Vidarbha Institute of Mountaineering & Adventure - VIMA

Greetings of the Day!
*Niti Narrates* in collaboration with *Maharaja of Nagpur Trust* is organising Heritage Walk at *Kashibai Temple Complex* – The Rajghat of the Royal Bhonsle Family on *17.03.2024*, Sunday from *08:00 am to 11:00 am*.

The Rajghat has a lot of Chhatris belonging to the Bhonsle kings and queens and their sardars. During the Bhonsle rule the place was known as Thadaga Bagh, and later renamed as Kashibai Temple Complex, after Rani Kashibai performed sati after the demise of her husband Raja Parsoji II. The Kashibai Temple Complex is not only a visual treat to the eye but also a sensorial experiencing site with a glorious history. This is evident when we look at the splendid structures having intricate and exquisite carvings, traditional design, and unique architectural character, each narrating a different story about the king or the queen in whose honour they were built.

*_The walk will be followed by special performance by the Veeraangan Akhada_*

Registration Fees - ₹120
Registration link - *https://forms.gle/8HCPbzWgHoYegxN47*
Registration closes on 15.03.2024

_Enjoy refreshments with us after the walk_

For any query call us on
Ar. Nitika S. Ramani - +919960149404
Or mail us on [email protected]

Only the Yeti had made it until then. Then, one day in 1953, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary set foot on the world's highest peak. Everest was conquered. The greatest challenge between man and mountain. It is known that every ascent and every adventure on the mountain is a challenge, dangerous, very dangerous, sometimes deadly, but for many men it is magnetic and irrelevable.

Born on this day, 1914.05.29; Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, Nepali pioneer, who was one of the first two individuals (along with Edmund Hillary) to have reached the summit of Mt Everest (8848.86 m) on 29 May, 1953.

Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, (late May 1914 – 9 May 1986) born Namgyal Wangdi was among the most famous mountain climbers in history, being one of the first two individuals (along with Edmund Hillary) to have reached the summit of Mount Everest on 29 May, 1953. He was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

Tenzing Norgay was born in Tshechu, presently in Tibet Autonomous Region, China. He grew up in a peasant family in Khumbu in Nepal. His exact date of birth is not known but it is believed that he was born in late May and later on he decided to celebrate May 29 as his birthday, as this was the date he climbed Everest. Tenzing Norgay's original name was Namgyal Wangdi, but as a child his name was changed on the advice of a lama. Norgay means fortunate. Tenzing Norgay ran away to Kathmandu twice as a boy, and eventually settled in the Sherpa community in Too Song Busti in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India.

Tenzing got his first opportunity to join an Everest expedition when in 1935 he was employed by Eric Shipton, leader of the British expedition. Later, Tenzing took part as a high-altitude porter in three official British attempts to climb Everest from the northern Tibetan side in the 1930s. He also took part in other climbs in various parts of the Indian subcontinent, and for a time in the early 1940s he lived in what is now Pakistan, in the Princely State of Chitral. During this period, he scaled Nanda Devi, which he described as the most difficult climb he ever took. In 1947, he took part in an unsuccessful summit attempt of Everest but it ended when a strong storm at 22,000 ft (6,700 m) pounded them. In 1952, he took part in two Swiss expeditions led by Raymond Lambert, the first serious attempts to climb Everest from the southern (Nepali) side, during which he and Lambert reached the then-record height of 28,215 ft (8,599 m).

In 1953, he took part in John Hunt's British expedition, his own seventh expedition to Everest. After failure of first pair on 26 May which had reached the South Summit, coming within 300 vertical feet (91 m) of the summit, Hunt directed Tenzing and Hillary to go for the summit. Snow and wind held the pair up at the South Col for two days. They set out on 28 May and pitched a tent at 27,900 feet (8,500 m). On 29 May, they reached Everest's 8848.86 m summit, the highest point on Earth, at 11:30 a.m. They spent only about fifteen minutes at the summit. Hillary took the famous photo of Tenzing posing with his ice-axe, but since Tenzing had never used a camera, Hillary's ascent went unrecorded.

Hillary and Hunt were knighted by Queen Elizabeth, while Tenzing received the George Medal from the British Government. In 1953, King Tribhuvan of Nepal also presented the Order of the Star of Nepal, 1st Class. In 1959, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award of India.

