Mount Meru

The cosmic mountain at the centre of Jambudvipa and the axis of the Puranic universe — the seed-cup of the cosmic lotus whose petals form the four surrounding continents (Bharatavarsha south, Ketumala west, Uttarakuru north, Bhadrasva east). Mount Meru rises 84,000 yojanas above the earth and extends 16,000 yojanas below (one yojana ≈ 13 km). In the standard Puranic cosmology Meru is identified with the astronomical north pole. The four face-slopes are gold (east), silver (north), ruby (south) and lapis lazuli (west) — the four colours reflected in the four surrounding oceans. Meru is the model for the vertical axis of Hindu temple architecture (the shikhara of Nagara temples is literally called 'Meru-prasada'), the central mandala of Yantra iconography, and the royal palace plans of Angkor Wat, Prambanan, and the Khmer court tradition. The 1962 Mount Everest expedition revived Meru-identification debates.