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Dashrath Manjhi

Summary

Dashrath Manjhi (14 January 1934[1] – 17 August 2007[2]), also known as Mountain Man,[3] was an Indian laborer from Gehlaur village, near Gaya in the eastern state of Bihar. When his wife died in 1959 due to injury caused by falling from a mountain and due to the same mountain blocking easy access to a nearby hospital in time, he decided to carve a 110 meter-long (360 ft), 9.1 meter-wide (30 ft) wide and 7.7 meter-deep (25 ft) path through a ridge of hills using only a hammer and a chisel.[4][5][6] After 22 years of work, Dashrath shortened travel between the Atri and Wazirganj blocks of Gaya district from 55 km to 15 km.[7] 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 Manjhi.

Dashrath Manjhi
दशरथ मांझी
Dashrath Manjhi on 2016 stamp of India
Born(1934-01-14)14 January 1934
Gehlaur, Bihar, British India
Died17 August 2007(2007-08-17) (aged 73)
New Delhi, India
NationalityIndian
Other namesMountain Man
Known forManually carving a mountain in order to connect Gehlaur and Gaya
SpouseFalguni Devi

Early life edit

He ran away from his home at a young age and worked in coal mines at Dhanbad, a city in the eastern state of Jharkhand. Later he returned to the village of Gehlaur and married Falguni (or Phaguni) Devi.[4]

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- 1.6 billion years) age[8] (part of the Rajgir hills) that prevented road access from the town of Wazirganj.

Accident and road building edit

After he returned 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 90 km (56 mi) 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;[4][3][9] other reports link the path across the ridge to the delayed care but not to Falguni Devi's injuries.[10]

As a result of this experience Manjhi resolved to cut a roadway across the ridge to make his village more accessible.[6][11] 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.[4]

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. The latitude and longitude are approximately 24°52′38″N 85°14′36″E / 24.87725°N 85.24328°E / 24.87725; 85.24328.

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 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.[11] 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."[1]

Official roads between his village in Atri and Wazirganj, over the path he carved, were only built after his death in 2007.[12]

Death edit

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.[6] He was given a state funeral by the Government of Bihar.[10]

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.[1]

A stamp featuring Dashrath Manjhi was released by India Post in the "Personalities of Bihar" series on 26 December 2016.[9]

In popular culture edit

Dashrath Manjhi's story has been the subject of at least one documentary and several dramatic treatments in Indian film and television.

The first of these was a supporting character based on Manjhi in the 1998 Kannada-language movie Bhoomi Thayiya Chochchala Maga.[13] Manjhi's story also had a minor role in a later Kannada film, 2011's Olave Mandara directed by Jayatheertha.[14]

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.[15]

The first episode of Season 2 of the Aamir Khan hosted TV Show Satyamev Jayate, aired in March 2014, was dedicated to Dashrath Manjjhi.[16][17] 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.[18] However, Basanti Devi died due to his inability to afford medical care on 1 April 2014.

Gallery edit

  •  
    Link between Ghivra Mauja in Gehlaur Ghati to Atara Prakhand Wazirganj made by Dashrath Manjhi
  •  
    Statue of Dashrath Manjhi in front of his memorial at Gehlaur
  •  
    Memorial of Dashrath Manjhi
  •  
    Dashrath Manjhi entry gate towards Gehlaur Ghati
  •  
    Samadhi sthal of Dashrath Manjhi
  •  
    Link between Ghivra Mauja in Gehlaur Ghati to Atara Prakhand Wazirganj made by Dashrath Manjhi in 22 years

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Damarla 2012.
  2. ^ Kumar 2007.
  3. ^ a b Viewspaper 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d Celestine 1997.
  5. ^ Qadir 1997.
  6. ^ a b c Singh 2012.
  7. ^ Ramnath 2015.
  8. ^ "District Resource Map, Gaya and Jahanabad, Bihar". Government of India. 2001.
  9. ^ a b India Post 2016.
  10. ^ a b Gulf News 2015.
  11. ^ a b ABP News 2014.
  12. ^ Sampath, Pavitra (14 July 2015). "The real story behind Manjhi – The Mountain Man". DNA India. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  13. ^ Chitraloka.com 2015.
  14. ^ Bangalore Mirror 2011.
  15. ^ Bollywood Hungama 2012.
  16. ^ Bihar Prabha 2014.
  17. ^ Kumar 2014b.
  18. ^ NDTV 2014.

Sources edit

  • "ABP News special: Aamir Visits Mountain Man's Village, Meets his Family". ABP News. 25 February 2014. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  • "A Fairy Tale on the Road". Bangalore Mirror. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  • Celestine, Avinash (24 May 1997). "Love's Labor Brings Down Hill". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  • Damarla, Prashanth (2012). "Dashrath Manjhi – Man Who Moved a Mountain – Facts Analysis". Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  • "Helping Mountain Man's Family". 4 March 2014. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  • Kumar, Alok (17 August 2007). "Mountain Man Dashrath Manjhi Dies in Delhi". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  • Kumar, Amitava (15 August 2014). "The Story of Jitan Ram Manjhi, from Rat-Eater to Bihar Chief Minister". Quartz India. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  • Kumar, Ruchir. "I Am Trying to Be Like Dashrath Manjhi: Aamir Khan". Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  • "Manjhi Featured in Kannada Film". 22 August 2015. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  • "The Mountain Man". The Viewspaper. 28 September 2007. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  • "Movie About India's "Mountain Man" Hits Screens". Gulf News. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  • "Nawazuddin to Play Lead in Ketan Mehta's Mountain Man". Bollywood Hungama. 16 August 2012. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  • "Personality Series: Bihar". India Post. 2016.
  • Ramnath, Nandini (21 July 2015). "Dashrath Manjhi, Rock Star and Film Muse".
  • Qadir, Abdul (24 May 1997). "Tax Rebate to Manjhi Biopic Raises Eyebrows". Times of India. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  • Singh, Santosh (1 July 2012). "the man who made way for progress". Indian Express. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  • "Dasrath Manjhi's Family Awaits Aamir Khan to Tell his Glorious Tale". news.biharprabha.com. Indo-Asian News Service. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2014.

External links edit

  • 24°52′38″N 85°14′35″E / 24.877285°N 85.243079°E / 24.877285; 85.243079 — location of the passage carved by Dashrath Manjhi through the Rajgir Hills rock formation

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