Tenzing joined the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling since its inception and later became director of field training. In 1978, he founded Tenzing Norgay Adventures, a company providing trekking adventures in the Himalayas. The company is now run by his son Jamling Tenzing Norgay, who himself reached the summit of Everest in 1996. In 1978, the Government of India created the Tenzing Norgay Award in his honor.

Tenzing died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India, in 1986, at age 71. He was cremated in Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, his favorite haunt. In January 2008, Lukla Airport was renamed Tenzing-Hillary Airport in honor of the pair and their achievement

Courtesy: The Hitavada
dt. Friday, 19 May 2023

On 17-05-2023 at about 0830 hrs, Kami Rita Sherpa has successfully reached the summit of Big E for 27th time, thus, now he also holds the record of scaling 8000ers for 40th time . They are the true Heroes of Himalaya - Kami Rita Sherpa, a Legendary Sherpa, was born on 17th January, 1970 in Thame Village, Solu Khumbu Region of Nepal. Thame is also the village of Legendary Tenzing Norgay. Kami Rita has been a guide for more than two decades now who had first summited Everest in 1994 during a commercial expedition. During these 25 years, he has scaled five 8,000-metre peaks, summiting them 38 times which is a world record.. He has also scaled the world’s second-highest mountain, K-2, in Pakistan.
Kami Rita Sherpa is a Nepali Sherpa guide who, since May 2019, has held the record for most ascents to the summit of Mount Everest. He scaled the mountain for a 25th time on 21 May 2021, eclipsing his record set 19th May 2019.

His father was among the first professional Sherpa guides after Everest was opened to foreign mountaineers in 1950. His brother, Lakpa Rita Sherpa, also a guide, scaled Everest 17 times.

“I can climb for a few more years,” said Kami Rita Sherpa some time ago in a BBC interview. “I am healthy. I can go until I am 60 years old. With oxygen it’s no big deal, we were born in the Himalayas.” Once Kami Rita told the BBC. “I never thought about making records. I actually didn’t know that you could make a record. Had I known, I would have done a lot more summits earlier.”

Kami Rita has retained his humility towards Mount Everest. For the Sherpas, Chomolungma, as they call it, is a sacred mountain on which a goddess lives. “Months before I begin an ascent, I start worshiping and asking for her forgiveness because I have to put my feet on her body. Right before the final steps to the summit, others run to take photos but I bow my head again and ask for her forgiveness,” says Kami Rita Sherpa. “No matter how strong you are, how good you prepare, you have to be blessed by God to reach the top.”

Kami Rita currently holds the record for most 8,000 meter summits, with 40 in totality. In addition to his Everest completions, his totals include Cho-Oyu eight times, three times on Manaslu, and both Lhotse and K2 once each.

Watch out for his ascents on Everest :

1994 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 13th May, via SE Ridge
1995 - Had to abandon summit push at 8500 M
1997 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 25th May,
1997 through SE Ridge
1998 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 25th May, 1998 through SE Ridge
1999 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 13th May, 1999 through SE Ridge
2000 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 23rd May, 2000 through SE Ridge
2002 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest via S Col - SE Ridge
2003 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 30th May, 2003 through SE Ridge
2004 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 24th May, 2004 through SE Ridge
2005 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 30th May, 2005 through SE Ridge
2006 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 20th May, 2006 through SE Ridge
2007 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 22nd May, 2007 through SE Ridge
2008 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 24th May, 2008 through SE Ridge
2009 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 23rd May, 2009 through SE Ridge
2010 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 5th May, 2010 through SE Ridge
2012 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 18th May, 2012 through SE Ridge
2013 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 22nd May, 2013 through SE Ridge
2015 - All expeditions were called-off due to Earthquake
2016 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 20th May, 2016 through NE Ridge
2017 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 27th May, 2017 through SE Ridge
2018 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 16th May, 2018 through SE Ridge
2019 - Successfully reached the summit of Mt.Everest on 15th May, 2019 through SE Ridge
2019 : Successfully reached the summit of Everest for second time
2021 : Successfully reached the summit of Everest through SE Ridge
(25 times in totality) within a week of Mt.Everest on 21st May, 2019
2022 : 26th Summit of Everest through SE Ridge
2023 : 17th May, 2023 - 27th Summit of Everest through SE Ridge
Pic Credit - FB Page of Kami Rita Sherpa

Hearty Congratulations to mountaineer from Punjab, Anita Kundu for successfully scaling the 8481 meter high Mt. Makalu

Just three days back we had news that Pasang Dawa Sherpa scaled Mt. Everest on Sunday for the 26th time matching the record set by fellow sherpa Kami Rita Sherpa.
There seems to be a competition between these two.
Today we come to know that Kami Rita Sherpa 53 years old scaled Everest for the 27th time on Wednesday.
Hats off to these Super Humans.

