Asim Mukhopadhyay
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Asim Mukhopadhyay (, also known as Asim Mukherjee ; 10 May 1929 – 28 January 2013) was a figure in the history of mountaineering in
West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
, India. He was the pioneer in India for organizing high altitude scientific expeditions in the Himalayan region. He took part in many such expeditions as a climber between 1959 and 1974, and organised a few more in that period and later as an administrator. He was one of the main organisers of the first successful climbing on
Nanda Ghunti Nanda Ghunti is a {{convert, 6309, m, ft, adj=mid, -high mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ ...
and
Tirsuli Tirsuli is a Himalayan mountain peak in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India. It is part of the complex of mountains, including Tirsuli West, Hardeol, Dunagiri, Changabang, and Kalanka, which make up the northeast wall of the Nanda Devi ...
peaks by any non-government Indian organisation. Mukhopadhyay is also known for his vast knowledge on
Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
, Buddhist literature and culture. He died on 28 January 2013, at the age of 83.


Early life, education, and teaching career

Mukhopadhyay was born in
Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, the second son of Malin Kumar Mukhopadhyay, a famous advocate who appeared for
Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam (24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengalis, Bengali poet, short story writer, journalist, lyricist and musician. He is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul produced a List of works by Kazi Nazrul Islam, large body of ...
in Banksal Court, Kolkata. He is the third of a family of four sisters and six brothers. He passed Matriculation in 1946 from Collins Institute, Lenin Sarani, Kolkata. He completed his Intermediate in 1948 and Bachelor of Arts with Honours in
Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
from
Vidyasagar College Vidyasagar College is a state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta, located in North Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The college offers both post-graduate and under-graduate courses in a number of subjects ...
, Kolkata. He passed
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
in
Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
from
University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...
in 1952. He got great scholars like
Suniti Kumar Chatterji Suniti Kumar Chatterji (26 November 1890 – 29 May 1977) was an Indian linguist, educationist and litterateur. He was a recipient of the second highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Vibhushan. Life Childhood Chatterji was born on 26 Novem ...
, Nalinaksha Dutta, Sukumar Sen and Sukumar Sengupta as teachers during the same period. Sukumar Sengupta was Head of the Department of Pali department of the
University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...
and research guide in the
Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of " Oriental research" (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions). It was founded by the philologist Will ...
. Mukhopadhyay was a teacher during 1953–1962 in Calcutta Corporation Primary School. He joined as a teacher of
Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
in Ultadanga United High School in January 1963. He continued in the same school up to his retirement in 1992. He was President of Calcutta Corporation Teachers' Union for four years. He was also member of Board of Studies,
West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education The West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE) is an Indian examining authority (School Educational Board), which is responsible for conducting examinations for standard XII for both government and private schools affiliated to ...
during 1973–1977 as a representative of
Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
.


Interest in Himalaya

Mukhopadhyay started feeling of exploring challenges in life after completing his M.A. in 1952. He and his friend Gouranga Banerjee, working as in charge of reading section in Anandabazar Patrika started from Kolkata in October of the same year. They reached to Uttarkashi via Haridwar, Devprayag, Rudraprayag by bus and walked to Badrinath via Joshimath. After trekking of about 11 miles to Vasudhara falls on Alakananda, they returned to Kolkata. Mukhopadhyay organised a few expeditions to Himalaya before he completed his mountaineering training in 1962 in spite of being a little heavy and aged for the training at that time. He had to make himself physically fit by losing weight and quitting smoking forever. Famous Tibetan mountaineer
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 incl ...
was the main coach and trainer.


Kalindi Pass Expedition, 1959

Mukhopadhyay took part in the expedition, the first by a non-government group in India, along with Sailesh Chakrabarty and Sukumar Ray. However, it was not recognised as an expedition by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.


