Khumbila is a 5,761 m (18,901 ft) mountain in Sagarmatha National Park, in the Khumbu region of Nepal. It is also called Khumbu Yul-Lha, the god of the Khumbu, and most Sherpas consider it too sacred to climb. It has never been climbed.
Height and place
Khumbila is 5,761 m high and lies in the Khumbu Himal inside Sagarmatha National Park. It rises above the villages of Khumjung and Kunde (Khunde).
The god of the Khumbu
The name Khumbu Yul-Lha means roughly the god of the Khumbu village area. Prayers to the mountain are said to go back more than 500 years, to when the Sherpa ancestors lived in Tibet. Prayer flags on bamboo poles are raised on buildings in its honour.
Guru Rinpoche legend
According to tradition the mountain was subdued and converted to Buddhism by the eighth-century saint Guru Rinpoche, who is said to have meditated in a cave above Kunde.
Never climbed
One attempt before the 1980s is said to have ended in an avalanche that killed the climbers, though records of it are thin. No later attempts are recorded.
How to see it
Khumbila is seen from the villages of Khumjung and Kunde, which are visited on routes around Namche Bazaar. See the Everest Base Camp guides and the Everest View trek guides.
Common questions
- How high is Khumbila? 5,761 m.
- Has anyone climbed it? No ascent is recorded.
- Is there a legal ban? Sources describe it as sacred to the Sherpa community rather than banned by a dated law.
Plan it
Read the sacred mountains overview or unclimbed mountains of Nepal.
