https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=1965_Indian_Everest_Expedition1965 Indian Everest Expedition - Revision history2026-07-31T17:08:45ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=1965_Indian_Everest_Expedition&diff=393945&oldid=prevMetaBOT at 11:56, 13 July 20232023-07-13T11:56:43Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|First successful Indian summit of Mount Everest}}<br />
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[[File:Everest kalapatthar.jpg|thumb|250px|Mount Everest]]<br />
[[File:Everest Expedition 1965 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|1965 Indian stamp dedicated to the 1965 Everest Expedition]]<br />
[[File:The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi meets the members of 1965 Everest Expedition on the golden jubilee of the occasion, in New Delhi on May 20, 2015 (2).jpg|thumb|The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi meets the members of 1965 expedition in New Delhi on 20 May 2015, the 50th anniversary of the ascent]]<br />
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The '''1965 Indian Everest Expedition''' reached the summit of [[Mount Everest]] on 20 May 1965. It was the first successful scaling of the mountain by an Indian climbing expedition.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.everesthistory.com/everestsummits/summits60.htm|title= Indian Everest Expedition 1965-|website= www.everesthistory.com}}</ref> <br />
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After the first conquest of Mount Everest in 1953 by the New Zealander [[Edmund Hillary]] and Sherpa [[Tenzing Norgay]], Indian military forces made several attempts to conquer the summit. The first expedition by the Indian Army, which was led by Brigadier Gyan Singh in 1960, failed. Climbers [[Narendra Kumar (mountaineer)|Colonel Narendra Kumar]], [[Sonam Gyatso (mountaineer)|Sonam Gyatso]], and Sherpa [[Nawang Gombu]] reached {{convert|28300|ft}}, just {{convert|700|ft}} from the summit, but had to turn back due to extremely bad weather.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/22/2/indians-on-mount-everest-1960/|title= Failed Indian attempt on Mount Everest-1960 -|website= www.himalayanclub.org}}</ref> The second expedition by the Indian Army, led by Major John Diaz in 1962, also failed. Captain [[Mohan Singh Kohli]], Sonam Gyatso, and [[Hari Dang]] got to almost {{convert|400|ft}} below the summit at {{convert|28600|ft}}, but also had to give up due to bad weather.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/24/4/everest-1962/|title= Failed Indian attmept on Mount Everest-1962 -|website= www.himalayanclub.org}}</ref> Mohan Singh Kohli was a member of both these expeditions.<br />
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==Preparation==<br />
In 1965, the third Indian expedition, which was led by [[Mohan Singh Kohli]] and his deputy [[Narendra Kumar (mountaineer)|Colonel Narendra "Bull" Kumar]], included 21 core members of the expedition, and around 50 climbing [[Sherpa people|sherpas]]. The mission was sponsored by the [[Indian Mountaineering Foundation|Indian Mountaineering foundation]]. The team started their journey from [[New Delhi]] on 21 February and reached on [[Jaynagar railway station]] in [[Bihar]], the [[India|Indo]]-[[Nepal]] border on 24 February. They arranged for 25 tons of materials for the mission from various cities of India, including food, cloths, sleeping tents, oxygen cylinders and mountaineering equipment. All materials were carried from Jaynagar railway station to [[base camp]] by 800 porters including women. The initial attempt was at the end of April and due to bad weather they came back to base camp and wait two weeks for better weather. Towards the end of May, Mount Everest was scaled in four successive attempts and put nine climbers on to the summit, setting a world record which India held for 17 years.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}<br />
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==Reaching the summit==<br />
India became the fourth country to scale Mount Everest.<br />
On 20 May 1965, [[Avtar Singh Cheema|Lt Col Avatar. S. Cheema]] and [[Nawang Gombu|Nawang Gombu Sherpa]] reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming the first Indians to do so. This was the second time that Nawang Gombu Sherpa had climbed Mount Everest. The first was with an American expedition in 1963. He became the first person to climb the mountain twice.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}<br />
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Two days later, on 22 May, Sonam Gyatso and [[Sonam Wangyal]] reached the summit and [[Chandra Prakash Vohra|C. P. Vohra]], [[Ang Kami]] Sherpa reached it on 24 May.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}<br />
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On 29 May, 12 years to the day from the [[1953 British Mount Everest expedition|first ascent of Mount Everest]], Major [[H. P. S. Ahluwalia]], [[Harish Chandra Singh Rawat|H. C. S. Rawat]], [[Phu Dorjee Sherpa]] reached the summit. This was the first time three climbers had stood on the summit together.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.istampgallery.com/indian-mount-everest-expedition/|<br />
title=First successful Indian Expedition of 1965|website= www.istampgallery.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/25939/did-you-know-that-50-years-ago-9-indians-held-a-record-for-climbing-mount-everest/|title=First successful Indian Expedition of 1965|website= www.thebetterindia.com}}</ref><br />
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In all, eleven people were scheduled to climb the mountain in five attempts, but Captain HV Bahuguna and Major BP Singh were forced to retreat due to physical difficulties.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}<br />
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== Reception and honours ==<br />
Mohan Singh Kohli is best known as leader of the Indian Everest Expedition 1965. The achievement electrified the nation; people danced in the streets. Nine climbers reached the summit, creating a world record that India held for 17 years. On return of the team from Nepal to India, Prime Minister [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]] headed the reception at the airport.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}<br />
