Himalayan peaks can be either male or female! Each peak has its own entity! Each of the highest peaks is the abode of a God or Goddess according to local folklore OR Hindu mythology!
Some of the peaks are so sacred that mountaineers are forbidden to climb the last 25 or 50 metres to avoid enraging the God or Goddess residing there.
One of the most sacred peaks in the Himalayas is Mt Kailash or Kailash parvat near Manasarovar which is the abode of Lord Shiva in Hinduism and hence its a male peak.
Kanchenjunga is also sacred to the locals living nearby. Its called Sewalungma by the locals where its name means "mountain to which we offer greetings"
Nanda Devi is a Goddess. So are Annapurna and Machapuchare.
http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Nature_Worship3.htm
As Nanda Devi, "Goddess of Bliss," Goddess Parvati dwells in beauty on the lovely peak of that name in the Himalayas northeast of Delhi. The highest mountain in India outside the principality of Sikkim, Nanda Devi soars in alluring curves of rock and ice to culminate in a delicate summit, poised at 25,645 feet above a ring of snow peaks that form a sanctuary protecting the Goddess from all but Her most determined admirers.
As the Goddess who resides on the highest mountain in the region, Nanda Devi has many shrines and temples dedicated to Her. One of the better-known ones is in the hill station of Almora, which affords one of the best views of the peak itself and the mountains that surround it. Although primarily a benevolent deity, Nanda can take on the form of Durga, the wrathful Goddess. The people of the region also view Nanda Devi as a benevolent source of life and renewal.
Everest is worshipped by Nepalese, its called Sagarmatha in Nepalese.
Sagarmatha or Mt. Everest
Why it is called Everest is explained in a book "Science and the Raj: 1857-1905" by Deepak Kumar. George Everest was Surveyor General of India from 1830-43. However, in 1852 an Indian named Radhanath Sikdar was one of the first to compute that that peak XV was the highest point on Earth. When Radhanath told Colonel Waugh, the new SGI, Waugh immediately named it Everest after his predecessor and benefactor even though the peak had local names like Sagarmatha. According to Kumar the Nepalese names were Devadungha and Gaurishankar and the Tibetan name Jamokangkar.
Annapurna and Machapuchare: Goddess Parvati dwells in yet another form on sacred Annapurna One, named like Nanda Devi for the deity said to reside on its summit. A range of peaks that includes Gangapurna, Machapuchare and Annapurnas One through Four, Annapurna rises in one long sweep above the lush green hills of central Nepal. Seen from the tropical valley of Pokhara in the twilight before dawn, the range's peaks appear to float like bluish-gray icebergs on a sea of liquid shadows. Etched with shadowed flutings, the corrugated face of Annapurna One--the highest summit at 26,545-feet--becomes a golden backdrop to the slender pointed peak of Machapuchare, the "Fish's Tail."
Annapurna means in Sanskrit "She who is filled with food."
Unlike Nanda Devi, who can take on the wrathful form of Durga, Annapurna is regarded as a purely benevolent deity. A kindhearted Goddess of plenty, She is the Queen of Banaras, the holy city of the Hindus on the banks of the Ganga south of Nepal. Each year, after the autumn harvest, the people of Banaras celebrate a festival dedicated to Her called Annakuta, the "Food Mountain," in which they fill Her temple with a mountain of food--rice, lentils, and sweets of all kinds to be distributed to those who come to receive Her blessings.
Edited by pallavi25 - 10 years ago
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