In an act of love, Indian man spends 22 years cutting through a mountain with a chisel

Love has the power to transcend all boundaries, turning ordinary individuals into extraordinary forces of change. Dashrath Manjhi, affectionately known as the "Mountain Man," embodied this transformative power through his unwavering determination and love for his late wife, Falguni Devi. His remarkable story is a testament to how profound loss can inspire unimaginable acts of courage. As Manjhi shared with World Documentary HD, the untimely death of his wife became the catalyst for a life-altering mission.

Falguni Devi tragically passed away after a fall from a mountain ridge in their village of Gehlaur, Bihar, India. The hospital that could have saved her life was over 30 miles (approximately 48 km) away, and the dangerous terrain made accessing medical care nearly impossible. Unable to save his wife due to the lack of infrastructure, Manjhi resolved to ensure no one else in his community would face the same devastating loss. He began an extraordinary task: manually carving a 360-foot-long, 25-foot-wide path through a rocky mountain, reducing the distance to the nearest hospital from 75 kilometers to just 10 kilometers.

According to My Modern Met, Manjhi worked tirelessly for 22 years, using only a hammer and chisel, to complete the passage. His monumental effort not only eased access to critical healthcare but also stood as a powerful symbol of resilience, love, and the lengths one can go to for the betterment of their community. By transforming grief into purpose, Manjhi became a beacon of hope for generations to come.

"When I started hammering the hill, people called me a lunatic, but that steeled my resolve. Most villagers taunted me initially, but quite a few lent me support later by giving food and helping me buy my tools," Manjhi shared. With just a hammer and a chisel, he worked tirelessly to reduce the distance that separated his village from essential services for 22 years. Manjhi's extreme dedication symbolizes the massive human determination that can turn an impossible challenge into a tangible path. "I was sleeping beside a well. It was 12 in the night and I heard a voice from the sky asking me to break the mountain. Since then, I forgot to sleep. I started thinking about how to break the mountain," Manjhi shared with World Documentary HD. 

With a twinkle in his eyes, Manjhi playfully reflected on his tremendous work and humorously suggested that had his wife been alive, he would have been preoccupied with pleasing her and possibly could not have accomplished such a task. "If my wife was alive, I would have been busy pleasing her. How could I have done such a mammoth task? No, I am just joking," he added. Manjhi's legacy extends far beyond carving the mountain. His determination was once again witnessed when he addressed the unstable river crossing that threatened villagers' lives.

"Do you see this river? We cross it every day to reach the market. During monsoons, it gets flooded. Once, I was crossing the river when I slipped and had a close escape from drowning. But that day, I thought how many must have drowned in this river. Then I started making a bridge on this," he revealed.

With exceptional dedication, Manjhi embarked on yet another astonishing journey, walking 1100 miles along railway lines to secure funding from the Indian government for bridge construction. It is important to note that Manjhi passed away on August 17, 2007, after battling gallbladder cancer for a long time, as reported by The Viewspaper. After his demise, the local government built an official road over the path that Manjhi had carved through the mountain. Additionally, Manjhi was honored with a statue and a memorial in his hometown.