Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world with an elevation of 8,586 m (28,169 ft) and located along the India-Nepal border in the Himalayas. Kangchenjunga is also the name of the section of the Himalayas and means "The Five Treasures of Snows", as it contains five peaks, four of them over 8,450 m (27,720 ft). The treasures represent the five repositories of God, which are gold, silver, gems, grain, and holy books.

Three of the five peaks – main, central, and south – are on the border of North Sikkim in India and Taplejung District of Nepal, while the other two are completely in Taplejung District. The Kangchenjunga Himal includes twelve more peaks over 7,000 m (23,000 ft).

Until 1852, Kangchenjunga was assumed to be the highest mountain in the world, but calculations made by the Great Trigonometric Survey of India in 1849 came to the conclusion that Mount Everest (known as Peak XV at the time) was the highest and Kangchenjunga the third-highest. Kangchenjunga was first climbed on May 25, 1955 by Joe Brown and George Band, who were part of a British expedition. The British expedition honoured the beliefs of the Sikkimese, who hold the summit sacred, by stopping a few feet short of the actual summit. Most successful summit parties since then have followed this tradition.