Nanda Ghunti Expedition, 1960

Mukhopadhyay was one of the main organizers of the famous
Nanda Ghunti Nanda Ghunti is a {{convert, 6309, m, ft, adj=mid, -high mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ ...
Expedition, the first successful climb to the pick ever. The budget of the expedition was about INR 45000. They approached many industrialists including
Krishna Kumar Birla Krishna Kumar Birla (11 November 1918 – 30 August 2008) was an Indian industrialist of the Birla family. Biography Born at Pilani in the northwestern Indian state Rajasthan on 11 November 1918, Krishna Kumar Birla was the second son of Gha ...
, Alamohan Das for monetary help. Finally Ashok Sarkar, editor of the
Anandabazar Patrika ''Anandabazar Patrika'' is an Indian Bengali-language daily newspaper owned by the ABP Group. Its main competitors are ''Bartaman'', '' Ei Samay'', '' Sangbad Pratidin'', " Aajkal", " Jago Bangla", " ganashakti" and " dainik Statesman". Histo ...
agreed to sponsor the expedition. A reporter
Gour Kishore Ghosh Gour Kishore Ghosh (20 June 1923 – 15 December 2000) was an Indian writer and journalist in Bengali language, Bengali. Associated with ''Anandabazar Patrika'' for decades, Ghosh was known for his novels ''Desh Mati Manush'' and ''Prem Nei''. ...
and a photographer accompanied the climbers for regular reporting to Anandabazar. The expedition was carried out under leadership of Sukumar Ray, an employee of Calcutta Corporation. Other team members were Dilip Banerjee, Nemai Bose, Dhruba Majumder, Bishwadeb, Pemba Norbu, Nima Tashi and others. Sukumar Ray and Nima Tashi climbed Nandaghunti on 22 October 1960.


Roopkund Expedition, 1963

Swami Pranavanand wrote an article named "Mysterious lake of Roopkund" on
The Illustrated Weekly of India ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' was an English-language weekly newsmagazine publication in India. It started publication in 1880 (as ''Times of India'' Weekly Edition; later renamed as ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' in 1923) and ceased ...
in 1962. Swami mentioned his finding of more than five hundred dead bodies at north western side of
Roopkund Roopkund (locally known as Mystery Lake or Skeleton Lake) is a high-altitude glacial lake in the Uttarakhand state of India. It lies in the lap of Trishul massif. Located in the Himalayas, the area around the lake is uninhabited and is roughly ...
lake. He also mentioned about local legend of king Jasdhawal and queen Ballabha sung by villagers of Wan village. The legend says that the bodies are of companions of the king. Queen gave birth of a child in the place and the whole group died due to earthquake and a snow storm created by goddess Nandadevi because of not maintaining the sanctity of the holy place. Sukumar Ray formed a new organisation named "Hikers Club Bengal" with Anima Banerjee as president. Mukhopadhyay and the other members of the club were inspired by the article and wrote a letter to Swami mentioning their planned expedition. Pranavanand initially discouraged them as the area is really dangerous for an expedition. Yet the group planned for an expedition to resolve the mystery of the dead bodies. A team of eight led by Sukumar Ray reached the ashram of Swami at
Garur Garur is a town in the Bageshwar district of the state of Uttarakhand, India. Administration Garur is one of the subdivisions in Bageshwar district. The subdivisional magistrate office is situated nearby at Purda. Tehsil headquarters are also in ...
belongs to present
Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...
. Mukhopadhyay joined the team as an archaeologist. Other members of the team were Charu Das, Kalidas Banerjee, Sushanta De Sarkar, Sushanta Gupta (photographer)and a few more. Raichand Sing was taken as guide as he accompanied Swami Pranavanand too. The final destination by bus was Gwaldam. The team started trekking from there. They faced a problem related to remuneration of the high altitude porters in a village called Pathar Nachuni on the way. The people of Wan village could not sing the legendary story of king Jasdhawl. Mukhopadhyay concluded that the legend was not true as was described by Raichand Singh, who is from the same village, to Swami. They reached to Roopkund on 2 October. However the area was covered with almost 20 feet of snow because of heavy snow fall. So the bodies could not be seen. The team took a different route to reach Gwaldam, the end point of expedition. Sushanta Gupta created a one-hour documentary film on the expedition. A parallel expedition to the same place and at the same time was organised by Himalayan Association too.


Tirsuli Tirsuli is a Himalayan mountain peak in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, India. It is part of the complex of mountains, including Tirsuli West, Hardeol, Dunagiri, Changabang, and Kalanka, which make up the northeast wall of the Nanda Devi ...
Expedition, 1966

Secretary of Himalayan Association Chanchal Kumar Mitra requested Mukhopadhyay to join the team as chief patron and advisor. Mukhopadhyay did not join the expedition to organize the activities from Kolkata. He was the main interface to the printing media, mainly UNI and PTI who were publishing the reports during and after the expedition. This was the first successful summit to the peak after six failed attempts earlier. Nirapada Mullik and Shyamal Chakravarty were the submitters. Other notable members were Manik Banerjee, Marcopolo Srimal, Dr. Amitabha Sen (medical officer). The team was congratulated by many mountaineering organisations around the world after the success.


