The six Kulācala
Six walls of mountain running east to west across Jambūdvīpa, sea to sea. They are what make seven regions out of one disc.
They are also called varṣadhara — region-holders — and each is made of a single material, stated in the texts and used by painters to colour them: Himavān gold, Mahāhimavān silver, Niṣadha red gold, Nīla blue beryl, Rukmī silver, Śikharī gold. Read outward from Mahāvideha and the materials mirror as neatly as the widths do.
Each carries a lake on its summit, each lake holds a lotus, each lotus holds a goddess, and out of each lake run rivers.
They rise flat-topped, with the same width at base and crest, and their heights step up as they go inward: 100, 200, 400 yojana, then back down again.
Measurements and counts
| Count | 6 |
|---|---|
| Also called | varṣadhara |
| Himavān / Śikharī | 100 yojana high |
| Mahāhimavān / Rukmī | 200 yojana high |
| Niṣadha / Nīla | 400 yojana high |
| Each carries | a lake and a goddess |
Connected
Mahāhimavān
The silver wall between Haimavat and Hari. Four parts in 190.
Twice the width and twice the height of Himavān. It carries the lake Mahāpadma Draha, home of the goddess Hrī, and from it fall Rohitā south into Haimavat and Harikāntā north into Hari.
| Material | silver |
|---|---|
| Height | 200 yojana |
| Width | 4,210 10⁄19 yojana |
| Lake | Mahāpadma |
| Goddess | Hrī |
| Rivers from it | Rohitā, Harikāntā |
Rukmī
The silver wall between Ramyak and Hairaṇyavat. Four parts in 190.
The name itself means silvery. It mirrors Mahāhimavān in size, material and function, carries the lake Mahāpuṇḍarīka Draha and the goddess Buddhi, and sends Narakāntā south and Rūpyakūlā north.
| Material | silver |
|---|---|
| Height | 200 yojana |
| Width | 4,210 10⁄19 yojana |
| Lake | Mahāpuṇḍarīka |
| Goddess | Buddhi |
| Rivers from it | Narakāntā, Rūpyakūlā |
Śikharī
The gold wall between Hairaṇyavat and Airāvat. Two parts in 190, and the northern twin of Himavān.
Its ends run out into the salt ocean, with twenty-eight Antardvīpas islands lying off them. It carries the lake Puṇḍarīka Draha and the goddess Lakṣmī.
Three rivers begin here, matching Himavān: Suvarṇakūlā south into Hairaṇyavat, and Raktā and Raktodā into Airāvat Kṣetra.
| Material | gold |
|---|---|
| Height | 100 yojana |
| Width | 1,052 12⁄19 yojana |
| Lake | Puṇḍarīka |
| Goddess | Lakṣmī |
| Rivers from it | Suvarṇakūlā, Raktā, Raktodā |