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NEPALESE TRIBUTE: Nepalese representatives placing prayer scarves over the coffin of Sir Edmund Hillary at his state funeral in Auckland yesterday. Sir Edmund, the first man to climb to the top of Mount Everest, died of a heart attack on Jan 11 at age 88. -- PHOTO: AP
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AUCKLAND - SAFFRON-ROBED Buddhist monks, Nepali Sherpas and grey-bearded mountaineers paid homage yesterday to Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to conquer Mount Everest, as thousands gathered to watch his state funeral.
'His loss to us is bigger and heavier than Mount Everest,' Ang Rita Sherpa told the service in a small church in Auckland.
The funeral of the first man to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain was, in keeping with the man himself, modest, with 600 family members, friends and dignitaries in the church.
Sir Edmund's coffin was draped in the New Zealand flag and cream-coloured Nepali prayer scarves, and topped by his climbing axe and specially carved walking stick.
'We mourn as a nation because we know we're saying goodbye to a friend,' Prime Minister Helen Clark told the service. 'Sir Ed...was our hero. He brought fame to our country.'
Among those attending the funeral was the son of Tenzing Norgay, the Nepali Sherpa who accompanied Sir Edmund to Everest's summit.
'While we mourn his loss, his spirit will forever live and protect the great mountain and the people he loved so much,' said Norbu Tenzing Norgay.
Thousands had filed past the coffin in the previous 24 hours to pay their last respects to the former beekeeper, adventurer and humanitarian, who died at the age of 88 on Jan 11 after a heart attack.
Yesterday, thousands more watched the broadcast of the service, which was also televised in Nepal and at New Zealand's Scott Base in Antarctica, which Sir Edmund founded.
Tributes talked of his tenacity, sense of adventure and modesty. 'Adventure was compulsory in the Hillary family,' his son, Peter, told the service.
'That shared adventure was one of the greatest gifts he gave to his family and friends,' he said.
Sir Edmund set up the Himalayan Foundation and through it raised millions of dollars to build schools, hospitals and roads to the Everest region. He was made an honorary citizen of Nepal in 2003.
He had asked that no memorials be set up 'when he kicked the bucket' other than to continue the work of the foundation.
The funeral cortege travelled through the streets of Auckland, lined by thousands of admirers who stood and applauded, to a private family service at which Sir Edmund was to be cremated. He had asked that his ashes be scattered over Auckland harbour.
REUTERS
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