Indian religions, particularly Hinduism, this status is not found in early Indian texts prior to texts authored in the 1st millennium CE. Instead, the early Buddhist, Hindu and Jain texts mention a mythical Mount Meru and lake Manasa. The mythical Manasa lake is described as one created through the mind of Brahma as the preferred abode of his vahana hamsa. While there is no explicit mention of this lake or the nearby mountain in ancient Sanskrit texts, there is indirect mention of this region of Tibet in hymn 2.15 of the Rigveda. There it says that Indus river keeps flowing north because of Indra's power, a geographical reality only in Tibet. This is in the context of Himavant (or the Himalayas). According to Frits Staal, a Sanskrit and Vedic studies scholar, this makes it likely that some among the ancient Vedic people had traced the Indus river route and had seen the valley near Mount Kailash. However, there is no mention of this lake or it being a tirtha (pilgrimage site). Typically, major historic pilgrimage sites that were frequented by Buddhists, Hindus and Jains attracted a discussion in their respective texts and the construction of infrastructure by wealthy patrons or kings. In Hinduism, these were the mahatmya chapters in the Puranas, and the infrastructure include temples, dharmasalas, ashrams and pilgrimage facilities. At least until the 1930s, there is no evidence of such structures in the Kailash-Manasarovar region. The earliest verifiable reports that confirm that this lake site attracted pilgrims are those of the Buddhists. According to Luciano Petech, Tibetan records confirm that Buddhists considered the region now identified as Kailasa and Manasarovar to be their sacred geography by late 12th-century, with many reports of Buddhist monks meditating in the Go-zul cave of Kailash and circumambulating the mountain. According to Alex McKay, the possible synthesis of esoteric Buddhism and Shaivism in Nepal, Tibet and eastern region of India may have expanded and brought Kailash and lake Manasarovar into the shared sacred geography for both Buddhists and Hindus. The 13th-century text Mahanirvana Tantra dedicates it first chapter to Kailash and Manasarovar lake as a pilgrimage site. This may have been coupled with the re-discovery of its importance to major rivers on the subcontinent. Between 1901 and 1905, southern Tibet became strategically important to the British Empire. The colonial era officials decided to encourage and assist religious pilgrimage to this lake and Kailash