Early life and work
Dashrath Manjhi was born in a Musahar family.Falguni Devi died after an accident due to not receiving immediate medical care, as there were no nearby hospitals.Thinking that no one else should suffer this fate, he resolved to build the road to make his village more accessible. Manjhi felt the need to do something for society and decided to carve a path through the Gehlour hills so that his village could have easier access to medical care.[1] He carved a path 110 m long, 7.7 m deep in places and 9.1 m wide to form a road through the rocks in Gehlour hill. He said, "When I started hammering the hill, people called me a lunatic but that steeled my resolve."
He completed the work in 22 years (1960–1982). This path reduced the distance between the Atri and Wazirganj sectors of the Gaya district from 55 km to 15 km. Though mocked for his efforts, Manjhi's work has made life easier for people of the Gehlaur village.[10] Later, Manjhi said, "Though most villagers taunted me at first, there were quite a few who lent me support later by giving me food and helping me buy my tools."
Death
Manjhi died on 17 August 2007 after suffering from gallbladder cancer in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.[5] He was given a state funeral by the Government of Bihar.
In popular culture
Films Division produced a documentary directed by Kumud Ranjan named The Man Who Moved the Mountain based on Manjhi's life in 2011.
In August 2015, a Hindi movie Manjhi - The Mountain Man was released and well received. The movie was directed by Ketan Mehta. Nawazuddin Siddiqui played the role of Manjhi along with Radhika Apte as Falguni Devi
The first episode of Season 2 of the Aamir Khan hosted TV Show Satyamev Jayate, aired in March 2014, was dedicated to Dashrath Manjjhi.Aamir Khan and Rajesh Ranjan also met Bhagirath Manjhi and Basanti Devi, son and daughter-in-law of Manjhi and promised to provide financial help.[19] However, Basanti Devi died due to inability to afford medical care on 1 April 2014.
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