Why is Mount Kailash a part of China?

Mount Kailash is one of the holiest places in the world for Hindus. It is the abode of Lord Shiva and it is said that visiting Kailash is enough to wash away all the sins of previous births. It is not exactly a part of China but it is located in Tibet, which is under the administrative rule of China.

The truth is that Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar were never a part of India. In the past few centuries too, it was never a part of any major Indian empire. It was always Chinese (Tibetan) territory and when India got independence in 1947, it was still the case.

India has never had a problem with Tibet. Indians had strong cultural and trade ties with Tibet for centuries and many Tibetan scholars came to India to study in its famed universities. But when the Red Army of China annexed Tibet in the 1950s, India stood mutely and perhaps that was a diplomatic blunder of considerable proportions. However, thousands of Indian Hindu pilgrims go on the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra every year in peace and harmony. Actually, back in time Kailash was part of Nepal & was ruled by a Nepali King. The Nepali king gifted this Kailash area to a Tibetan King in his daughter’s marriage & then it became part of Tibet