In Hindu mythology, a golden-coloured five-peaked mountain is the centre of the universe and the axis of the world. This is Mount Meru or Sumeru. In our epics, it has been referred to as the abode of the gods, but the epics do not specify its exact location. From the description, many regions in the Himalayas and trans-Himalayas could be Meru.
Meru is said to be situated at the junction of four great continents or dvipas, as they were called then: Pubbavideha, Uttarakuru, Amaragoyanaand Jambu. Among these, Jambu dvipa refers to the Indian subcontinent. Meru is believed to be encircled by other mountains on all sides—Mandrachala to the east, Suparshva to the west, Kumuda to the northand Kailasha to the south. Four major rivers originate in this region—the Indus, Satluj, Brahmaputra and Karnali (Ghaghara).
Mythology states that Indra resides at the peak of Meru, which is considered the Stairway to Heaven. This mountain is the one the Pandavas and Draupadi aimed to climb at the end of their lives, but only Yudhishthira, along with Dharma in the form of a dog, was able to reach the summit. Only a being without sins can ascend this mountain. Meru is said to be the home of Kubera, the god of wealth and king of yakshas. King Kesari, the father of Lord Hanuman, is also said to reside on Meru. Lord Shiva dwells on Mount Kailasha. In texts, Meru is described as having incredible dimensions, with its height said to be about one million kilometres—roughly 85 times the diameter of Earth. This towering mountain connects the earth to both heaven and the underworld.
Buddhist mythology depicts Mount Meru in almost exactly the same way as Hinduism, as the centre of the world, with the same fantastic height. The Sun and the Moon revolve around Meru, and when the Sun goes behind it, night falls. Meru is said to be hourglass in shape, with a large square top and bottom, but a narrow stem in the middle. The base of the mountain is surrounded by a moat-like ocean, which in turn is encircled by a ring of mountains. There are seven seas and seven mountain rings like this.
In Jainism, Mount Meru is again the centre of the world, and there are two sets of Sun, Moon and the stars resvolving around it. While one set does duty, the other set rests behind Meru. Whenever a Jain Tirthankara is born, Indra puts the mother into deep sleep and takes the newborn to his abode on the Meru peak, where his birth is celebrated by the Devas by bathing him and applying divine pastes.