Kathmandu: A gesture by a Sherpa to
scatter Everest hero Sir Edmund Hillary's ashes atop the
world's highest summit has been dropped as Nepalese Buddhist
lamas have ruled it may bring "bad luck" to the country.
Legendary climber Apa Sherpa had left for the Everest
base camp in his quest to make a record breaking 20th attempt
on the 8,848 metre high peak and also scatter Hillary's ashes
atop the summit.
But, these plans ran into rough weather when the lamas
and the citizens' committee of the area surrounding the
Everest massif said it would be "inauspicious" to sprinkle
ashes on the holy place.
Sherpas, mostly Buddhists who inhabit all the villages
around the peak, consider Mt Everest as a holy mountain.
"A citizens' meeting held to consider the ashes issue
decided it would be inauspicious," the expedition organiser
Dawa Steven Sherpa said.
"There were also concerns that other such demands
could come from different quarters," He said.
But, he said Apa Sherpa would go ahead with his record
breaking attempt.
Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay made history on May
29, 1953 by becoming the first men to set foot on the world's
highest summit, the Mount Everest.
Most of Hillary's ashes were immersed in the sea off
Auckland in his native New Zealand, but some were given to his
Sherpa friends in the Everest region to be preserved in a
Buddhist monastery in the village of Kunde.
Steven Sherpa said Hillary's ashes could be scattered
in a park housing his memorial in the Everest region built
with his help.
PTI
First Published: Friday, April 09, 2010, 21:30