Mount Meru

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For the Indian peak, see Meru Peak. For the Tanzanian mountain, see Mount Meru
(Tanzania).
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Painting of Mount Meru from Jain cosmology from the Samghayanarayana

Bhutanese thangka of Mount Meru and the Buddhist Universe, 19th century, Trongsa
Dzong, Trongsa, Bhutan

A mural depicting Mt. Meru, in Wat Sakhet, Bangkok, Thailand

Mount Meru (Sanskrit ????, Tibetan ?????????????????, Sumeru, Sineru or Mahameru)
is a sacred cosmological mountain with five peaks[1] in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist
cosmology and is considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical and
spiritual universes.[2]

Meru (??? ???? ??????) to which is added the approbatory prefix su-, results in the
meaning Excellent Meru, Wonderful Meru or Great Meru. In other languages,
(Chinese ??? Xumi Shan; Pali Neru; Burmese ?????????? Myinmo), Khmer??????????????
(Phnom Preah So Mae).

Many famous Hindu and similar Jain as well as Buddhist temples have been built as
symbolic representations of this mountain. The highest point (the finial bud) on
the pyatthat, a Burmese-style multi-tiered roof, represents Mount Meru.

Contents [hide]
1 Geographical
2 Hindu legends
3 Jain legends
4 Javanese legends
5 See also
6 Notes
7 Sources
8 External links
Geographical[edit]
The dimensions attributed to Mount Meru, all references to it being as a part of
the Cosmic Ocean, with several statements that say, The Sun along with all the
planets circle the mountain, make determining its location most difficult,
according to most scholars.[3][4]

Some researchers identify Mount Meru or Sumeru with the Pamirs, northwest of
Kashmir.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

The Suryasiddhanta mentions that Mt. Meru lies in 'the middle of the Earth'
(bhurva-madhya) in the land of the Jambunad (Jambudvip). Narpatijayacharya, a
ninth-century text, based on mostly unpublished texts of Yamal Tantr, mentions
Sumeru? Prithvi-madhye shruyate drishyate na tu ('Su-meru is heard to be in the
middle of the Earth, but is not seen there').[15] Varahamihira, in his Pancha-
siddhantika, claims Mt. Meru to be at the North Pole (though no mountain exists
there). Suryasiddhanta, however, mentions a Mt. Meru in the middle of Earth,
besides a Sumeru and a Kumeru at both the Poles.

There exist several versions of Cosmology in existing Hindu texts. In one of them,
cosmologically, the Meru mountain was also described as being surrounded by
Mandrachala Mountain to the east, Supasarva Mountain to the west, Kumuda Mountain
to the north and Kailasha to the south.[16]

Hindu legends[edit]
Main article Hindu cosmology
Mount Meru of Hindu traditions has clearly mythical aspects, being described as
84,000 Yojana high (about 1,082,000 km (672,000 mi), which would be 85 times the
Earth's diameter), and notes that the Sun along with all the planets in the Solar
System revolve around Mt. Meru as one unit.

One Yojana can be taken to mean about 11.5 km (9 miles) though its magnitude seems
to differ over time periods, e.g. the Earth's circumference is 3,200 yojanas
according to Varahamihira and slightly less so in the Aryabhatiya, but is said to
be 5,026.5 yojanas in the Suryasiddhanta. The Matsya Purana and the Bhagvata Purana
along with some other Hindu texts consistently give the height of 84,000 yojanas to
Mount Meru which translates into 672,000 miles or 1,082,000 kilometers.

Mount Meru was said to be the residence of King Padamja Brahma in antiquity.[16]

Jain legends[edit]
Main article Jain cosmology

Depiction of Mount Meru at Jambudweep, Hastinapur

According to Jain cosmology, Mount Meru (or Sumeru) is at the centre of the world
surrounded by Jambudvipa,[17] in form of a circle forming a diameter of 100,000
yojans.[18] There are two sets of sun, moon and stars revolving around Mount Meru;
while one set works, the other set rests behind Mount Meru.[19][20][21]

Javanese legends[edit]
This mythical mountain of gods was mentioned in Tantu Pagelaran, an Old Javanese
manuscript written in the Kawi language from the 15th century Majapahit period. The
manuscript describes the mythical origin of Java island, and the legend of the
movement of portions of Mount Meru to Java. The manuscript explained that Batara
Guru (Shiva) ordered the god Brahma and Vishnu to fill the Java island with human
beings. However at that time Java island was floating freely on the ocean, always
tumbling and shaking. To stop the island's movement, the gods decided to nail it to
the Earth by moving the part of Mahameru in Jambudvipa (India) and attaching it to
Java.[22] The resulting mountain is Mount Semeru, the tallest mountain on Java.

See also[edit]
Jainism
Hinduism
Buddhism
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ Angkor Wat Image of the Day.
Jump up ^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam, ed. India through the ages. Publication
Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 78.
Jump up ^ Sachau, Edward C. (2001). Alberuni's India. Psychology Press. p. 271.
ISBN 978-0-415-24497-8.
Jump up ^ The Devi Bhagavatam The Eighth Book Chapter 15. Sacred-texts.com.
Retrieved 2012-03-02.
Jump up ^ The Geopolitics of South Asia From Early Empires to the Nuclear Age,
2003, p 16
Jump up ^ Graham P. Chapman - Social Science; The Pamirs and the Source of the
Oxus, p 15
Jump up ^ George Nathaniel Curzon; The Hindu World An Encyclopedic Survey of
Hinduism, 1968, p 184
Jump up ^ Benjamin Walker - Hinduism; Ancient Indian Tradition & Mythology Pura?as
in Translation, 1969, p 56
Jump up ^ Jagdish Lal Shastri, Arnold Kunst, G. P. Bhatt, Ganesh Vasudeo Tagare -
Oriental literature; Journal of the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, 1928, p 38
Jump up ^ K.R. Cama Oriental Institute - Iranian philology; The Occult in Russian
and Soviet Culture, 1997, p 175
Jump up ^ Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal - History; Geographical Concepts in Ancient
India, 1967, p 50
Jump up ^ Bechan Dube - India; Geographical Data in the Early Pura?as A Critical
Study, 1972, p 2
Jump up ^ Dr M. R. Singh - India; Studies in the Proto-history of India, 1971, p 17
Jump up ^ Dr Dvaraka Prasada Misra - India.
Jump up ^ cf. second verse of Koorma-chakra in the book Narpatijayacharya
^ Jump up to a b J.P. Mittal, History of Ancient India From 7300 BC to 4250 BC,
page 3
Jump up ^ Cort 2010, p. 90.
Jump up ^ Schubring, Walther (1995), pp. 204246
Jump up ^ CIL, Indian Cosmology Reflections in Religion and Metaphysics,
Ignca.nic.in
Jump up ^ Shah, Pravin K., Jain Geography (PDF)
Jump up ^ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal - Asiatic Society of Bengal,
1834
Jump up ^ Soekmono, Dr R. (1973). Pengantar Sejarah Kebudayaan Indonesia 2.
Yogyakarta, Indonesia Penerbit Kanisius. p. 119. ISBN 979-413-290-X.
Sources[edit]
Further information Jyoti?a bibliography
Cort, John (2010) [1953], Framing the Jina