Council of Himalayan Exploration and Research

During his exploration of Himalaya Mukhopadhyay felt the necessity of organizing scientific expeditions with scholars from different academic fields to conduct studies on mostly unexplored high altitude Himalayan region. He called for a convention with scholars of Botany, Zoology, Anthropology, Geology, Biochemistry etc. from different colleges and universities and a few experienced mountaineers in the month of January 1968. It was decided to form an organisation to conduct such scientific explorations. Thus the council, brain child of Mukhopadhyay was formed in 1968 with himself as the first chairman and Kalidas Banerjee as vice-chairman. Other notable members were Netai Roy (secretary), Pradip Dasgupta (secretary), Arun Mukherjee (secretary), Sailesh Chakravorty (accountant/treasurer). The registered office of the council was in 24 Creek Row, Kolkata. Being first of its kind in India, the organisation was established to promote mountaineering based scientific explorations, publication of research papers etc. Research scholars associated with the organisation were Pradip Dasgupta (Lecturer, Department of Geology, Presidency College, Kolkata), Himanshu Banerjee (Lecturer, Department of Zoology, Presidency College, Kolkata), Bishwanath Banerjee (Professor of Anthropology, Science College, Kolkata), Rasomoy Dutta (Botanical Survey of India), Narendra Mohon Dutta (Lecturer, Department of Botany,
City College, Kolkata City College is a composite state government–aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It offers undergraduate-level courses in various arts, commerce and science subjects. History Anandamohan Bose, founder of the C ...
). Later joined Tridib Bose (Geography, National Atlas Organisation), Kamal Banerjee (Lecturer, Department of Zoology, Presidency College, Kolkata), Prabal Dey (
Zoological Survey of India The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), founded on 1 July 1916 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India as a premier Indian organisation in zoological research and studies to promote the survey, explora ...
), Dr. Gour Gopal Maiti (Lecturer, Department of Botany,
Kalyani University The University of Kalyani, established in 1960, is a Government of West Bengal administered, UGC affiliated, NAAC accredited, collegiate public research university in Kalyani, West Bengal, India. It offers courses at the Undergraduate, Post ...
), Mukul Hajra (
Anthropological Survey of India The Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) is an Indian government organisation involved in anthropological studies and field data research, primarily engaged in physical anthropology and cultural anthropology, while maintaining a strong focu ...
). Many samples were collected and research papers were published from the expeditions conducted by the council.


