Top mountain radical (Kangxi #46) - three peaks rising side by side, the indexing radical. Anchors 崇 in the high-place family with 岭 ridge, 峰 peak, 岸 cliff. Position is iconic: the mountain sits on top of the character, picturing height itself.
Bottom 宗 supplies the sound (zōng to chóng, a notable Old-Chinese drift but consistent in this phonetic family). 宗 itself depicts an altar 示 under a roof 宀 - the ancestral shrine. That sense 'principal, most-revered' resonates here: a mountain holding a principal shrine = lofty, exalted. Hence 推崇, 崇拜, 崇高.