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The entire team were given an [[Arjuna Award]].<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://www.sportsauthorityofindia.nic.in/showfile.asp?link_temp_id=560|title= Arjuna Award for The first Indians on Everest on 1965-|website= www.sportsauthorityofindia.nic.in|access-date= 8 August 2019|archive-date= 8 August 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190808121806/http://www.sportsauthorityofindia.nic.in/showfile.asp%3Flink_temp_id%3D560|url-status= dead}}</ref> Three members, including the team leader, were awarded the [[Padma Bhushan]] and the leader and eight team members were given the [[Padma Shree]].<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.dashboard-padmaawards.gov.in/?Year=1965-1965&Award=Padma%20Bhushan&Field=Sports|title= Padma Bhushan for The first Indians on Everest on 1965-|website= www.dashboard-padmaawards.gov.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.dashboard-padmaawards.gov.in/?Year=1965-1965&Award=Padma%20Shri&Field=Sports|title= Padma Shree for The first Indians on Everest on 1965-|website= www.dashboard-padmaawards.gov.in}}</ref> <br />
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Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri paid tribute saying: “The record of Commander Kohli’s expedition will find special mention in history. It was a masterpiece of planning, organisation, teamwork, individual effort and leadership”.{{quote without source|date=October 2020}} Lal Bahadur Shastri also described the 1965 success as one of India's six major achievements after independence.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}<br />
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A full-length film on the expedition with music by [[Shankar Jaikishan]] was released all over India and abroad.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjF7ZzEJPhg|title=Indian Everest Expedition 1965-|website=www.youtube.com}}</ref> The story of the achievement was serialized in several national newspapers and magazines. Mohan Singh Kohli and other members of the team were felicitated at [[Brussels]], [[Paris]], [[Geneva]] and [[Rome]]. Tenzing Norgay accompanied Captain Kohli to several countries. In India, [[Chief Minister|Chief Ministers]] of almost all the states invited the team to their capitals and honoured them at state and civic receptions.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}<br />
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== Records of the expedition ==<br />
* First Indian team to successfully climb the Everest<br />
* First time three climbers stood on the summit together<br />
* First time nine climbers reached the summit, setting a world record which India held for 17 years<br />
* First man to climb Everest twice – [[Nawang Gombu|Nawang Gombu Sherpa]]<br />
* First time that the oldest ([[Sonam Gyatso (mountaineer)|Sonam Gyatso]] at 42) and the youngest ([[Sonam Wangyal]] at 23) climbed Everest together<br />
* First Nepalese to climb Everest – [[Phu Dorjee Sherpa]]<br />
{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}<br />
== Team ==<br />
*Team leader [[Mohan Singh Kohli|Captain M S Kohli]] <br />
*Deputy leader [[Narendra Kumar (mountaineer)|Colonel Narendra "Bull" Kumar]] <br />
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# [[Avtar Singh Cheema]]<br />
# [[Nawang Gombu|Nawang Gombu Sherpa]]<br />
# [[Sonam Gyatso (mountaineer)|Sonam Gyatso]]<br />
# [[Sonam Wangyal]]<br />
# [[Chandra Prakash Vohra|C. P. Vohra]]<br />
# [[Ang Kami]]<br />
# [[H. P. S. Ahluwalia]]<br />
# [[Harish Chandra Singh Rawat|H. C. S. Rawat]]<br />
# [[Phu Dorjee Sherpa]]<br />
# Captain Harsh Vardhan Bahuguna<br />
# Major B P Singh <br />
# Gurdial Singh<br />
# Major Mulk Raj<br />
# Captain J C Joshi<br />
# Lt. B N Rana<br />
# Captain A K Chakravarty( Doctor)<br />
# Dr. D V Telang (Doctor)<br />
# G S Bhanghu (Wireless Operator)<br />
# [[C.Balakrishnan mountaineer |C.Balakrishnan]] (Wireless Operator)<br />
* Captain Soares (doctor) returned due to illness<ref>{{Cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KHkwqaXLmooC|title= Nine Atop Everest-First successful Indian Expedition of 1965-|isbn= 9788173871115|last1= Kohli|first1= M. S.|date= December 2000}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/ZDIwIHEyFLl1y3lVvqtQ5J/The-first-Indians-on-Everest.html|title= The first Indians on Everest-First successful Indian Expedition of 1965-|website= www.livemint.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/26/2/nine-atop-everest/|title= The first Indians on Everest-First successful Indian Expedition of 1965-|website= www.himalayanclub.org}}</ref><br />
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== Sherpas ==<br />
About 50 [[Sherpas]] participated in the mission. Many of them had previously participated in other Everest missions. One of the sherpas, Phu Dorjee Sherpa, reached the summit.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}<br />
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#[[Ang Tsering|Ang tshering]] (Sirdar)<br />
#[[Phu Dorjee Sherpa]] (Assistant Sirdar)<br />
#General Thondup<br />
#Nawang Hilla<br />
#Dawa Norbu I<br />
#Ang Dava IV<br />
#Ila Tshering <br />
#Ang tshering II<br />
#Tenzing Nindra<br />
#Ang Nyima<br />
#Tenzing Gyatso<br />
#Nima Tenzing<br />
#Gunden<br />
#Passand Tendi<br />
#Mingma Tshering (Orderly of [[Mohan Singh Kohli|Captain M S Kohli]])<br />
#Pemba Sunder<br />
#Sikhu Phorche <br />
#Dahnu<br />
#Lobsang Sherpa<br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Indian summiters of Mount Everest - Year wise]]<br />
*[[List of Mount Everest records of India]]<br />
*[[List of Mount Everest records]]<br />
*[[List of Mount Everest summiters by number of times to the summit]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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== External links==<br />
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjF7ZzEJPhg=related&search= Indian Everest Expedition 1965] (25:44 min) on [[YouTube]].<br />
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