Kuti Valley Expedition, 1968

This was the first expedition conducted by the council. Mukhopadhyay along with Prof. Pradeep Dasgupta was the main organiser of the expedition. The initial scheme was rejected by Indian Mountaineering Foundation mentioning that it was out of their scope to grant money for such a scientific exploration. IMA suggested seeking support from University Grant Commission, who also refused to provide the support. The scheme was re-planned to divide into two parts in order get financial support within the rules and regulations of IMA. Education department of West Bengal Government,
Amrita Bazar Patrika ''Amrita Bazar Patrika'' was one of the oldest daily newspapers in India. Originally published in Bengali script, it evolved into an English format published from Kolkata and other locations such as Cuttack, Ranchi and Allahabad. The paper ...
and
Jugantar Patrika ''Jugantar Patrika'' () was a Bengali revolutionary newspaper founded in 1906 in Calcutta by Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Abhinash Bhattacharya and Bhupendranath Dutt. A political weekly, it was founded in March 1906 and served as the propaganda or ...
were also co sponsors. Under the leadership of Pradip Dasgupta two peaks beside
Nama Pass Nama Pass (el. ) is a Himalayan mountain pass located in eastern Kumaun region of the Pithoragarh District of Uttarakhand, India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and d ...
were under plan for climbing, although could not be climbed due to heavy snow fall in the region. A new virgin peak, unnamed on map but locally called Sangtang (6630 m), was targeted for climbing. It is the highest peak in Zanskar range. There was an unsuccessful attempt to climb Sangtang by two Swiss geologists Dr. Heim and Dr. Gansaar in 1936. Special permission was taken from the Indian military base located there as the peak was very close to the India-Tibet border. Kalidas Banerjee, Shanti Chatterjee, Charuchandra Das, Sushanta Gupta(photographer), Anil Kumar Dutta and Sushanta Kumar De Sarkar were notable among the team members. The summit party, led by Dilip Bhattacharya, sherpa Pemba Tharkay and sherpa Wanchoo conquered the peak at 2.55 PM on 25 September. The peak was named "Ramkrishna Paramhansa Girishringa"by the team after the famous Indian mystic
Ramakrishna Paramhansa Ramakrishna (18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886——— —), also called Ramakrishna Paramahansa (; ; ), born Ramakrishna Chattopadhay,M's original Bengali diary page 661, Saturday, 13 February 1886''More About Ramakrishna'' by Swami Prab ...
. The research papers published out of this expedition were: * "A collection of Aphides ( emiptera from Kuti Valley, West Himalaya" – by H. Banerjee, A.K. Ghosh, D.N. Roychoudhury, Entomology Laboratory, University of Calcutta – ''Oriental Insects'', Vol. 3, pp. 255–264, 1969 * "The Flora of Kuti Valley" – by R. Datta, Botanical Survey of India – ''Himalayan Mountaineering Journal'' Vol. 5, pp. 42–43 1969 * "Adrenomedullary response of the Pigeon exposed to high altitude" – by P. Lahiri & H. Banerjee, Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta – ''Indian Journal of Physiology and Allied Science'', Vol. 23, pp. 100–106 * On Textural peculiarities observed in Muth Quartzites of Kuti Valley – by P. Dasgupta, Presidency College Calcutta – ''Journal of the Geological Society of India'', Vol. 12, pp. 152–156, pp. 413–416, 1972 * "On the zoological collection during Kuti Valley expedition 1968" – by Himanshu Banerjee * "An outline of cultural life in Kuti – a high altitude village" – Prof. Biswanath Banerjee, lecturer, dept. of Anthropology, University of Calcutta


Upper Spiti Exploration, 1970

The pre monsoon expedition was carried out under leadership of Prof. Pradip Dasgupta. Other members were Kalidas Banerjee and Dr. Chatterjee (Anthropological Survey of India). This was the second expedition organised by the council.


Manirang Expedition, 1974

Manirang Manirang is one of the highest mountains in the Indian state Himachal Pradesh. It lies on the border between Kinnaur district and Lahaul and Spiti district. Close to the peak is the high Manirang pass, which was one of the early trade routes ...
is one of the highest peaks in
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...
. A six-week-long expedition for climbing the peak was organised by Council of Himalayan Exploration and Research under the leadership of Pradip Dasgupta. Apart from Mukhopadhyay the other members were Sailesh Chakravorty, Dilip Dutta and Prashanta Roy. The purpose of the expedition was to conduct a survey on socio religious life of the indigenous people with special reference to Buddhist culture. Different phases of the evolution of Buddhism, Buddhist art and architecture were studied. The team started from Kolkata on 2 June 1974. The team had a meeting with Dr. Y.S. Parmar, chief minister of Himachal Pradesh and got Raptan Chhering Budh, a local interpreter through him. The journey started from Tabo and continued through Poh and Dankhar. Monasteries including Tabo, Kee and Dankhar were visited and the culture and lifestyle of Buddhist were studied in detail. In Dankhar monastery they found young monks painting about Buddhist mythology on the inner walls of caves. Pradip Dasgupta met with an accident and his thigh got severely injured during the journey to the Babeh pass. After preliminary first aid, he was carried by
sherpa SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) is an organisation originally set up in 2002 to run and manage the SHERPA Project. History SHERPA began as an endeavour to support the establishment of a number of open ...
s as the journey continued. On 2 July Mukhopadhyay fell down from a height of about 200 ft and managed to escape from a sure death by falling into Spiti river as he somehow managed to hang on to a rock at the last moment. However his knee got fractured due to the impact with the stone. This was his last expedition as a climber.


