The 1965 Indian Everest Expedition reached the summit of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

on 20 May 1965. It was the first successful scaling of the mountain by an Indian climbing expedition. After the first conquest of Mount Everest in 1953 by the New Zealander

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached t ...

and Sherpa

Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; perhaps 29 May 1914 – 9 May 1986), 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 reach the sum ...

, 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 Colonel (India), Colonel Narendra Kumar, Param Vishisht Seva Medal, PVSM, Kirti Chakra, KC, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, AVSM, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, FRGS (8 December 1933 – 31 December 2020) was an Indian soldier and mountaineer ...

, Sonam Gyatso, and Sherpa

Nawang Gombu Nawang Gombu (1 May 1936 – 24 April 2011) was a Sherpa mountaineer who was the first man in the world to have climbed Mount Everest twice. Gombu was born in Minzu, Tibet and later became an Indian citizen, as did many of his relatives inclu ...

reached , just from the summit, but had to turn back due to extremely bad weather. The second expedition by the Indian Army, led by Major John Diaz in 1962, also failed. Captain

Mohan Singh Kohli Captain Mohan Singh Kohli (b. 11 December 1931 at Haripur) is an internationally renowned Indian mountaineer. An officer in the Indian Navy who joined the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, he led the 1965 Indian expedition which put nine men o ...

, Sonam Gyatso, and

Hari Dang Hari Dang (1935-2016) was an Indian educationist and a mountaineer. While at The Doon School, he led the schoolboys on the first Indian expedition to Mt. Jaonli (6,632 m) in 1965. Education Dang was schooled at Modern School, Delhi, and then ...

got to almost below the summit at , but also had to give up due to bad weather. Mohan Singh Kohli was a member of both these expeditions.

Preparation

In 1965, the third Indian expedition, which was led by

and his deputy Colonel Narendra "Bull" Kumar, included 21 core members of the expedition, and around 50 climbing

sherpas The Sherpa are one of the Tibetan ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, Tingri County in the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Himalayas. The term ''sherpa'' or ''sherwa'' derives from the Sherpa language words ("east") ...

. The mission was sponsored by the

Indian Mountaineering foundation Indian Mountaineering Foundation is an apex national body which organize and support, mountaineering and rock climbing expeditions at high altitudes in the Himalayas. The organization also promotes and encourages schemes for related adventure acti ...

. The team started their journey from

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

on 21 February and reached on

Jaynagar railway station Jaynagar railway station is a main terminal railway station in Madhubani district, Bihar. Its code is JYG. It serves Jainagar and the surrounding areas. The station consists of 5 platforms. History The Jayanagar–Janakpur–Bijalpura lin ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

, the

Indo Indo may refer to: * Indo-, a prefix indicating India or the Indian Subcontinent * Indonesia, a country in Asia ** INDO LINES, callsign of Indonesian Airlines ** Indo people, people of mixed European and Indonesian ancestry ** Indo cuisine, fusion ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

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 Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

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.

Reaching the summit

India became the fourth country to scale Mount Everest. On 20 May 1965, Lt Col Avatar. S. Cheema and

Nawang Gombu Sherpa Nawang Gombu (1 May 1936 – 24 April 2011) was a Sherpa mountaineer who was the first man in the world to have climbed Mount Everest twice. Gombu was born in Minzu, Tibet and later became an Indian citizen, as did many of his relatives inclu ...

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. Two days later, on 22 May, Sonam Gyatso and

Sonam Wangyal Sonam Wangyal (born 1942) 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 ...

reached the summit and C. P. Vohra,

Ang Kami 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. T ...

Sherpa reached it on 24 May. On 29 May, 12 years to the day from the first ascent of Mount Everest, Major

H. P. S. Ahluwalia Major Hari Pal Singh Ahluwalia (6 November 1936 – 14 January 2022) 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, spor ...

, H. C. S. Rawat,

Phu Dorjee Sherpa 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 Exp ...

reached the summit. This was the first time three climbers had stood on the summit together. 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.

Reception and honours

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 Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...

headed the reception at the airport. The entire team were given an

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

. Three members, including the team leader, were awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

and the leader and eight team members were given the

Padma Shree Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred ...

. 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”. Lal Bahadur Shastri also described the 1965 success as one of India's six major achievements after independence. A full-length film on the expedition with music by

Shankar Jaikishan Shankar may refer to: People *Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name * Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer *L. Shankar, Indian violinist *S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar *Sankar ...

was released all over India and abroad. 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 Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. 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.

Records of the expedition

* First Indian team to successfully climb the Everest * First time three climbers stood on the summit together * First time nine climbers reached the summit, setting a world record which India held for 17 years * First man to climb Everest twice –

* First time that the oldest ( Sonam Gyatso at 42) and the youngest (

at 23) climbed Everest together * First Nepalese to climb Everest –

Team

*Team leader Captain M S Kohli *Deputy leader Colonel Narendra "Bull" Kumar #

Avtar Singh Cheema 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 ...

# Sonam Gyatso #

# C. P. Vohra #

# H. C. S. Rawat #

# Captain Harsh Vardhan Bahuguna # Major B P Singh # Gurdial Singh # Major Mulk Raj # Captain J C Joshi # Lt. B N Rana # Captain A K Chakravarty( Doctor) # Dr. D V Telang (Doctor) # G S Bhanghu (Wireless Operator) # C.Balakrishnan (Wireless Operator) * Captain Soares (doctor) returned due to illness

Sherpas

About 50

Sherpas The Sherpa are one of the Tibetan ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal, Tingri County in the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Himalayas. The term ''sherpa'' or ''sherwa'' derives from the Sherpa language words ("east") ...

participated in the mission. Many of them had previously participated in other Everest missions. One of the sherpas, Phu Dorjee Sherpa, reached the summit. # Ang tshering (Sirdar) #

(Assistant Sirdar) #General Thondup #Nawang Hilla #Dawa Norbu I #Ang Dava IV #Ila Tshering #Ang tshering II #Tenzing Nindra #Ang Nyima #Tenzing Gyatso #Nima Tenzing #Gunden #Passand Tendi #Mingma Tshering (Orderly of Captain M S Kohli) #Pemba Sunder #Sikhu Phorche #Dahnu #Lobsang Sherpa

References

External links

Indian Everest Expedition 1965
(25:44 min) on

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:1965 Indian Everest Expedition Mount Everest expeditions 1965 in India 1965 in Nepal