Sacred Lake Baiku Co

Two Tibetan herdsmen in the lake region.

Wogyan Beylung, Eden on Earth

At the northern edge of Karmainba a road leads to Xin Co. The first stretch is lined with hundreds of piles of Mani rocks, on top of which white Khata scarves flutter in the wind. Driving on, you come to the peninsula of Baiku Co, at the highest point of which stands a three-tier stone pagoda, topped by a yak skeleton and surrounded by Mani stones inscribed with sutras or Buddhist figures.

From the summit of the peninsula one overlooks Xin Co to the north and Lham Co and Minor Baiku Co to the south, against a backdrop of snow-topped mountains. The water is a collage of a myriad hues of blues and greens, which shift at the slightest change in the environment, whether it be a hint of wind or a puff of cloud.

In Tibetan myth, Xin Co is where Padmasambhava, or “Lotus Born,” one of the most important deities in Tibetan Buddhism, confronts female ghosts. Many sites around the lake are therefore associated with the sage guru. Most prominent among them is a white monolith halfway up a nearby mountain with a V-shape groove in the middle. It is believed to be the gate to the utopia of Wogyan Beylung that Padmasambhava described in his writings. An Eden tucked away in a mysterious valley, Wogyan Beylung is said to be accessible only to those of pure mind and kind heart. The gate is said to automatically open for such people, and close once they step inside, wiping away clues of the place’s location to those not eligible.

Down the road is the Danglaomula Pass, which in the Tibetan language means “Return of the Guru.” It is said that Padmasambhava crossed Mt. Danglaomula after his defeat of the ghosts at Baiku Co. The mountain is not impressive in size or altitude, but is one of a kind with its millions of oddly shaped rocks that form it. Rising out of the ocean billions of years ago, they were sculpted by the forces of water, wind and sunlight in the magic hands of Mother Nature, who surpasses the most gifted artists of humankind.

This mega-size stone carving, along with the mirror-like water of crystalline clarity at its foot, conjures up the illusion of time travel, transporting visitors to a time before history. The truth is, for Baiku Co the world has barely changed for the past thousands, if not millions, of years.