The mountain man was given due respect and a state funeral by the Government of Bihar.

People from his own village laughed and made fun of him as the task seemed impossible, but he continued with his work for nearly 22 years continuously . Dashrath Manjhi, also popularly known as the Mountain Man of India who took on a mountain and single-handedly carved a path through it. He gave 22 years of his life to his village and made a difference in the lives of the people of this small village in the state of Bihar.

Using a hammer and chisel as his only work tools over these 22 years, Dashrath Manjhi, a poor, landless farmer, carved a path through a mountain in the Gehlour Hills, Bihar just so that his village could have easier access to medical facilities. Manjhi – The Mountain Man, is an upcoming documentary on the life of this man and will be Directed by Ketan Mehta, .

Let’s inspire ourselves to do the impossible and read some facts about the Mountain Man:

The villagers from Manjhi’s village had to travel 70 kilometres to reach to the nearest town to get medical attention.

In the year 1959, Dashrath Manjhi’s wife Falguni Devi died from lack of medical care.
In the memory of his wife, he took up a challenge and started carving the path in the Gehlour hills so that his village could have a better and easy access to medical facilities being offered in a nearby village.

• He worked day and night for 22 years and broke down the hill.
• The path is 360 foot long and 25 foot deep.
• He shortened the distance from 70 kilometres to just one kilometre.
• He worked from 1960 to 1982.
• For his achievement, Manjhi became popularly known as the ‘Mountain Man’.
• He died on August 17, 2007 at the age of 73, while suffering from gall bladder cancer.
• To honour his achievements, a hospital in his name is also proposed for serving the villagers.
• He was called the poor man’s Shah Jahan by filmmaker Ketan Mehta who has also made a documentary on his life.
• His name was also proposed by the Bihar government for the Padma Shri award in 2006.

When a movie on his life titled ‘Manjhi’ was announced to be made by a Bollywood producer-director duo, Manjhi was on his deathbed. He just put his thumb impression on an agreement and gave away the “exclusive rights” to make a film on and around his life.

The mountain man was given due respect and a state funeral by the Government of Bihar.