EXPLORE PLACES IN & AROUND NAGPUR.

“Marrium” – The Cannon used in the First Battle of Nagpur in 1637.

Many of us know about the Battle of Sitaburdi fought between the British and the Marathas under Raja Bhonlse at Nagpur in 1817, but very few are aware that 180 years before the Battle of Sitaburdi, the First Battle of Nagpur was fought in 1637 between the Moguls and the Gonds at a place what is known as the Fort of Bhuranshan (Gond Raja Killa) situated in the very heart of Nagpur in Mahal area.
It was Saturday, 9th April 1983 that myself in the capacity of Director of Vidarbha Institute of Mountaineering & Adventure (VIMA) had led a team of hard core adventurers to explore a 70 feet vertical round shaped structure near the Gond Raja Killa at Mahal, Nagpur. This was part of our adventure activity to explore the unknown.
We had gathered information that on this vertical structure nobody has been on top of it since ages. People had various stories to tell about this mysterious place. I carried a recciee of the place and observed that the vertical stone build structure which was known as the ‘Dumdumma’ by locals, definitely seems to be an ancient one and that it was covered with thick throny creepers all over. It had neither steps nor any other means to climb it. Moreover the stone structure was covered from all sides by huts of local residents. Knowing that this structure is part of the Gond Raja’s Killa, one fine evening I approached the Gond Raja to seek his permission for climbing the ‘Dumdumma’ which he very readily agreed to. He took me to the top of his Palace (Gond Killa) and showed me the view of ‘Dumdumma’ from a distance which I observed and studied carefully. The Raja said that nobody was aware what lies on top, as the entire stone structure is covered with heavy creepers from all its side including its top.
As mentioned above, on 9th April 1983, in the peak summer heat of Nagpur, we started our task. Clearing the thick thorny creepers which were a perfect home for bats, worms, insects and even snakes. Part by part and pe***ng our pitons in the rocks, we made a ‘technical climb’ on this vertical 90 degrees wall using our rock climbing equipments, the rock pitons, carabineers, jumars, ropes and seat harness and one by one all of us reached the top.
The top was full of weeds that had grown since ages. It took us hours to clear it and see the surface. And LO…. What we found ….A BIG CANNON underneath the vegetation.
DISCRIPTION of the CANNON: The cannon made of iron is 15 feet in length with eight heavy rings to move it. The diameter of the muzzle is 16 inches, having designs in yellow metal on it, the bore of the barrel is six and half inches.
It lies above the only existing 70 feet tall and 35 feet in diameter rampart (now called Dumdumma)
The news had spread like wild fire. Hundreds of onlookers had gathered below, keen to know more. We took pictures and later approached Shri Shankar Govind Ch**te an eminent historian and Chairman of Vidarbha Archaeological Society, to know more facts and history of our discovery.
Shri Shankar Govind Ch**te a person who was beyond 80 years of age expressed his desire to show him the cannon. Weeks later after due preparation to ‘make him climb’ the 90 degrees vertical wall and with more adventurous youngsters at hand we pulled ‘Ch**te Guruji’ to the top.
Months later after doing a detail study Shri Shankar Govind Ch**te wrote an article about our discovery and the history of the place which was published in ‘Tarun Bharat’ on 28 September 1983. Ashwani (Tinu) Yelekar, an upcoming young adventurer helped me in translating the article from Marathi to English as under:-
HISTORY: Before the rule of the Gond kings, the Deogarh Fort (in Chindwara District of Madhya Pradesh) was ruled by the Gawali King Tukobaji. Jatba was the fort commander of what is today know as the Kuranshan Fort. After the untimely death of the Gawali King Tukobaji, Jatba took advantage of the differences between the two sons namely Ranshoor and Dhansun of the late king and killed both the claimants to the throne and established the Gond rule at Deogarh.
THE GOND RULERS AT DEOGARH. Jatba was during the period of the Mogul Emperor Akbar. In Ain-i-Akbari or the ‘Administration of Akbar’ is a 16th century document recording the administration of the Mogul Empire under Emperor Akbar, written by his court historian and the Grand Vazir Sheikh Abu Al-Fazal ibn Mubarak also known as Abu’l Fazl in Persian language. Jatba has been mentioned as a Zamindar in Ain-i-Akbari. Jatba had established cordial relationship with the Mogul Emperor. Jatba died in 1620. His son Dalpatshah occupied the throne who expanded the Gond kingdom up to Balaghat. Dalpatshah expired in 1634. Kokhshah the second son of Jatba successed his brother Dalpatshah and became the new king of the Gonds. After the death of the Mogul Emperor Akbar, Jehangir sat on the throne under whose tenure tremendous unrest was going on South of River Narmada. Taking advantage of the situation Kokhshah turned his attention towards the Eastern Lands and took charge of the areas held by the Moguls and firmly established his kingdom at Deogarh. After the death of Jehangir, Shahjahan the new Emperor tried to regain back the lost territories .
