HIMALAYAN FACES: A Reflection of Endurance
Photography by Cora Edmonds

In 1999, photographer Cora Edmonds set off to do something every Tibetan strives to do at least once in their lives: circumambulate the holy mountain Kailash in western Tibet. There she witnessed the faith and endurance of the Tibetan Pilgrim prostrating her or his way around Asia’s most sacred mountain. The journey takes many days, beginning with an elevation of 15,000 feet and climbing to a pass that reaches 19,600 feet.

On her pilgrimage to Mt. Kailash through northern India and Nepal, Cora photographed the religious symbols of Tibetan devotion along the pilgrim’s path: the carved yak skulls and “mani stones” etched with Tibetan prayers, the “wind horses” – colorful prayer flags that mark the barren landscape, and the prayer wheels -- ever spinning. Cora Edmonds captured the endurance of the Tibetan faith through the faces of the Tibetans scattered through, Nepal, Tibet and northern India. This is her tribute to the Tibetan refugees around the world.