Chhering Norbu Bodh
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Subedar Major and Honorary Captain Chhering Norbu Bodh, SC, (retd.) (born May 1969, also known as CN Bodh) is a retired personnel of the
Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...
, known for his mountaineering achievements while in the army. Bodh holds a number of Indian summiting records related to 8,000m peaks. Among others, he is the first Indian mountaineer to have climbed six of the fourteen 8000m peaks in the world, and the first Indian to stand atop
Lhotse Lhotse ( ; ; ) is the List of highest mountains#List, fourth-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. At an elevation of above sea level, the main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of Chin ...
and Annapurna-1.


Personal life

Bodh hails from the
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 ...
,
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 ...
. He joined the army soon after matriculating from school. He is known to be a devout
Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Arunachal Prades ...
.


Mountaineering achievements


Successful 8000m summits

Bodh is known for having successfully climbed six 8,000m peaks in expeditions conducted by the Indian Army: # Mt
Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its ...
(2001) # Mt
Annapurna Annapurna (; ) is a mountain situated in the Annapurna mountain range of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. It is the 10th highest mountain in the world at above sea level and is well known for the difficulty and danger involved in its as ...
(2002) # Mt
Lhotse Lhotse ( ; ; ) is the List of highest mountains#List, fourth-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. At an elevation of above sea level, the main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of Chin ...
(2003) # Mt
Kanchenjunga Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and ...
(2004) # Mt
Cho Oyu Cho Oyu ( Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means " Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the '' Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur Him ...
(2006) # Mt
Dhaulagiri Dhaulagiri, located in Nepal, is the seventh highest mountain in the world at above sea level, and the highest mountain within the borders of a single country. It was first climbed on 13 May 1960 by a Swiss-Austrian-Nepali expedition. Annapur ...
(2009) Bodh is the first Indian who summited three, then four, then five, and then six 8000m summits. Bodh is the first Indian to have set foot on the summits of Annapurna-I and Lhotse.


Others

Bodh summited Gyagar peak (6,400m) in
Spiti 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 ...
in August 1995 and
Mana Peak Mana Peak () is a mountain in India. It is the 5th highest mountain located entirely within Uttarakhand. Nanda Devi is the highest mountain in this category. There are two known approaches to Mana Peak: one is the eastern approach through East ...
(7,273m) in 2000. He contributed significantly to the successful Army Women Everest Expedition in 2005.


Recognition


Shaurya Chakra

In 2001, Bodh was awarded the
Shaurya Chakra The Shaurya Chakra () is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice while not engaged in direct action with the enemy. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, sometimes posthum ...
, India's third highest peacetime gallantry award, for successfully summiting Mt Everest under daunting conditions on 23 May 2001. The citation for this award reads as the following:


Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award

On 29 August 2006, Bodh was awarded the
Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, formerly known as the National Adventure Awards is the highest adventure sports honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Tenzing Norgay, one of the first two individuals to reach th ...
, the highest adventure sports honor bestowed by the
Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...
, for the year 2005 in the Land Adventure category. This award recognized Bodh for the whole span of his achievements in mountaineering till then.


Others

Bodh received COAS (Chief of the Army Staff) Commendation Cards on Army Days in 2008 and 2010. Bodh, a JCO in the Indian army, was made an Honorary Captain while approaching retirement, on account of his distinguished career. Bodh was regarded among India's best mountaineers in the years when he was climbing 8,000m peaks. Bodh is an 'Individual Member' of 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 ac ...
(IMF), the
Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...
's apex mountaineering body.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bodh, Chhering Norbu People from Lahaul and Spiti district Military personnel from Himachal Pradesh Recipients of the Shaurya Chakra Recipients of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award Indian summiters of Mount Everest Mountain climbers from Himachal Pradesh Recipients of Indian Mountaineering Foundation's Gold Medal 1969 births Living people