Nepali’s delight at being declared smallest man

Home to the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, Nepal yesterday added another height-related superlative — of having the world’s shortest man.

A Guinness World Records team measured Chandra Bahadur Dangi at 54.6cm (21.5 inches, or roughly the height of this page), declaring the 72-year-old shorter than the previous title holder, Junrey Balawing, from the Philippines, who stood at 23.5 inches at the age of 18 last year.

“The good news is that Chandra Bahadur Dangi is the world’s shortest living man,” said Guinness Records editor-in-chief Craig Glenday after measurements were taken.

“If he is really 72 years old he is the oldest person to be awarded the shortest-man record,” Glenday said, adding Dangi was also the shortest person ever measured by the Guinness World Records.

From a poor and uneducated family in a remote part of Nepal, Dangi said he had never heard of Mount Everest and was unaware of the world record title before a timber merchant visited his remote village last month and decided to measured him.

His size has since made him a celebrity in Nepal, and he took a plane for the first time last week to travel from his village, Rimkholi, 267km west of Kathmandu, to meet the Guiness World Records officials in the capital.

“I am good. I feel happy,” Dangi said holding two framed certificates. “I want to travel around the world and spread the name of my country.”

Before Balawing, who was declared the shortest man in the world in June last year, another Nepali man, Khagnedra Thapa Magar, who stood 26.4 inches tall, held the title.

Dangi lives in a remote mountain village, Rhimkholi, about 400km west of Kathmandu, with his youngest brother and his family. His five brothers are all average height.

Before being measured in the capital, Kathmandu, he had never seen a doctor and his relatives say he has never been seriously ill or had any injuries. The doctors who saw him at the clinic also found no immediate health problems. His family is not sure when he stopped growing.

Because of his height, he has never worked outside the house, doing only household chores. Dangi mostly stays at home, preparing head straps used by villagers to carry loads.

He has a normal sized head and regularly shaves, but his body is small. He is able to walk and climb small stairs. He eats mainly rice and vegetables, and occasionally meat, but in small portions.

Aside from a Guinness certificate, the titles do not come with any cash award.