KHAN DAURAN : In 1637 the Mogul Emperor Shahjahan deputed his Army Commander Khan Dauran to acquire back the territories of the Moguls that the Gond King Kokhshah had acquired under his possession. Khan was on his way via the Waradh route towards Deogarh. Although Deogarh Fort was the Capital of the Gond King, the Fort at Nagpur was considered more important from the military tactical point of view, hence Khan Dauran made a march towards Nagpur via the route through Paunar and on his way Khan took possessions of the Forts at Kelzar and Ashta and thereafter camped at 14 miles away from Nagpur. (Interestingly, in March 2018, news had appeared in Times of India about a fort being discovered on a hillock at Kelzar, about 37 km from Wardha City)
GOND RAJA KILLA at NAGPUR:
The ‘Gond Raja’s Killa’ is situated in the very heart of Nagpur, in the present area known as Mahal and is known as the ‘Fort of Bhuranshah’
This was a ground fort. The fort had a 21 feet deep moat around it, filled with water to hamper a direct attack on the walls with a draw bridge at the main entrance. Four huge vertical ramparts fitted with long range cannons stood on all the four corners of the fort, After a short break at his camp 14.5 miles (about 24 km) away from Nagpur, Khan Dauran started his march towards the Nagpur fort of the Gonds. At that time the Commander of the Nagpur fort was Devaji, who was looking after the administration of areas now falling under present Dhantoli and other twelve villages.
Abdul Hamid Lohari had described this battle in Badshahnama as follows: “Khan while away at a distance of about 14.5 miles from Nagpur had send a message through his messenger by name of Kanaksingh, that Kokhshah should present himself in person along with the demanded ransom or else he shall be totally destroyed on which Kokhshah paid no heed. This agitated Khan who marched to Nagpur fort and camped outside the fort for five days, planning to completely destroy it to the ground. The people inside the fort started to panic knowing that the strong army of the enemy is camping outside the door of the fort. Thereafter Khan sent a message that the people inside the fort should vacate it and come outside along with their belongings, weapons and their cattles, but Devji the Fort Commander paid no heed to Khan’s announcement but instead started the preparations to make his position strong. At this Khan got annoyed and started preparing a bridge on the moat at the main entrance of the fort for his army to march inside. While Khan’s army was at the doors of the fort, Kiba the Zamindar of Chanda arrived with 1500 horsemen, 3000 foot soldiers to assist Khan and paid 70 thousand as compensation. Two thousand horsemen and five thousand foot soldiers had also come to assist Khan from Gaunaur.
In next five days Khan prepared to blast the ramparts and the walls of the fort. After the preparations duly made Khan had sent a letter by his messenger to Kokhshah for settlement. In his letter Khan demanded 150 elephants and asked to surrender the fort to him. Kokhshah had agreed to give 150 elephants but refused to surrender the fort. After the failure of constant negotiations, Khan divided his force into four groups and handed over the commands to Raja Jaisingh, Sipakhan Tuldhalak, Kiba the Raja of Chanda and Darveshsukh . To blast the fort Khan had inserted gun power in very heavy quantity, nine at each place of the fort walls. On igniting the gun powder by Darveshkhan a portion of the fort was destroyed. The quantity of gunpowder by Jaisingh was not upto requirement and hence did not caused the required damage to the wall but caused enough damage to it. Under the command of Sipakhan, the gunpowder at nine various places had destroyed three ramparts of the fort and damaged the fort wall along the moth. From inside the fort heavy cannon fire was fired at the Mogul army but due to the damage to the fort walls the Mogul army reached inside, putting the Gond forces in helplessness position. Once inside the fort, the Mogul army started butchering the Gonds and captured Devaji – the fort commander. On relaising his fort being defeated Kokhshan agreed for the ransom to Khan the amount of 1.5 lakh rupees and 170 elephants. Hence the First Battle of Nagpur ended.
Of the four original three ramparts were destroyed the battle, the only rampart which was not damaged stands as testimony and witness to the First Battle of Nagpur of 1637 outside the Gond Raja Killa at Mahal, on top of which still lies the cannon used in the battle.
An interesting article by Dale Bhagwagar - reporter of Lokmat Times, wrote on August 1st, 1995, that even after 12 years after its discovery, the historical ancient cannon lies neglected and that on contacting the then Assistant Director of Archeology, Vidarbha Region of Maharashtra State Archeology & Archives admitted that although the monument was of much historical importance, it was not protected as it was not necessary to protect all historical monuments (Sic) nor the department had any records or pictures of the site.
Much later when Nagpur celebrated its historical Tri-centenary year in 2002, the local authorities did restoration work to ‘Dumduma’ to preserve the grand history of Nagpur.

