Why Himalayas is so important in Indian Spiritual tradition

Today I feel a strong resonance for Himalaya in my heart. The high peaks and snowy cover is calling me again. From childhood, I used to read Akhand Jyoti magazine and other stories about the enlightened saints who lived in Himalayas. Since then I used to imagine how it would feel to be in natural beauty of Himalayas and in the company of enlightened saints. Indian literature is filled with stories of Sadhus and Sanyasis who lived in Himalayas, did great penance, and how easily understood the nature of life and attained atonement with divine consciousness.

Being a Brahman by birth does not makes you saint straightaway but it did gave me a natural proximity to spiritual people and to spiritual literature better than other children. Or I was just simply more drawn towards those stories.

Why Himalayas is so important in Indian spiritual circle? The first reason is that this region is still churning out great Rishis and Snayasis even today. The vast stretch of Himalayas has provided for many natural habitat, flora and fauna to embellish its heavenly beauty. The proximity to the nature brings you closer to your inner self. You can hear your subconscious better and it helps a lot to progress rapidly in your spiritual pursuit.

The Himalayan flora and fauna is a source to vast remedies and natural life saving herbs and fruits and other varieties of roots may help to provide energy to your earthly body from time to time, in case if you have not attained the level where Sanyasis can live with minimal food or without food at all. Also if you fall sick you can use the herbs to heal yourself. In some cases people also claim that some of the herbs may help you to live longer than any know person on earth or can make you immortal even. Although given the Indian tradition the sanyasis do not run after immortal life.

There have been many sanyasis and seers whose stories of healing people with herbs or with their mystical powers attained by doing penance in Himalayas also draws people towards Himalayas.

The Himalayan range is full of pilgrimages and temples throughout from the far west Karakorum to Kamakhya in East.
In India people start worshiping the place also where any virtuous saint has done penance, In Himalayas you can be sure of that practically every cave would have been inhabited by some great enlightened person during the long history of the country given.

Another fat is that the given In Shashtras is that the penance done on mountain or near water or in a pilgrimage gives you many-fold results . An Himalayas has peaks, lakes, pilgrimages now this is the best lace where you can spiritual merit by performing your meritorious acts like penance. This is why it is called the LIVING GOD In Hinduism “DEVATMA HIMALAYA” means Divine soul Himalaya.

Himalaya has been mentioned in numerous ancient spiritual texts and everywhere it has been mentioned in great awe and respect because of spiritual merits it is endowed with.

Of course, Himalayas is known for its beauty and natural wealth and its a great tourist attraction too. Place like Manali, Shimla, Sikkim, Kashmir have been great attractions tourists. But the reverence which Himalayas has got is more due to its spiritual legacy in India. If you have to know India spiritually you must know the legacy of Himalayas behind its spiritual wealth.