Every Independence Day, the tricolour is hoisted across the country – on rooftops, in schools, and outside government buildings. However, the Indian national flag has been raised one place higher than any flagpole could ever raise it: Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. The Indian flag has been raised there many times since 1965. Indeed, more than 400 Indians have brought the flag to its peak. It is a considerable figure for a mountain that seemed inaccessible some time ago. Who was the first climber? In this article, let us discover the person who placed India in the records of Mount Everest.
Who Was The First Indian To Hoist The Indian National Flag On Mount Everest?
Source: Sherpa Legend
The first Indian who hoisted the national flag on the summit of Mt Everest was Captain Avtar Singh Cheema. He successfully completed the feat on 20th May 1965 at 9:30 in the morning.
Captain Cheema belonged to the 7th Parachute Regiment of the Indian Army at that time. His partner in this climb was Nawang Gombu Sherpa, who was going for the second successful climb of Everest after his climb in 1963 with the American group.
This climb was successful after the failure of two previous attempts to conquer Everest by the Indian Army in 1960 and 1962. Inclement weather and difficult terrain were responsible for forcing back the previous two expeditions.
Captain M.S. Kohli led this expedition, and it was the third successful attempt to conquer Everest for the Indian Army.
Captain Avtar Singh Cheema became the first Indian and the 16th person in the world to reach the summit of Everest.
India thus became the fourth country after Britain, Switzerland, and the United States to accomplish this feat. Captain Avtar Singh Cheema was later honoured with the Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri for his climb.
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- First Person Overall: Tenzing Norgay (an Indian-Nepali Sherpa) first unfurled the tricolour along with Sir Edmund Hillary on May 29, 1953.
- First Indian Citizen Climber: Avtar Singh Cheema led the first successful all-Indian team effort on May 20, 1965.
- Team Commander: The 1965 expedition was led by Captain M S Kohli. A total of 9 Indian climbers reached the summit during this single mission, setting a world record that stood for 13 years.
- National Honours: Captain Cheema was awarded the Arjun Award and the Padma Shri for his bravery.
Who Hoisted the Indian Flag First on Mount Everest: Tenzing Norgay or Avtar Singh Cheema?
Source: The New World
While both climbers etched their names in history, their milestones represent different achievements.
On May 29, 1953, Tenzing Norgay, alongside Sir Edmund Hillary, became one of the first two people to reach the summit of Mount Everest. As a resident of Darjeeling, India, Norgay carried and unfurled the Indian tricolour at the peak alongside the British, Nepalese, and UN flags.
Further, he held Nepalese/Indian ties (he moved to Darjeeling, India, in 1933 and lived there for most of his life).
Twelve years later, on May 20, 1965, Captain Avtar Singh Cheema became the first Indian citizen and member of an all-Indian expedition to scale Mount Everest.
Cheema successfully planted the Indian national flag at the summit, officially leading India into the global mountaineering hall of fame.
In short, while Tenzing Norgay was the first person to hoist the Indian tricolour atop Everest in 1953, Captain Avtar Singh Cheema holds the official title of being the first Indian national to achieve the summit in 1965.
The 1965 Indian Everest Expedition
This was the third attempt to reach Everest by India, and it was well planned as a military operation.
- Leader: Capt. M.S. Kohli
- Deputy Leader: Col. Narendra 'Bull' Kumar
- Number of Climbers: 21 main climbers with about 50 Sherpas in support
- Total Attempts: 4 attempts made to reach the summit in May 1965
- Outcome: 9 successful summits in total — a world record for the highest number of summits in one expedition that remained unbeaten for 13 years, until the Germans and French broke it in 1978
Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
| First Indian summiteer | Avtar Singh Cheema |
| Date of summit | May 20, 1965 |
| Regiment | 7 Parachute Regiment, Indian Army |
| Climbing partner | Nawang Gombu Sherpa |
| Expedition leader | Captain M.S. Kohli |
| Global rank | 16th person ever to summit Everest |
| India's rank | 4th country to summit Everest |
| Awards received | Padma Shri, Arjuna Award |
| Expedition record | 9 summiteers in one trip (unbeaten for 13 years) |
How Many Times Has India's Flag Flown On Everest?
The figure has seen a substantial increase since 1965.
Between 1965 and 2018, 422 climbers from India made 465 summit ascents, out of which 43 repeats by 29 climbers have been documented in expedition accounts from the Himalayan Database and Indian Mountaineering Foundation reports.
81 of these attempts were made by Indian women, 74 of whom succeeded. Bachendri Pal is the first Indian woman who managed to summit in 1984.
There has only been more excitement since then. It has been estimated that more than 500 Indians have reached the summit of Mount Everest at present, with new names being added every year from April through May.
Conclusion
The expedition by Avtar Singh Cheema was not just an effort to reach the summit; it was an effort made to prove that India had its feet on the highest point of the planet in a literal sense.
The achievement of Singh Cheema in 1965 paved the way for hundreds of Indians who have followed in his footsteps – army men, students, and women making history in their own way.
Today, the Indian flag has seen many summits on Mount Everest. But it all began with one army man, one Sherpa, and one chilly day in May 1965.