Mount Kanchenjunga: 13 Interesting facts that will blow your mind
Kanchenjunga, a majestic beauty which leaves all its visitors in an awe.
With an elevation of 8586 meter, Kanchenjunga is the third highest peak in the world. It's located in India, Nepal and Tibet and its enchanting beauty attracts thousands of people from all over the world. The mesmerizing view of the sunrise, the challenging trek routs and the hypnotic appearance make Kanchenjunga so special. Here, let's take a look at some of the most amazing facts about this mountain that you probably didn't know.
Kanchenjunga literally means "The Five Treasures of Snows", referring to its five peaks. These five treasures represent God's five depositories such as gold, silver, gems, grain and holy books.
In Sanskrit, the word Kanchenjunga came from the Sanskrit words Kanchana and Ganga, and it means "the river shines like a gold".
Until 1852, people used to consider Kanchenjunga as the highest mountain in the world. The British Great Trigonometric Society began a calculation in 1849 and found that Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
Kanchenjunga is also known as Sewalungma in the local Limbu language. This means "Mountain that we offer greetings to".
There are total 4 routes to climb Kanchenjunga. While the northwest, northeast and southwest routes lie in Nepal, the northeastern route lies in Sikkim.
Joe Brown and George Band, part of a British expedition, became the first mountaineers to climb Kanchenjunga successfully (May 25th, 1955).
On 16th May, 1979, Peter Boardman, Doug Scott and Joe Tasker climbed Kanchenjunga peak without any auxiliary oxygen.
After Mount Annapurna, Kanchenjunga is the second least climbed mountain of the 14 peaks higher than 8000 meters.
Climbing Kanchenjunga is very difficult and full of risks. A lot of people have died while climbing this mountain. Due to its high fatality rate, Kanchenjunga is known as 'Killer Mountain'.
The local people worship Kanchenjunga as their God and consider the summit point as the sacred place. For this reason, the early climbers used to stop some distance from the summit point and leave this place untouched.
According to the local people, Kanchenjunga and the surrounding area are home to 'Yeti' (a mountain deity). While several climbers have claimed to have spotted these creatures at Kanchenjunga, this is mostly considered as a rumour.
Kanchenjunga is home to many rare wildlife like Red Panda, Musk deer, Blue Sheep, Snow-Leopard etc and a plenty of bird species such as Impedance Pheasant, Shy Dragon etc.
On July 17, 2016, UNESCO declared Kanchenjunga as a World Heritage Site.
