Mountain Man
Indian
Laborer
Dashrath Manjhi (14 January 1934Template:Sfn – 17 August 2007Template:Sfn), also known as Mountain Man,Template:Sfn was a laborer in Gehlaur village, near Gaya in Bihar, India. When his wife died in 1959 due to injury caused by falling from a mountain, he decided to carve a path of 110 m long (360 ft), 9.1 m (30 ft) wide and 7.7 m (25 ft) deep through a ridge of hills using only a hammer and a chisel.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn After 22 years of work, Dashrath shortened travel between the Atri and Wazirganj blocks of Gaya town from 55 km to 15 km.Template:Sfn He travelled to New Delhi to get recognition of his work and was rewarded by then Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar. In 2016, Indian Post issued a postage stamp featuring him.
Early life
Dashrath Manjhi was born into a Musahar / Bhuiya family, at the lowest rank of India's caste system.Template:Sfn He ran away from his home at a young age and worked in the coal mines at Dhanbad. Later he returned to the village of Gehlaur and married Falguni (or Phaguni) Devi.Template:Sfn
Gehlaur was and remains a small village with few resources, and while it lies in a plain it is bordered on the south by a steeply ascending quartzite ridge of Mesoproterozoic (1.6-1 billion years ago) age[1] (part of the Rajgir hills) that prevented road access from the town of Wazirganj.
Accident and road building
After his return to Gehlaur, Manjhi became an agricultural labourer. In 1959, Manjhi's wife Falguni Devi was badly injured and died because she fell from the mountain and the nearest town with a doctor was Template:Cvt away. Some reports say she was injured while walking along a narrow path across the rocky ridge to bring water or lunch to Manjhi, who had to work away from the village at a location south of the ridge;Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn other reports link the path across the ridge to the delayed care but not to Falguni Devi's injuries.Template:Sfn
As a result of this experience Manjhi resolved to cut a roadway across the ridge to make his village more accessible.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Manjhi felt the need to do something for society and decided to carve a path through the ridge so that his village could have easier access to medical care.Template:Sfn
He carved a path 110 m long, 7.7 m deep in places and 9.1 m wide to form a road through the ridge of rocks. He said, "When I started hammering the hill, people called me a lunatic but that steeled my resolve."
He completed the work in 22 years (1960–1982). This path reduced the distance between the Atri and Wazirganj sectors of the Gaya district from 55 km to 15 km. Though mocked for his efforts, Manjhi's work has made life easier for people of the Gehlaur village.Template:Sfn Later, Manjhi said, "Though most villagers taunted me at first, there were quite a few who lent me support later by giving me food and helping me buy my tools."Template:Sfn
Official roads between his village and Wazirganj and Atri and Gaya were only built where his path was after his death in 2007.[2]
Death
Manjhi was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer and was admitted to the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on 23 July 2007. He died there on 17 August 2007.Template:Sfn He was given a state funeral by the Government of Bihar.Template:Sfn
For his feat, Manjhi became popularly known as the 'Mountain Man'. The Bihar government also proposed his name for the Padma Shree award in 2006 in the social service sector.Template:Sfn
A stamp featuring Dashrath Manjhi was released by India Post in the "Personalities of Bihar" series on 26 December 2016.Template:Sfn
In popular culture
Dashrath Manjhi's story has been the subject of at least one documentary and several dramatic treatments on film and television.
The first of these was a supporting character based on Manjhi in the 1998 Kannada-language movie Bhoomi Thayiya Chochchala Maga.Template:Sfn Manjhi's story also had a minor role in a later Kannada film, 2011's Olave Mandara directed by Jayatheertha.Template:Sfn
In 2011, director Kumud Ranjan working for the state-owned Films Division of India produced a documentary based on Manjhi's life titled The Man Who Moved the Mountain.
In August 2015, a Hindi movie Manjhi - The Mountain Man was released and well received. The movie was directed by Ketan Mehta. Nawazuddin Siddiqui played the role of Manjhi along with Radhika Apte as Falguni Devi.Template:Sfn
The first episode of Season 2 of the Aamir Khan hosted TV Show Satyamev Jayate, aired in March 2014, was dedicated to Dashrath Manjjhi.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Aamir Khan and Rajesh Ranjan also met Bhagirath Manjhi and Basanti Devi, son and daughter-in-law of Manjhi and promised to provide financial help.Template:Sfn However, Basanti Devi died due to inability to afford medical care on 1 April 2014.
Gallery
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Link between Ghivra Mauja in Gehlaur Ghati to Atara Prakhand Wazirganj made by Dashrath Manjhi
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Statue of Dashrath Manjhi in front of his memorial at Gehlaur
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Memorial of Dashrath Manjhi
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Dashrath Manjhi entry gate towards Gehlaur Ghati
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Link between Ghivra Mauja in Gehlaur Ghati to Atara Prakhand Wazirganj made by Dashrath Manjhi in 22 years
References
- ↑ District Resource Map, Gaya and Jahanabad, Bihar. Government of India(2001).
- ↑ The real story behind Manjhi – The Mountain Man, Sampath, Pavitra. DNA India(2015-07-14). Retrieved 2020-07-14.
Sources
- ABP News special: Aamir Visits Mountain Man's Village, Meets his Family. ABP News(25 February 2014). Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- A Fairy Tale on the Road(20 January 2011). Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- Love's Labor Brings Down Hill. The Indian Express(24 May 1997). Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- Dashrath Manjhi – Man Who Moved a Mountain – Facts Analysis, Damarla, Prashanth(2012).
- Helping Mountain Man's Family(4 March 2014).
- Mountain Man Dashrath Manjhi Dies in Delhi. Hindustan Times(17 August 2007). Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- The Story of Jitan Ram Manjhi, from Rat-Eater to Bihar Chief Minister. Quartz India(15 August 2014). Retrieved 2019-04-13.
- I Am Trying to Be Like Dashrath Manjhi: Aamir Khan, Kumar, Ruchir. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
- Manjhi Featured in Kannada Film(22 August 2015). Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- The Mountain Man(28 September 2007). Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- Movie About India's "Mountain Man" Hits Screens(22 August 2015). Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- Nawazuddin to Play Lead in Ketan Mehta's Mountain Man. Bollywood Hungama(16 August 2012). Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- Personality Series: Bihar. India Post(2016).
- Dashrath Manjhi, Rock Star and Film Muse, Ramnath, Nandini(21 July 2015).
- Tax Rebate to Manjhi Biopic Raises Eyebrows. Times of India(24 May 1997). Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- the man who made way for progress. Indian Express(1 July 2012). Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- Dasrath Manjhi's Family Awaits Aamir Khan to Tell his Glorious Tale. news.biharprabha.com(24 February 2014). Retrieved 24 February 2014.
External links
- Template:Coord — location of the passage carved by Dashrath Manjhi through the Rajgir Hills rock formation
- Laungi Bhuiyan