Dashrath Manjhi (1934- 2007) was born into a poor laborer family in Gahlour village near Gaya in state of Bihar, India.
Dashrath Manjhi's wife, Falguni Devi, died due to lack of medical treatment because the nearest town with a doctor was 70 kilometres (43 miles) away from their village. The villagers had to travel all this distance to reach the nearest town, due to the path blocked by a rocky hill.
Dashrath did not want anyone else to suffer the same fate as his wife, so he carved a one kilometer long and 16 feet wide cleft in the hill to form a road through a mountain in the Gehlour hills, working day and night for 22 years from 1960 to 1982.
He did this single handedly only with a rope, chisel and a hammer.
His feat reduced the distance between the Atri and Wazirganj blocks of the Gaya district from 75 km to 1 km, bringing him national acclaim.
He died on August 17, 2007. He was given a state funeral by the government of the state of Bihar.