Meru

Meru is a name used for several places, peoples, and concepts in Africa and Asia, reflecting a wide range of cultural and geographical contexts. In religious cosmology, Mount Meru (also spelled Sumeru) is a sacred mountain described in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts as the central axis of the universe and the home of the gods. It is a mythic concept rather than a physical location, though real peaks in Asia have been given the name Meru.

In the Indian Himalaya, Meru Peak refers to a prominent mountain in the Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand. It is a well-known mountaineering objective and has featured in climbing literature and media.

In East Africa, the Meru are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group found in Kenya and Tanzania. The Meru language belongs to the Bantu family and is spoken by communities in the Meru homeland. The Meru National Park, located in eastern Kenya, is a protected wildlife reserve associated with the Meru people and regional conservation efforts. The region around the Meru people, historically and administratively, has also contributed to the naming of local districts and counties in Kenya.

Throughout these contexts, Meru serves as a versatile toponym and ethnonym, illustrating how a single name can appear in myth, high-altitude geography, and contemporary regional identity. In modern media and literature, the name has also appeared in documentaries and works that highlight Himalayan climbing or East African cultural heritage, helping to disseminate the term beyond its traditional locales.