Shamballa: Himalayan Legend and Mythical City of Kalapa

1) Shamballa: names, roots and resonances

1.1 A name with many faces, a single heart

In texts, paintings, and oral traditions, Shamballa varies in spelling without losing its core meaning. Shambhala retains its scholarly proximity to Sanskrit and transliterations, Shambala is found in contemporary titles or research, while Shamballa has become the dominant usage in French. This diversity is neither a flaw nor a hesitation: it reminds us that the myth has traveled, settled in different languages, and nourished diverse communities without ceasing to indicate the same inner direction.

1.2 First memory: a story of transmission

Tradition connects Shamballa to the Kalachakra , the "Wheel of Time." The Buddha, responding to the wish of King Suchandra , is said to have delivered this teaching for an entire people—rulers, artisans, monks, and laypeople—so that time itself might become method. In this perspective, Shamballa is neither a mirage nor a mere geography: it is the name of a promise kept by a community striving to align ethics, study, and precision of gesture.

1.3 Three additional readings that provide breadth

Tibetan commentaries describe three levels of understanding.

External : Shamballa as an earthly kingdom, difficult to access, not approached without adequate maturity.

Internal : Shamballa as a mapping of the practitioner's body and mind, a work of breath and attention.

Guidance : Shamballa as a guiding mandala , an arrangement of forms that teaches one to order one's outlook and priorities.

This triad keeps the myth alive: in every era, a door remains open.

2) “Where is Shamballa?”: an untraceable kingdom?

2.1 A high-altitude North, an axis more than an address

The stories place Shamballa "beyond" Tibet: toward the highlands of the Himalayas and the steps of Inner Asia. This "beyond" is not a GPS point to be checked; it is an axis , a climb toward clarity. We speak of an unfindable realm because no map leads there: the compass is internal, and the altitude—real or symbolic—requires a breath that must be learned.

2.2 Kalapa: mandala capital and pedagogy of the gaze

The heart of Shamballa has a name, Kalapa , its capital. The thangkas describe it as a mandala-city : four cardinal gates, concentric enclosures, central palace. The form is not decorative; it offers a way to enter, circulate, and return to the center. The exact opposite of wandering, Shamballa teaches that rigor—even in the architecture of the images—allows one to welcome the grandeur of the mountains and the depth of time.

2.3 Sandalwood, rare stone mandala and lakes: a telling geography

South of Kalapa, some commentators locate a sandalwood forest from which rises a three-dimensional Kalachakra mandala, erected in precious stones at the instigation of King Suchandra. To the east and west, two lakes open, sometimes called Little Manasa and White Lotus . This landscape serves as a mnemonic . Each element recalls a step in the method: welcoming, ordering, connecting.

3) Shamballa in Tibetan Buddhism: pure land, method and lineage

3.1 A “pure land” that cannot be located

In Tibetan teaching, we can speak of a pure land : an earthly register, but one that cannot be located until maturity is achieved. Intention is key. Shamballa then becomes a delicate test: as long as one confuses quest with greed, the door remains closed. Access is not denied; it is deferred until the demand is adjusted.

3.2 The Kalachakra: a work of time

The Kalachakra structures the whole: cycles, correspondences, ethics. The great public initiations expose a sand mandala composed grain by grain, then dissolve it at the end, to signify that clarity remains alive when it makes itself available, not when it solidifies. In this economy, Shamballa is not a museum: it is a workshop.

3.3 The Guardian Lineage: Continuity Before Prowess

The tradition unites generations of kings—first "Dharma kings," then Kalki ( Rigden )—who ensure the integrity of the teaching. The last, often called Rudra Chakrin , represents a restoration of clarity after a period of confusion. The precise letter matters depending on the school: the central idea remains; Shamballa is the story of long-standing loyalty rather than a dazzling exploit.

3.4 A prayer for birth (or rebirth) in Shamballa

Texts attributed to the ^6th Panchen Lama express a wish for rebirth in Shamballa . The wish is not an entry ticket: it is a direction given to an entire life. One does not "win" the capital of Kalapa; one puts oneself in a position to recognize one's own task there: to learn, to transmit, to care for the forms.

4) Neighboring traditions and modern readings: framing without confusing

4.1 Hindu Echoes

In Hinduism, Shambhala appears in a more discreet manner, sometimes linked to Kalkî , a future avatar of Vishnu, and to speculations around Sanat Kumara . These bridges invite caution: they speak of the porosity of the imaginations of India and the Himalayas, not a strict identity of doctrines. Keeping the nuance allows us to appreciate Shamballa without dissolving it into an indistinct syncretism.

