Mt. Manaslu lies in the western part of Nepal. It rises to 8163 m above sea level. It was first climbed by Toshio Imanishi (Japan) on 9 May 1956. Its name comes from the Sanskrit word manasa, meaning intellect or soul. It is the same root word as that for Manasarover, the holy lake near Mt. Kailash in Tibet.
The first survey of the peak was made by a Japanese expedition in 1952. A Japanese team made the first serious attempt at the peak from the Budhi Gandaki valley in 1953. When another team followed in 1954, the villagers of Samagaon told them the first team had been responsible for an avalanche that destroyed a monastery and refused to let the 1954 expedition climb. Despite a large donation for the rebuilding of the monastery, subsequent Japanese expeditions, including the one that made the first ascent in 1956.
