Yama Dwar
"Gateway of the God of Death "
This is the place of entering the abode of Lord Shiva. To reach Shiva's home, one should pass through the Yama Dwar. 'Yama' is the lord of death and 'Dwar' means gate. Yama, who brings mortal souls to his haven and make judgment of one's merit & sin, then release for onward cosmic journey. It is said, the real enter from this gate can be made after emancipating the soul from mortal world.
Tibetans call 'Tarboche' for Yam Dwar. They believe that Tarboche is the place from where they start circumambulation of their deity's home. They believe that Kailash is the home of 'Demchok' (Demchok is the name of their deity). Every year, they install a new prayer flag-pole in Tarboche. They ritually take down the old one then replace it with a new adorned flagpole. The ceremony takes place on the full moon day of the forth Lunar month. During the ceremony, people from all over the Tibet gather here, they make the circumambulation of flag pole clockwise. While making circumambulation they play the music of horns, conches, drums etc. The ceremony lasts for a few days.
From the flagpole, Tibetan people read the omen; if the flag pole is straight, happiness & prosperity will come to their life, this year. If the flagpole is leaning towards the Kailash, it is a bad omen. There can be suffering, disease and finally death as well. If the flagpole is leaning away from Kailash, this is also not a good sign.
Tarboche is nearly a 30 minutes drive from Darchen (the base of Mt. Kailash). The distance between Darchen and Tarboche is about 8 km. Tarboche is the place where, you will meet your yaks and horses, if you are going for Parikrama. They gather horses & yaks from different villages and bring them to this point.
