Annapurna is a section of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal that includes 8,091 m (26,545 ft) Annapurna I, thirteen additional peaks over 7,000 m (22,970 ft) and 16 more over 6,000 m (19,690 ft). This section is a 55 km-long (34miles long) massif. Annapurna I is tenth among Earth's fourteen eight-thousanders. It rises east of the Kali Gandaki Gorge separating it from Dhaulagiri massif which is 34 km to the west and the gorge between is considered Earth's deepest. It is 10th Highest Mountain of the world. In a Sanskrit, Annapurna means “full of food” and normally translated as goddess of the Harvests. In Hinduism, Annapurna is "the universal and timeless kitchen-goddess (the mother who feeds). Without her, there is starvation and a universal fear: this makes Annapurna a universal goddess. Mt. Annapurna I was the first 8,000-metre (26,200 ft) peak to be climbed by Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, of a French expedition led by Maurice Herzog on 3 June 1950. Its summit was the highest summit attained on Earth for three years, until the first successful ascent of Mount Everest.
