Over the cliff: Rajasthan’s Mountain Man mourned

Baba Bajrang Das, commonly known as Rajasthan’s “mountain man” for carving out a route through a hill in Bundi to connect two villages, died after a prolonged disease.

The 82-year-old Hindu holy man’s condition was deteriorating for some time and was on Friday flow in an air ambulance from Kota to Delhi for medical treatment. He took his last breath on arrival at the Delhi airport.

While the love of his wife had prompted Dashrath Manjhi of Bihar to carve out a passage over the Gahlour hills near Gaya, it was for the benefit of the villagers that motivated Das to take up the initiative to carve 300 meters long, 20 ft wide and 25 ft deep passage across a hill connecting Mandpur and Gendoli  villages.

The carved out passage on the hill is more than 1km and has been developed to connect Gendoli and Mandpur villages across the hill.

Ramcharan Sanadhaya a disciple of Baba said that he devoted his entire life to the welfare of the people and always raised their issues, There is no doubt that he had supernatural powers but his unyielding passion for the welfare of the people and commitment to their concern was the sole energy  that would relieve people from their worldly miseries and problems.

Das, who mostly wore a langot and was popularly known as “lal langot waale baba”, spent the charity received from devotees on social welfare work. His body was taken out in a procession through streets of Bundi.