Kuti Valley Project (2nd phase) 1976

The potential of Kuti valley in terms of research work on various branches of science inspired the council to conduct the second scientific expedition in the region. The team led by Dilip Kumar Dutta started from Kolkata on 3 October and reached Tawaghat in
Pithoragarh Pithoragarh ( Kumaoni: ''Pithor'garh'') is a Himalayan town with a Municipal corporation in Pithoragarh district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the largest hill town in Uttarakhand. Etymology "The district is named after its hea ...
district, the final point by bus, on 10th. They reached in Kuti village on 22nd. Zoological collections were not up to the mark as anticipated earlier. Zoologists Probal Dey and Kamal Banerjee collected some reptiles including a poisonous snake, butterflies, parasites etc.Preliminary report of the leader, Kuti valley project 1976 – by Dilip Kumar Dutta Botanist Dr. Gour Maiti collected about two hundred plant species. Anthropology data were collected emphasizing on marriage system,
Philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
and physical studies. Anthropologist Mukul Hazra found that consanguineous marriage was common in this region earlier. Dr. Tridib Kumar Bose, a geographer, recorded a complete weather chart from
Pithoragarh Pithoragarh ( Kumaoni: ''Pithor'garh'') is a Himalayan town with a Municipal corporation in Pithoragarh district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the largest hill town in Uttarakhand. Etymology "The district is named after its hea ...
to Kuti. Some plants used by local people for medicinal purpose were also collected. Mukhopadhyay organised the expedition and handled its administrative side.


Exploration SPINGPA Valleys 1978

SPINGPA stands for
Spiti Valley Spiti (pronounced as piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tib ...
, Pin, Yang valleys of Spiti district, Ropa, Baspa valleys of
Kinnaur district Kinnaur district () is a mountainous district located in the northeast part of the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. Kinnaur district borders Tibet (China) to the east, the state of Uttarakhand to the south, Shimla district to the southwest, K ...
, Manirang pass and Manirang peak (6593 m). The budget for the expedition was about INR 25000. The twelve member team consisted of research scholars from different fields of science and a few mountaineers. The team, led by Dr. Pulak Lahiri started on 21 May from Kolkata. A few of the targeted research areas are mentioned below. * Study on presence and distribution on high altitude fish
Fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...
in different rivers and lakes in the region * Parasitological study of high altitude fauna * Study on human biology of the inhabitants of the adjoining area of Manirang pass of Spiti and Kinnaur districts, Himachal Pradesh * Limnological studies enrooted Manirang pass and specially of the Yang lake adjacent to the pass * Politico-Historical background, physical and cultural settings of the entire area under coverage


Rock Climbing course in Susunia Hill, Bankura

Mukhopadhyay and Sukumar Ray surveyed
Ajodhya Hills Ajodhya Hills (), is a small plateau with hilly surroundings located in the Purulia district of the state West Bengal, India. It is the easternmost part of the Chhotanagpur Plateau and extended part of Eastern Ghats range. Highest peak of Ajodhya ...
,
Purulia Purulia, officially Purulia Sadar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River. Geography Location Purulia is locate ...
to find out possibilities of rock climbing course in 1961. It was found unsuitable for the same. They also surveyed Jaichandi Hills, Adra,
Purulia Purulia, officially Purulia Sadar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River. Geography Location Purulia is locate ...
and found it dangerous for such a course. Finally
Susunia Susunia is a hill of southern West Bengal, India. It is known for its holy spring, flora and the rock faces on which many mountaineers of the region developed relevant experience. It is also a reserve for medicinal plants. Susunia is a part of ...
hills in
Bankura Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district. Etymology It comes from the old Austric word ráŕhá or ráŕho which means “land of red soil”.P.R. Sarkar Rarh - ...
was surveyed in 1962 and found suitable for the course. The course was formally started in 1963 on a regular basis under the banner of Himalayan Association. Later other mountaineering clubs also included such courses to
Susunia Susunia is a hill of southern West Bengal, India. It is known for its holy spring, flora and the rock faces on which many mountaineers of the region developed relevant experience. It is also a reserve for medicinal plants. Susunia is a part of ...
and other places. Council of Himalayan Exploration and Research later organised rock climbing courses in their training programs for new aspiring mountaineers.


References


External links


Alpinejournal.org.uk


{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukhopadhyay, Asim 1929 births 2013 deaths Indian mountain climbers Vidyasagar College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Bengali people