Jyoti Raj

Jyoti Raj
Born	17 May 1988 Theni, India
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Kothi Raj, Monkey man
Occupation	Climber
Known for	Scaling walls

Jyoti Raj is an Indian free solo climber from Chitradurga, Karnataka.^[1]

Known as "Kothi Raju" or "Spiderman of Karnataka", Raj is famous for scaling the Chitradurga Fort without safety harnesses.^[2] He does not climb for sports, but to entertain the visitors to the fort.^[3][4][5]

He is also the only person to have scaled Karnataka's highest waterfall, the 830-foot Jog falls, climbing against the flow.^[6] On 13 September 2013, he free soloed the clock tower at Moorusavir Math in Hubli in just over 15 minutes. He did not use any harness, but used chalk for grip.^[7]

He made his debut as an actor in Sandalwood with the 2014 film Jyothi aliyas Kothiraja.^[8]

He has been called upon numerous times to rescue or retrieve the bodies of people who have fallen down Jog Falls, and on a rescue operation in 2018 he got stuck in a gorge overnight.^[9]

References

1. "Meet the Indian rival of spidey". India Today. 2 August 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
2. "Monkey man of India is a climbing ace". The Daily Telegraph. 14 October 2009.
3. "Meet India's own Spiderman". Rediff. 14 October 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
4. "'Monkey King' is a cynosure of all eyes at Chitradurga Fort". Khabra Express. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
5. "இந்தியாவின் ஸ்பைடர் மேன் நான்தான்: மார்தட்டி சொல்லும் தமிழக இளைஞர்". Nakkeeran (in Tamil). 2 August 2009. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
6. "Jyothi Raj scales Jog Falls, hurt but unshaken". Sports Keeda. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
7. Scaling clock tower with bare hands
8. Debut as an actor
9. Rock Climber Jyothi Raj Went Missing in Jog Falls, He went to Took Out Dead Body from Jog (in Kannada). TV9 Kannada. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2022.

External links

• Jyohi Raju scaling the Chitradurga Fort
• Film to be made on the ‘Spiderman of Chitradurga