Ketumāla Varsha is one of the great regions around Meru Parvata. It lies on the western side of Meru. The Bhīshma Parva of the Mahābhārata describes it as a vast and beautiful land, where the people shine like gold, the women are as beautiful as apsarasas (celestial dancers), and life lasts ten thousand years.

Location

Ketumāla Varsha lies on the western flank of Meru Parvata. It is one of the four major regions in the immediate compass of Meru. The others are Bhādraśva (east), Uttara Kuru (north), and Jambū Dvīpa proper, the central landmass of which Bhārata Varsha is the southernmost part.

The Bhīshma Parva places Ketumāla on the western side of Meru in these words, spoken by Sañjaya:

Meru parvata paścima pārśvamunandū Ketumāla dvīpamu.

The meaning is: on the western side of Mount Meru lies the dvīpa (region) of Ketumāla.

The Jambū Khaṇḍa

The text names with Ketumāla an ativistāra (extraordinarily vast) region called Jambū Khaṇḍa. It is described as being as beautiful as Nandana Vana, the pleasure garden of Indra.

The people of Ketumāla

Sañjaya describes the people of Ketumāla in words of great beauty:

The men are born with the golden light (bāṅgāru kānti) of refined gold.
The women are as beautiful as apsarasas, and no one is more attractive.
There is no disease and no grief among them. Their minds are always at peace.
Those born on Meru itself, the text adds, are born with the radiance of refined gold.

The lifespan in Ketumāla is ten thousand years.

Near Gandhamādana

Gandhamādana Parvata borders this region. Kubera lives at its summit and plays there with the apsarasas. At the foot of Gandhamādana are many small hills with streams, described as rocks shaped like water bubbles. The people of that neighbouring region live eleven thousand years. The men and women are strong and have the colour of the lotus.

Sources

Mahābhārata, Bhīshma Parva, Chapter 6