So, will he measure up? 22-inch Nepalese man, 72, heads off to meet Guinness Book Of World Records team tomorrow... and be confirmed as planet's smallest man
Last updated at 2:57 PM on 25th February 2012
At just 22 inches tall, shorter than the length of a broadsheet newspaper, Chandra Bahadur Dangi will tomorrow be officially named the world's smallest man by Guinness World Records.
Dangi, 72, left his home in a isolated Nepalese village to fly to the capital, Kathmandu, to be measured by Guinness World Records officials tomorrow.
Guinness World Records said if his measurements are correct, he will beat the current record holder for the world's shortest man, Filipino Junrey Balawing, 18, who is 23.5 inches tall.
Chandra Bahadur Dangi, who is set to break the record as the world's smallest man tomorrow, goes for a stroll near his home in Reemkholi village in Dang district, some 540 kilometres southwest of Kathmandu
Chandra Bahadur Dangi, 72, poses with a local newspaper to show his tiny frame
He claimed the title last year from Khagendra Thapa Magar, 18, whose height is 26 inches tall.
Dangi, who wears a traditional hat and tailor-made clothing, was today looking forward to receiving the accolade after remaining out of the media spotlight all his life.
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He said: 'I feel good that I will be declared the world's shortest man.'
Dangi claims he has never taken any kind of medication or been examined by a doctor.
Home sweet home: Chandra Bahadur Dangi has to climb a ladder to get in to his home in the remote Reemkholi village in Dang district, 540 kilometres southwest of Kathmandu
Chandra Bahadur Dangi claims to be the world's shortest man at 22 inches but it won't be official until Guinness World Record experts measure him tomorrow
He admits he suffers the odd cold, but revealed he has a home remedy, saying: 'At such times I drink hot water and have tumeric power dissolved in water. The fever lasts for two to three days.
'I haven't been ill probably because my body is good.'
Dangi, the seventh sibling of a family of six brothers and two sisters, does not remember his father and his mother, who died when he was 16-years-old. His immediate older brother and family have looked after him.
Three of his five brothers were less than four feet tall, while his two sisters and two brothers are of average height.
Dangi left his tiny village for the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, to meet Guinness World Records experts tomorrow
Flying high: Chandra Bahadur Dangi prepares for landing in Kathmandu where he will find out tomorrow if he is in fact the world's smallest man
Dangi only left his village, Reemkholi in Dang district, about 217 miles from Kathmandu, for the first time five years ago and this is his first visit to the Himalayan capital.
Asked why he did not stake a claim earlier to be declared the shortest man, he said his family was unaware of such a record, because they are uneducated.
Dangi spends his days making placemats and head straps for villagers to carry heavy loads on their backs.
His nephew, Dolak Dangi, said: 'He would also look after the buffalos and cows.
Dangi watches television in a guesthouse room in Katmandu while waiting to meet Guinness World Record officials
Dangi is smaller than a table top and the door handle in his guesthouse room in Kathmandu
'Although he could not chase them or tie them - he would call us if they strayed.'
Dangi hopes to use his new found fame to travel, admitting: 'I think things will be better now. I hope that I will be famous all over the world.
'I want to visit foreign countries and meet people from around the world.'
The cause of Mr Dangi's height problem has not been diagnosed but it is suspected that he suffers primordial dwarfism which begins in the womb.
The Guinness World Records adjudication confirming Jyoti Amge, 18, as the world's smallest woman
