Asim Mukhopadhyay (, also known as Asim Mukherjee ) is a famous figure in the history of mountaineering in West Bengal, India. He was the pioneer in India for organizing high altitude scientific expeditions in the Himalayan region. He took part in many such expeditions as a climber between 1959 and 1974, and organised a few more in that period and later as an administrator. He was one of the main organisers of the first successful climbing on Nanda Ghunti and Tirsuli peaks by any non-government Indian organisation. Mukhopadhyay is also known for his vast knowledge on Pali, Buddhist literature and culture.
Early life, education, and teaching career
Mukhopadhyay was born in Kolkata, India, the second son of Malin Kumar Mukhopadhyay, a famous advocate who appeared for Kazi Nazrul Islam in Banksal Court, Kolkata. He is the third of a family of four sisters and six brothers.
He passed Matriculation in 1946 from Collins Institute, Lenin Sarani, Kolkata. He completed his Intermediate in 1948 and Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Pali from Vidyasagar College, Kolkata. He passed Master of Arts in Pali from University of Calcutta in 1952. He got great scholars like Suniti Kumar Chatterji, Nalinaksha Dutta, Sukumar Sen and Sukumar Sengupta as teachers during the same period. Sukumar Sengupta was Head of the Department of Pali department of the University of Calcutta and research guide in the Asiatic Society.
Mukhopadhyay was a teacher during 1953–1962 in Calcutta Corporation Primary School. He joined as a teacher of Pali in Ultadanga United High School in January 1963. He continued in the same school up to his retirement in 1992.
He was President of Calcutta Corporation Teachers' Union for four years. He was also member of Board of Studies, West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education during 1973–1977 as a representative of Pali.
Interest in Himalaya
Mukhopadhyay started feeling of exploring challenges in life after completing his M.A. in 1952. He and his friend Gouranga Banerjee, working as in charge of reading section in Anandabazar Patrika started from Kolkata in October of the same year. They reached to Uttarkashi via Haridwar, Devprayag, Rudraprayag by bus and walked to Badrinath via Joshimath. After trekking of about 11 miles to Vasudhara falls on Alakananda, they returned to Kolkata. Mukhopadhyay organised a few expeditions to Himalaya before he completed his mountaineering training in 1962 in spite of being a little heavy and aged for the training at that time. He had to make himself physically fit by losing weight and quitting smoking forever. Famous Tibetan mountaineer Nawang Gombu was the main coach and trainer.
Kalindi Pass Expedition, 1959
Mukhopadhyay took part in the expedition, the first by a non-government group in India, along with Sailesh Chakrabarty and Sukumar Ray. However, it was not recognised as an expedition by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation.
Nanda Ghunti Expedition, 1960
Mukhopadhyay was one of the main organizers of the famous Nanda Ghunti Expedition, the first successful climb to the pick ever. The budget of the expedition was about INR 45000. They approached many industrialists including Krishna Kumar Birla, Alamohan Das for monetary help. Finally Ashok Sarkar, editor of the Anandabazar Patrika agreed to sponsor the expedition. A reporter Gour Kishore Ghosh and a photographer accompanied the climbers for regular reporting to Anandabazar. The expedition was carried out under leadership of Sukumar Ray, an employee of Calcutta Corporation. Other team members were Dilip Banerjee, Nemai Bose, Dhruba Majumder, Bishwadeb, Pemba Norbu, Nima Tashi and others. Sukumar Ray and Nima Tashi climbed Nandaghunti on 22 October 1960.
Roopkund Expedition, 1963
Swami Pranavanand wrote an article named "Mysterious lake of Roopkund" on The Illustrated Weekly of India in 1962. Swami mentioned his finding of more than five hundred dead bodies at north western side of Roopkund lake. He also mentioned about local legend of king Jasdhawal and queen Ballabha sung by villagers of Wan village. The legend says that the bodies are of companions of the king. Queen gave birth of a child in the place and the whole group died due to earthquake and a snow storm created by goddess Nandadevi because of not maintaining the sanctity of the holy place.