Mount EVEREST - World’s Highest Peak was scaled on 29th May, 1953.

For the spirited and the adventurous, mountains have always held a special appeal. Two mountain ranges which have drawn mountaineers in hordes are the Alps and the Himalayas. Specially the Peak of Everest, the highest one in the world, which stands at an altitude of 29,028 ft; has been drawing mountaineers from all parts of the globe.

Mount Everest, named after the Surveyor General of India, who estimated its height and claimed it was the highest peak in the world, began to receive attention of mountaineers in early 1920s. The first expedition to Everest was launched in 1921 by a British team, which included George Mallory. Mallory, along with two other members, Norton and Somervell reached a height of 26,985 feet, the highest ever scaled by any man till then.

Two years later came another expedition of which Mallory and Irvine as also Somervell were members. On June 8, 1924, Irvine and Mallory who had pitched camp at a height of about 27,000t out, probably on the trail of the peak. The two vanished, without a trace, in the higher regions. Did they slip and fall before they reached the top of the Everest? Or did they get caught in some avalanche on their way back, after scaling the peak? None knows. But, Irvine and Mallory are remembered as the pioneer explorers of the Himalayan ranges.

Successive expeditions to the Everest failed till 1953.But each expedition enlarged scope of understanding of the moods and whims of the Himalayan ranges. This helped the teams equip themselves better to overcome the difficulties. Further, sophisticated equipment and more tested climbing aids strengthened the capacity of the teams to stand up to the rigours of the mountains.

In 1953, a British expedition led by John Hunt, set out to seek success The members of the team were well experienced in mountaineering and were eager to reach at the top. Among them were Edmund Hillary (from New Zealand) who had tested himself against the mountains in his country and shown a natural ability to face the challenges of mountains and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa, who had proved his worth as a guide on earlier occasions.

On May 28, Hillary and Tenzing pitched tents at a height of 27,900 feet. They set out early next morning to scale the last lap of the Everest. The temperature was minus 27 degrees centigrade. The summit was visible, as a weak sun lighted up the peak. Tenzing led the way, Hillary came close behind. The two reached after four hours of plodding. the base of the slopes leading to the south side of the peak. They still had to go another 400 feet to claim victory. Hillary was in doubt whether the oxygen which they had in the cylinders could see them through. Then, with a ‘do or die’ attitude the two decided to move forward. They knew that they had come enough to the top. Another 40 feet more to go. Then they would stand right on top of the Everest. That very thought instilled courage into them.

At last, there they were – two hardy, determined men, right on top of the Everest, achieving what Mallory and his band of daring men had been dreaming for three decades.

The news of the success of the two daring men was reported by world press in bold headlines.
Hillary was awarded the Knighthood while Tenzing was felicitated by the then Prime Minister of India Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru and was appointed as the Director Field Trainings at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute at Darjeeling.

Much later, with introduction of more sophisticated and better climbing gears and technology, several expeditions successfully scaled Everest.

The first woman in the world to scale the Everest was Junko Tabei of Japan.

What was once considered an impossible task climbing the highest mountain peak of this Planet Earth, now has become a ‘tourist destination’ for adventurers. Now, each year hordes of people in thousands try their luck to reach the Top of the World through the various tourist agencies in Nepal.