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. [1]
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 Colonel Narendra Kumar, Sonam Gyatso, and Sherpa Nawang Gombu reached 28,300 feet (8,600 m), just 700 feet (210 m) from the summit, but had to turn back due to extremely bad weather. [2] 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 400 feet (120 m) below the summit at 28,600 feet (8,700 m), but also had to give up due to bad weather. [3] Mohan Singh Kohli was a member of both these expeditions.
In 1965, the third Indian expedition, which was led by Mohan Singh Kohli and his deputy Colonel Narendra "Bull" Kumar, included 21 core members of the expedition, and around 50 climbing sherpas. The mission was sponsored by the Indian Mountaineering foundation. The team started their journey from New Delhi on 21 February and reached on Jaynagar railway station in Bihar, the 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 ]
India became the fourth country to scale Mount Everest. On 20 May 1965, Lt Col Avatar. S. Cheema and 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 ]
Two days later, on 22 May, Sonam Gyatso and Sonam Wangyal reached the summit and C. P. Vohra, Ang Kami Sherpa reached it on 24 May.[ citation needed ]
On 29 May, 12 years to the day from the first ascent of Mount Everest, Major H. P. S. Ahluwalia, H. C. S. Rawat, Phu Dorjee Sherpa reached the summit. This was the first time three climbers had stood on the summit together. [4] [5]
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 ]
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 ]
The entire team were given an Arjuna Award. [6] Three members, including the team leader, were awarded the Padma Bhushan and the leader and eight team members were given the Padma Shree. [7] [8]
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”.[ This quote needs a citation ] Lal Bahadur Shastri also described the 1965 success as one of India's six major achievements after independence.[ citation needed ]
A full-length film on the expedition with music by Shankar Jaikishan was released all over India and abroad. [9] 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 Ministers of almost all the states invited the team to their capitals and honoured them at state and civic receptions.[ citation needed ]
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 ]
Tenzing Norgay, born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. He was one of the first two people known to certainly reach the summit of Mount Everest, which he accomplished with Edmund Hillary on 29 May 1953. Time named Norgay one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Nawang Gombu was a Sherpa mountaineer who was the first man in the world to have climbed Mount Everest twice.
Major Hari Pal Singh Ahluwalia was an Indian mountaineer, author, social worker and Indian Ordnance Factories Service (IOFS) officer. During his career he made contributions in the fields of adventure, sports, environment, disability and social work. He is one of six Indian men and the twenty first man in the world to climb Mount Everest. On 29 May 1965, 12 years to the day from the first ascent of Mount Everest, he made the summit with the fourth and final successful attempt of the 1965 Indian Everest Expedition along with H. C. S. Rawat and Phu Dorjee Sherpa. This was the first time three climbers stood on the summit together.
Captain Mohan Singh Kohli is an internationally renowned Indian mountaineer. An officer in the Indian Navy, who later joined the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, he led the 1965 Indian expedition which put nine men on the summit of Everest, a world record which lasted for 17 years.
Harish Chandra Singh Rawat was a mountaineer who climbed the Mt. Everest in 1965. He was one of the 9 summiters of the first successful Indian Everest Expeditions that climbed Mount Everest in May 1965 led by Captain M S Kohli. He is the seventh Indian man and twenty second man in world that climbed Mount Everest. On May 24, 1965 Vohra and Ang Kami Sherpa together reached the top of Mount Everest On May 29, 12 years to the day from the first ascent of Mount Everest the fourth and last summit team with Major H. P. S. Ahluwalia and Phu Dorjee Sherpa, Rawat reached on the summit. This was the first time three climbers stood on the summit together.
Avatar Singh Cheema (1933–1989) was the first Indian man and sixteenth person in world to climb Mount Everest. Along with 8 others he was a part of the third mission undertaken by the Indian Army, in 1965, to climb Mount Everest after two failed attempts. The Indian Everest Expedition 1965 put 9 mountaineers on the summit on 20 May, a record that lasted 17 years, and was led by Captain M S Kohli. Cheema's fellow summiters were Nawang Gombu, Sonam Gyatso, Sonam Wangyal, Chandra Prakash Vohra, Ang Kami, H. P. S. Ahluwalia, Harish Chandra Singh Rawat and Phu Dorjee. He was a captain in the 7th Battalion, The Parachute regiment at that time. Later he was promoted to colonel and commanded his battalion. He is also founder of Guru Harkrishan Public School in Sri Ganganagar District, Rajasthan.