4.2 Bon kinship: another “high country”

The Bon tradition, older (or parallel) to Tibetan Buddhism, also evokes a hidden kingdom, Ol-mo-lung-ring . In some accounts, the capital of ancient Zhang Zhung is even called Shambhala , a sign of a vocabulary that has overlapped over the centuries. Rather than seeing confusion here, we can read a proximity of concerns : preserving a center, articulating a heritage.

4.3 Western narratives and contemporary syncretisms

In the 19th ^{and 20th} centuries, the name traveled: Shamballa crossed Theosophy, inspired esoteric movements, and mixed with hypotheses about underground worlds or vanished civilizations. The West projected its expectations onto it (ideal city, invisible center, "refuge"). While interesting for understanding an era, these reinterpretations nevertheless moved away from the pedagogical framework of Kalachakra . Discernment consists of recognizing the borrowings without forgetting the original framework: study, ethics, attention.

4.4 Quests, Journals and Archives

At the turn of the ^20th century, the artist Nicholas Roerich traveled through Central Asia, writing and painting Shambhala . His notebooks, canvases, and period photographs compose a superb atlas of clues —a dialogue between Himalayan landscapes and Tibetan memory. Even earlier, in the 17th ^century , the Portuguese missionary Estêvão Cacella reported the name “Xembala” heard in Tibet; in the 19th ^century , the scholar Sándor Kőrösi Csoma introduced Shambhala to the West as a “fabulous country.” Each, in his own way, documents not a discovery but a way of searching .

5) Images that teach: mandalas, kings, cities and mountains

5.1 The mandala: a precision workshop

A Kalachakra mandala is neither a mere symbol nor a decoration. It is a tool . Its composition—colors, axes, figures—forms a language that trains the eye to patience. When dissolved in water, it does not “disappear”: it changes form. Shamballa teaches that stability comes from fidelity to gestures, not from the fixity of objects.

5.2 Guardian Figures

In the thangka series, the kings of Shamballa are less like warriors than sacred librarians: they carry wheels, texts, and instruments of transmission. They remind us that true power lies in continuity : being in one's place, fulfilling one's role, transmitting without betraying.

5.3 City and mountain: the balance of forms

An image recurs: the ordered mandala-city and the Himalayan massif that surrounds it. The regularity of one does not abolish the irregularity of the other; they respond to each other. Shamballa offers a balance: cultivating precision without losing breadth, loving breadth without renouncing precision.

6) Modern languages, pronunciations and usages

6.1 Spelling variations: the same compass

Whether we read Shamballa , Shambhala , Shambala , or—more rarely— Shambalha , we are aiming at the same center. The variants are not competitors; they are linguistic habits for a motif that remains stable. In today's French, Shamballa naturally imposes itself in conversations and general texts.

6.2 Four ways to say “Shamballa”: phonetics table

Pronunciation varies depending on the language and context. The approaches below are guidelines, not dogmas; they simply help with understanding.

6.3 Contemporary presences

The name Shamballa appears today in public lectures on Kalachakra , exhibitions of Himalayan art, travelogues, films and even video games (Uncharted).

The term "shamballa bracelet" is also commonly used—a beaded macrame braid popularized in the early 2010s by a brand.

In 2025, a young YouTuber, Anyme, released a hit uptempo song of the same name.

This is a cultural usage, without doctrinal significance. The important thing is elsewhere: Shamballa continues to fuel a spiritual and sacred imagination.

7) Fundamental questions: real and symbolic, thresholds and maturity

7.1 “Is it real?”: a two-tiered answer

Asked about Shamballa , the question of "reality" calls for a double answer. Yes , if we are talking about a method, a community, a way of ordering life: Shamballa functions as a demanding, very concrete workshop. No , if we are waiting for a tourist destination and coordinates: the kingdom remains deliberately untraceable , in order to protect the teaching from curiosity (without practicing).

7.2 How to “enter”?

The door to Shamballa cannot be forced. Entrance to Shamballa is through ethics , study , and the discipline of attention . This triad is not illogical. It requires regularity—like learning to breathe at altitude. In reality, “entering” Shamballa means joining the effort of a community that cares for the memory of the Kalachakra .

