MOUNTAINEERS from India

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Indian Mountaineers of all time. This list of famous Indian Mountaineers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Bachendri Pal (b. 1954)

With an HPI of 48.05, Bachendri Pal is the most famous Indian Mountaineer.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Bachendri Pal (born 24 May 1954) is an Indian mountaineer. In 1984, she became the first Indian woman to climb the summit of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest. She was awarded the third highest civilian award in India, Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2019.

2. Arunima Sinha (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 30.26, Arunima Sinha is the 2nd most famous Indian Mountaineer.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Arunima Sinha is an Indian mountaineer and sportswoman. She is India's first female amputee and world's second female amputee to scale Mount Everest (Asia), Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mount Elbrus (Europe), Mount Kosciuszko (Australia), Aconcagua (South America), Denali (North America) and Vinson Massif (Antarctica). She is also a seven time Indian volleyball player. Before Arunima, Rhonda Graham from USA world's first female amputee climbed Mount Everest in October 2011. She was pushed from a running train by robbers in 2011 while she was resisting them, causing in rods pushed into her left leg and multiple fractures of the spinal cord. Her aim was to climb each of the continent's highest peaks and hoist the national flag of India. She had already done six peaks until 2014: Everest in Asia, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe, Kosciuszko in Australia, Aconcagua in South America, and Denali in North America. She completed her final summit of Mount Vinson in Antarctica on 1 January 2019. In 2015, the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri award, the fourth highest civilian award of India.

3. Malavath Purna (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 20.56, Malavath Purna is the 3rd most famous Indian Mountaineer.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Malavath Poorna (born 10 June 2000) is an Indian mountaineer. On 25 May 2014, Poorna climbed Mount Everest, aged 13 years and 11 months, the youngest female to have reached the summit. Purna climbed Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe on 27 July 2017. After reaching the summit of Elbrus, Poorna unfurled a 50 ft long Indian Tricolor and sang the Indian National Anthem. She completed the Seven Summits on 5 June 2022 climbing Denali, along with father-daughter duo Ajeet Bajaj and Deeya Bajaj. A film based on Poorna's life story was released in 2017 named Poorna: Courage Has No Limit directed by Rahul Bose.