Mount Kailash: The Sealed Pyramid and the Story of the City of the Gods

Mount Kailash rises above 6,600 metres in western Tibet. From a distance, its snow-covered summit presents four steep, almost symmetrical faces and stands apart from the surrounding peaks. Four religious traditions treat the mountain as sacred: Hindus link it to Shiva, Tibetan Buddhists connect it with Mount Meru, the Bön tradition calls it the nine-storey Swastika Mountain, and Jain traditions place Kailash in their history of liberation. Pilgrims walk around the mountain but do not climb the summit.

That shape is the starting point for the “Kailash pyramid” story. In 1998 and 1999, Russian ophthalmologist Ernst Muldashev travelled through Tibet in search of what he called the City of the Gods. From photographs of Kailash, conversations with monks, the orientation of Kathmandu stupas, and texts he read, Muldashev linked Kailash to an ancient pyramid complex, a centre that regulated energy, and hidden cities such as Shambhala. The story says that religious custodians and modern authorities kept the mountain beyond normal survey so no one could inspect the structures inside.