Mount Meru ( Mythology ) merged with Sumeru . ( Discuss ) For the mountain in Tanzania , see Mount Meru , Tanzania . Mount Meru or Mount Sumeru is a sacred mountain in Hindu mythology considered to be the center of the universe . It is believed to be the abode of Brahma and other deities of both religions . The mountain is said to be 80 , 000 leagues ( 450 , 000 km ) high and located in Jambudvipa , one of the continents on earth in Hindu mythology . Many Hindu temples , including Angkor Wat , the principal temple of Angkor in Cambodia , have been built as symbolic representations of the mountain . Legends Mount Meru finds mention innumerable times in Hindu mythology . Some of the better-known legends are recounted here . Meru , Vayu and Lanka Legends say that Mount Meru and the wind god Vayu were good friends . However , the sage Narada approached Vayu and incited him to humble the mountain . Vayu blew with full force for one full year , but Meru was shielded by Garuda with his wings . However , after a year Garuda took respite for some time . Taking advantage of this opportunity , Vayu increased its force . Thus the apex of the mountain was broken and it fell into the sea and created the island of Sri Lanka . Meru , Agastya and the Vindhya mountains Another legend well-known to this day in India , is regarding the daily circumnambulation of the sun around mount Meru , and involves the sage Agastya . The legend goes thus : The Vindhya mountains that separate north and south India from each other once showed a tendency to grow so high as to obstruct the usual trajectory of the sun . This was accompanied by increasing vanity on the part of that mountain range , which demanded that Surya , the sun-God , circumnambulate the Vindhya mountains daily , just as he does Mount Meru ( identified by some as being the north pole ) . The need arose to subdue , by guile , the Vindhyas , and Agastya was chosen to do that . Agastya journeyed from north to south , and on the way encountered the now impassable Vindhya mountains . He asked the mountain range to facilitate his passage across to the south . In reverence for so eminent a sage as Agastya , the Vindhya mountains bent low enough to enable the sage and his family to cross over and enter south India . The Vindhya range also promised not to increase in height until Agastya and his family returned to the north . Agastya settled permanently in the south , and the Vindhya range , true to its word , never grew further . Thus , Agastya accomplished by guile something that would have been impossible to accomplish by force . Beliefs The legends , puranas and Hindu epics frequently state that Surya , the sun-God , circumnambulates Mount Meru every day . In late 19th c. when it was believed that Aryans may have had their original home Urheimat in North Europe , it was thought that Mount Meru may actually refer to the north pole . Some beliefs , local to that area of the Himalayas , associate mythical Mount Meru with a mountain called Kailasa near the Lake Manasarovar in Tibet . For the equivalent central mountain in Buddhist cosmology , see Sumeru . See also Mount Olympus Axis mundi Buddhism Hinduism Sumeru External links Description of Mount Meru in Mahabharata 1 2 The City on the Edge of Forever Painting of Mount Meru found in Buddhist cave sanctuary in Chinese Turkestan Thangka Paintings of Mount Meru 1 2 Mount Meru in Encyclopedia of Buddhist Iconography 1 2 Sacred Geography of North Polar Regions Hinduism | Hindu mythology | Itihasa Female Deities : Gayatri | Saraswati | Lakshmi | Dakshayani | Parvati | Durga | Shakti | Kali | Sita | Devi | Radha | Mahavidya | more ... Male Deities : Vishnu | Shiva | Rama | Krishna | Ganesha | Kartikeya | Hanuman | Lakshmana | Indra | Surya | more ... Texts : Vedas | Upanishads | Puranas | Ramayana | Mahabharata This box :   view • talk • edit Categories : Articles to be merged since September 2006 | Locations in Hindu mythology | Mountains of India In other languages : Deutsch | Español | Français | Italiano | 日本語 | Lietuvių | Svenska Sumeru September 2006 