Lake Manasarovar in the context of "Bon"

The Yarlung Tsangpo, also called Yarlung Zangbo (Tibetan: ཡར་ཀླུངས་གཙང་པོ་, Wylie: yar kLungs gTsang po, ZWPY: Yarlung Zangbo) and Yalu Zangbu River (Chinese: 雅鲁藏布江; pinyin: Yǎlǔzàngbù Jiāng) is a river that flows through the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and Arunachal Pradesh of India. It is the longest river of Tibet and the fifth longest in China. The upper section is also called Dangque Zangbu meaning "Horse River".

Originating from the Angsi Glacier in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar, it later forms the South Tibet Valley and Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon before passing into the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. Downstream from Arunachal Pradesh, the river becomes far wider and is called the Siang. After reaching Assam, the river is known as the Brahmaputra.

Mount Kailash (also Kailasa, Gang Tise and Gang Rinpoche or Kangrinboqê) is a mountain in Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It lies in the Gangdise Shan mountain range of the Transhimalaya, in the western part of the Tibetan Plateau. The peak of Mount Kailash is located at an elevation of 6,638 m (21,778 ft), near the western trijunction between China, India and Nepal.

Mount Kailash is located close to Manasarovar and Rakshastal lakes. The sources of four rivers: Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, and Ghaghara lie in the vicinity of the region. Mount Kailash is sacred in Bon, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. People from China, India, Nepal, and other countries in the region undertake a pilgrimage to the mountain. The pilgrimage generally involves trekking towards Lake Manasarovar and a circumambulation of Mount Kailash.

Lake Rakshastal (Tibetan: ལག་ངར་མཚོ; Sanskrit: राक्षसताल, romanized: Rākṣasatāla; Chinese: 拉昂错) is a saltwater lake in Tibet Autonomous Region, lying just west of Lake Manasarovar and south of Mount Kailash. The Sutlej River (also known by the Tibetan name Langqen Zangbo in this area) originates about 17 km to the west. Rakshas Tal is at 4,575 metres above sea level whereas the Manasarovar is at 4,690 metres.

In Hinduism, the yatra (pilgrimage) to the tirthas (sacred places) has special significance for earning the punya (spiritual merit) needed to attain the moksha (salvation) by performing the darśana (viewing of deity), the parikrama (circumambulation), the yajna (sacrificial fire offering), the Dhyana (spiritual contemplation), the puja (worship), the prarthana (prayer, which could be in the form of mantra - sacred chants, bhajan - prayer singing, or kirtan - collective musical prayer performance), the dakshina (alms and donation for worthy cause), the seva (selfless service towards community, devotees or temple), the bhandara (running volunteer community kitchen for pilgrims), etc. These sacred places are usually located on the banks of sacred waters, such as sacred rivers or their tributaries (among the rigvedic rivers of sapta sindhu the trio ganges-yamuna-saraswati are considered most sacred), the kundas (pond or lake, among these the Lake Manasarovar is considered most scared), the ghats (water bodies with stairs such as Ghats in Varanasi), or the stepwells (among these the rani ki vav in the form of inverted temple is considered most spectacular), or the temple tanks.

In India there are 7 Sapta Puri holy cities, 4 Dhams (Char Dham) and 12 Jyotirlings devoted to the Lord Shiva, 51 Shakti Pithas devoted to the feminine manifestation of the god, the eight swayambhu Vishnu temples (Badrinath, Naimisharanya, Saligram Muktinath, Srimushnam, Tiruchirappalli, Tirupati, Nanguneri, Pushkar) and the important Lord Rama circuit (Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Hampi and Rameswaram) and Lord Krishna circuit (Braj, Kurukshetra and Dwarka).