3 interesting facts about Everest, the name

Mount Everest, as it is commonly known, has three names:

1. Mount Everest was named in honour of the first Surveyor-General of India, Sir George Everest, by the Royal Geographical Society.

Radhanath Sickdhar, was the brilliant mathematician who used his skills to calculate the height and discovered that in 1852 that Peak XV (as it was known then) was the highest mountain in the world. It took until 1856 to ratify that the mountain was actually the highest.

2. Sagarmatha is the Nepalese name for the mountain and means ‘Goddess of the Sky’

The mountain is located in the Sagarmatha National Parkm which was established in 1976. The Nepali region is home to the Sherpa people and as you trek to Everest Base Camp you stop at the Sherpa capital, Namche Bazaar. 

3. Chomolungma is the Tibetan name and commonly means ‘Mother Goddess of the Earth’ although there are other translations. It is believed that this is the oldest name for the mountain although there is debate about this. The Tibetans had reserved the name for the highest mountain in the world but this was only confirmed after the British survey.