Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (CLP)

Mangaluru, Dec 7: Celebrated rock and wall climber Jyothi Raj, popularly known as 'Kothi Raja', 'Kothi Rama' or 'Monkey King' once again wowed Mangalureans with his amazing skills, climbing the 24-floor Inland Windsors skycraper in a matter of just 15 minutes!

Amid cheering crowd that gathered at the venue in Maryhill, Kothi Raj climbed the building with a safety rope. With agile moves and smooth execution of skills, he raced up the 24 floors in 15 minutes and hoisted the Karnataka flag. The crowd broke into thunderous applause even as he scaled the last floor and completed his mission. As Kothi Raja later said, this was the tallest building he had ever climbed in his life.

He came to Mangaluru accompanied by a team of 17 persons, and apart from climbing the building, he also promoted his upcoming film 'Jyothi Raj Alias Kothi Raja', which would herald his stint in Sandalwood.

Speaking to daijiworld, his friend Basheer, who was keenly watching the Monkey King in action, said that Jyothi Raj has previously recovered bodies from Jog Falls, undertaking great risk, and even retrieved a car from a lake, hence climbing a building was cakewalk for him.

Later, a press meet was held wherein chairman and MD of In-Land Group Siraj Ahmed felicitated Kothi Raja.

"Kothi Raja wanted to climb the building without any safety rope, but on my part, I did not want him to risk his life. So I requested him to use the safety rope," Siraj Ahmed said.

He also announced a grant of Rs one lac for Kothi Raj's training academy in Chitradurga.

Kothi Raj said that this was the tallest building he had ever climbed in his life. "This is the tallest building I have ever climbed, as no one else gave me permission to climb towers. But here I was not only given permission but also supported and now gifted with monetary fund for my academy too.

"My dream is to climb the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and thereby make India's name shine," he added.

Speaking about his experience in climbing the Inland building, he said, "It was very easy to climb the building as I did not make any special moves. I could understand how to climb it just by looking at the building's structure. When climbing rocks we have to change moves as there are different angles and structures, but here it is not so."

He also requested people to watch his upcoming movie and support him. "All the actions in the movie are done by me and not by stuntmen. The director asked me to do vairous stunts, but when it came to a scene where I had to climb a mountain, everyone just sat back and watched."

He also thanked the media for supporting him, especially by collecting Rs 5 lac when he had sustained injury.

'Jyothi Raj Alias Kothi Raja' director Sebastian David, actress Deepika Das and others were present.