Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja, a Nepali mountaineer and former British Marine, set a world record in mountaineering by scaling all 8,000-metre peaks in the world in the shortest span of time. Purja took 190 days to achieve this feat, beating the earlier record of seven years, 10 months and six days by a South Korean climber.

Read: Nirmal Purja makes history by climbing all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters in 190 day

For his achievement, he was felicitated at the ‘Heroes of Nepal’, a series organised by Nabil Bank Limited to recognise and honour the work of exceptional individuals, on Friday, at the Rastra Sabha Hall in Bhrikuti Mandap.

Purja is the first individual to be felicitated with the ‘Heroes of Nepal’ title.

“It was never about me; it was always about the country and its pride. I would have given up at the beginning when I wasn’t able to gather funds if it was about myself,” said Purja, as he accepted the title.

In his acceptance speech, Purja spoke about his campaign ‘Project Possible’ and stressed about the difficulties in managing funds for his project and also shared his life experiences before embarking on the journey when he served in the British Army.

Anil Keshary Shah, CEO of Nabil Bank Limited, said, “The objective of the Nabil Bank Heroes of Nepal series is to provide a platform to showcase the strengths and achievements of true Nepali heroes, so that we can all learn from them.”

Along with the ‘Heroes of Nepal’ title, Nabil Bank also awarded Purja with Rs7, 00,000. The bank also announced it would collaborate with Nepal Mountaineering Association to provide scholarships to 15 children from the families of mountaineers who lost their lives while on expeditions in the Himalayas.