Ang Dorje (Chhuldim) Sherpa is a Nepali sherpa mountaineering guide, climber, and porter from Pangboche, Nepal, who has climbed to the summit of Mount Everest 22 times. He was the climbing Sirdar for Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants expedition to Everest in spring 1996, when a freak storm led to the deaths of eight climbers from several expeditions, considered one of the worst disasters in the history of Everest mountaineering.
25 members, including 13 sherpas, of the Indian Army Everest Expedition 2007, scaled Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, on May 15 and 16, 2007. This was the fourth expedition by the Indian Army to Everest, but the first from Tibet side, and the treacherous North face. Earlier, Indian Army Everest Expeditions have scaled the peak in 1965, 2001, 2003, and, by an all women army expedition, in 2005.
Sonam Wangyal is a former Indian paramilitary personnel and mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest in 1965 at the age 23, making him the youngest summiter. He was one of the nine summiters of the first successful Indian Everest Expeditions that climbed Mount Everest in May 1965 led by Captain M S Kohli,. He is the third Indian man, and eighteenth man in world, to have climbed Mount Everest. On 22 May 1965, the first time that the oldest and the youngest climbed Everest together.
Phu Dorjee was a Sherpa and the first Indian to summit Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. He did so on May 5, 1984 on a solo ascent from the South East Ridge. Dorjee died in 1987 on the Kanchanjunga Expedition of the Assam Rifles.
Chandra Prakash Vohra is an Indian geologist, glaciologist and mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, in 1965. He was one of the 9 summiters of the first successful Indian Everest Expeditions that climbed Mount Everest in May 1965 led by Captain M S Kohli.On May 24 th 1965 Vohra and Ang Kami Sherpa together reached the top of Mount Everest,. He was the first Indian civilian to scale the peak a feat he accomplished on 24 May 1965. A winner of the Arjuna Award (1965), and the National Mineral Award, Vohra was honoured by the Government of India in 1965, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award,. He is the fourth Indian man and nineteenth man in world that climbed Mount Everest.
Sonam Gyatso (1923–1968) was an Indian mountaineer. He was the second Indian man, the seventeenth man in world and the first person from Sikkim to summit Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. He was one of the nine summiters of the first successful Indian Everest Expeditions that climbed Mount Everest in May 1965 led by Captain M S Kohli. The first time that the oldest man at the time, Sonam Gyatso at age 42, and the youngest man Sonam Wangyal at age 23, climbed Everest together on 22 May 1965. He became the oldest person to scale the peak in 1965 and when he spent 50 minutes at the peak, he set a world record for spending the longest time at the highest point on Earth. The Government of India awarded him the third highest honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1965, for his contributions to the sport of mountaineering.
Ang Tshering was a sherpa known for his participation in the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition and the 1934 Nanga Parbat climbing disaster.
Phu Dorjee Sherpa was the first Nepali man and twenty-third person in the world to climb Mount Everest. He was a member of the third Indian Everest Expedition 1965, led by Captain M S Kohli, which was the first successful Indian Everest Expedition. The group consisted of 21 major expedition members and 50 Sherpas. The initial attempt was at the end of April, when they returned to base camp due to bad weather and waited 2 weeks for better weather.
Ang Kami Sherpa was the member of the third Indian Everest expedition, led by Captain M S Kohliin 1965 which was first Indian successful Everest Expedition climbed Mount Everest, consisted of 21 major expedition members and 50 Sherpas. The initial attempt was at the end of April 1965, when they returned to base camp due to bad weather and waited 2 weeks for better weather. Together with C. P. Vohra Ang Kami reached on the summit on 24 May 1965. He is the fifth Indian and twentieth person in the world that climbed Mount Everest.
Sonam Gyatso Mountaineering Institute (SGMI) is a paramilitary mountaineering school, located in Gangtok, India.