7.3 What does “keep” mean?

Keeping Shamballa is not about closing doors. It is about maintaining the coherence of a teaching over time: verifying sources, nurturing rites, correcting omissions, and reformulating without betraying. Kings, masters, and artisans—all portraits of the tradition—recall this collective task: ensuring that the form always carries the meaning, the substance.

8) Himalayan landscapes: learning from the heights

8.1 Altitude as a pedagogy

High valleys and steep terrain demand economy of gesture: not too fast, not too hard, not too late. This sobriety echoes Shamballa . Mountains do not yield to haste; they reward patience and discernment. Legend did not choose the plain. It planted the city among the peaks to remind us that clarity is gained through progression , not discovery.

8.2 Villages, water, stone

In the regions where the motif has been nourished, water is as important as stone: channels are created, retreat zones are reserved. The landscape imposes a logic of priorities . By visiting these places (with delicacy), we better understand why Shamballa so strongly links the architecture of the city to the surrounding topography: it is a question of learning to live without dissipating.

8.3 Walking memories

Travelogues describe this small miracle: fatigue passes, clarity remains. We then understand better how the mandala-city could serve as a method of concentration . By climbing, we prune. Shamballa is a pedagogy that teaches us to remove the accessory in order to achieve what is necessary.

9) Anthology of anecdotes (sources and continuities)

9.1 Sand Mandala: Patience and Dissolution

Creating a Kalachakra mandala requires teams trained over years. Each bead is placed with a special applicator. Once the initiation is complete, the mandala is collected and poured into water. Not to "erase" the beauty, but to fulfill it. Shamballa teaches that attachment to the object betrays the lesson; the generosity of the form remains, even if the figure changes.

9.2 Kalapa and Sandalwood

South of the capital, a park—the Sandalwood —is said to house a stone mandala: a way of stabilizing in space what practice stabilizes in the heart. Between stone and sand, the same pedagogy: precision satisfies memory; memory nourishes precision.

9.3 Lineage and Promise

The king lists—Dharma, Kalki / Rigden —do not cradle nostalgia. They keep a rhythm . They say that Shamballa does not exist "on its own," but because of people who have chosen to take on a task: to learn, to clarify, to transmit. The promise is not to possess; it is to serve . It is also the palace of the ascended masters.

10) References, works and literary echoes

From Roerich's Central Asia to the essays of modern Tibetologists, Shamballa has never ceased to inspire. Literature has sometimes reinvented a cousin city—Shangri-La—while researchers have patiently reconstructed the transmission paths of the Kalachakra . The two approaches do not have the same aim; however, they bear witness to the same desire: the need for a center that guides and soothes.

At a time when everything is visible, the discreet part of Shamballa has something liberating about it: it protects the depth of rites and studies. It invites active calm: not the forgetting of vicissitudes, but the holding of a course that belongs to no one and obliges everyone.

11) Why our house is called “Shamballa”

We chose Shamballa because it combines a mythical imagery with a very concrete practice. The word speaks of a fiercely guarded city, hidden in the highlands, which forces us to seek an intrinsic quality rather than an address. Our material of choice, shilajit , comes from these legendary rocks: slow, mineral, shaped by pressure, season and time. Shamballa is the "Blood of the Mountain", the "Gift of God" and the "Destroyer of Weakness". Correlating Shamballa with shilajit contributes to the same horizon: rarity , patience and authenticity .

The founder of the house, Julien , has traveled several times throughout India and the Himalayan countries. Through walks, meetings, readings, conversations and learning, the name Shamballa has gone from mythology to reality. It sums up a way of doing things: precision of gesture, origin of the raw material, perpetuated traditions, and responsibility . It is from this weaving—between the legend of the heights and the magic of the rocks—that our shilajit takes its name.

Discover our shilajit

References

1. Wikipedia (FR) — Shambhala (myth)
2. Wikipedia (FR) — Kalachakra Tantra
3. Dalai Lama website — accounts of initiations (e.g. Leh, 2014)
4. Himalayan Art Resources — Kalachakra Sets & Iconography
5. Berzin Archives — Shambhala Files & Interpretations
6. Nicholas Roerich Museum — Shambhala , paintings & texts
7. Internet Archive — historical editions (e.g., Shambhala , 1930)
8. Youtube “Shamballa the Pure Land” Himalayan Art Resources, Inc 2021