Chennai, Aug 2 (IANS) Well known Tamil actor Veera, who is best known for his performance in the superhit Tamil film, ‘Rajathandhiram’, has paid glowing tributes to one of the world’s greatest mountaineers, Nirmal Purja, popularly known as Nims Dai, who tragically passed away on Thursday after an avalanche struck the expedition party he was leading to Pakistan’s Broad Peak, the 8,051-metre mountain in the Karakoram range.

Taking to his Instagram stories section to pay glowing tributes to the legendary mountaineer, Veera wrote, “Today, the world doesn’t just mourn a mountaineer-it mourns a man who taught millions that courage can take us beyond impossible.”

He went on to say, “Nims Dai didn’t just climb peaks. He gave hope to dreamers, strength to climbers, and inspired an entire generation to look higher. Though his journey has ended, his spirit will forever live in every mountain, every summit, and every heart he inspired.”

He concluded his tribute saying, “Rest in Peace, Nims Dai. Legends never truly leave the mountains.”

For the unaware, Nirmal Purja was born in Nepal’s Dhaulagiri region and raised in Chitwan. He made history by climbing all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks in just over six months under his ‘Project Possible’, shattering the previous record of nearly eight years.

By summiting Broad Peak, he hoped to become the first person in history to climb all 14 eight-thousand metre mountains twice.

Before the tragedy, Purja had revealed in a Facebook post on July 27 that Broad Peak had not been part of his original plan, as he had intended to climb only Gasherbrum II (G2). However, an opportunity to summit Broad Peak arose, and he did not want to miss the chance to make history.

“This was never the plan. Initially, the plan was to climb just G2. But just before setting off for Pakistan, I ran the numbers on my 8,000m summits. That’s when it hit me: if I tick off Broad Peak whilst I’m here, only one remains — Cho Oyu. Then I become the FIRST person in history to climb all 14 eight-thousanders twice. Without oxygen,” he had said in his post.

–IANS

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