^[2]

Mountaineering

Jomolhari was first climbed in 1937 by the British explorer Freddy Spencer Chapman and the Sherpa Pasang Dawa Lama. Since then climbing has become impossible from the Bhutanese side: as elsewhere in Bhutan, mountaineering on the high peaks is prohibited out of respect for the deities believed to inhabit them, and Bhutan does not permit expeditions on Jomolhari.^[1] The neighbouring spur of Jichu Drake is a prominent companion peak on the same massif.

The Jomolhari trek and festival

The Jomolhari trek begins in the Paro valley and climbs through forest and high pasture to base camps at Jangothang, from which the peak's south face is seen at close range, before crossing high passes toward the Lingzhi region. It is prized for its combination of mountain scenery, yak-herding settlements and wildlife.^[3]

Since the 2010s the herding communities of the Jomolhari region have hosted the Jomolhari Mountain Festival, a community event that combines cultural performance with awareness of the snow leopard and other high-altitude wildlife of the surrounding sanctuary, and channels tourism income to remote households.^[3]

References

1. "Jomolhari." Wikipedia.
2. "Jomolhari, where Guru Rinpoche meditated before flying to Tibet."
3. "Mt. Jomolhari Trek."