Mount Meru

For the Indian peak, see Meru Peak. For the mountain in the Meru region of Tanzania, see Mount Meru (Tanzania). For other uses, see Mount Meru (disambiguation).
"Sumeru" redirects here. For the Bollywood film, see Sumeru (film). For the fictional nation, see Genshin Impact.

Bhutanese thangka of Mount Meru and the Buddhist universe, 19th century, Trongsa Dzong, Trongsa, Bhutan.

Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु), also known as Sumeru, Sineru, or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical, and spiritual universes.[1] The mountain is also mentioned in some scriptures of non-Indian based religions such as Taoism, which was influenced by the arrival of Buddhism in China.[2] There is no clear identification of Mount Meru with a particular geophysical location but it is always located in the Himalayan or Aravalli ranges. But it is located in the middle of the four great continents (Pubbavideha Dīpa, Uttarakuru Dīpa, Amaragoyāna Dīpa, Jambu Dīpa) of the cosmo.

Many famous Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist temples have been built as symbolic representations of this mountain. The "Sumeru Throne" zh:须弥座 xūmízuò style base is a common feature[citation needed] of Chinese pagodas. The highest point (the finial bud) on the pyatthat, a Burmese-style multi-tiered roof, represents Mount Meru.

  1. ^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 78.
  2. ^ "THƯỢNG THẤT TIÊU TAI TẬP PHÚC DIỆU KINH". thegioivohinh.com. Retrieved 8 March 2023.