Remains of 'tallest' Mizo to be unearthed

Aizawl, Apr 10 (UNI) Efforts are on to dig up the skeletal remains of Tumpanga, believed to be the tallest man in Mizoram, to ascertain how tall he stood when alive.

Tumpanga was said to be 6' 9'' tall and may be the tallest Indian.

A two-member team of the Mizoram Forensic Science Laboratory, accompanied by Doordharsan cameramen and news reporters, will carry out the exhumation on April 13 at NE Khawdungsei cemetery in the northeastern part of Mizoram where Tumpanga was buried after his death in 1961.

Experts will measure his actual height from his skeletal remains found here.

Though Tumpanga was known throughout Mizoram as 'the tallest man and the equivalent of ten men'(in terms of strength), there is no clear record of his height, which has necessitated the exhumation.

''Due to lack of written records, doubts arose over my grandfather's actual height. There are many who find it hard to believe that a Mizo could be as tall as him, which is why we felt the need to exhume his skeleton,'' Mizoram Governor's secretary K Lal Nghinglova, the tall man's grandson said.

Tumpanga's two younger brothers Thangruaia and Vaitlaia measured 6' 6'' and 6' 3'' respectively, each with a three inch difference in height.

Mr Nghinglova's 97-year-old mother, residing in NE Khawdungsei, is the only child of Tumsanga who is still alive. However, she too does not know the exact height of her father.

She recollected what the father of the late Mizo song composer Vankhama once told her, of her father being seven inches taller than his son, who happened to be 6' 2''.

''Our village was very remote and people were not educated like those today. No one bothered to put on record his height and his extraordinary strength,'' Mr Nghinglova said.

He hopes his grandfather could be credited with the recognitition of being the tallest Indian.

According to Zalen Record 2006, the tallest living Mizo is B Zaluta of Bualpui village in Lawngtlai district. He measures 6' 6''.

UNI