Dashrath Manjhi

Dashrath Manjhi (14 January 1934 – 17 August 2007), also known as Mountain Man, 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. After 22 years of work, Dashrath shortened travel between the Atri and Wazirganj blocks of Gaya district from 55 km to 15 km. 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.