Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday paid glowing tributes to Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who reached the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953.

Delivering a speech during the gold jubilee celebrations of the event at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, he said the ascent transmits a message of peace, universal brotherhood and cosmic harmony.

He said climbing Himalayan peaks is 'not an ordinary adventure, much less as it is a conquest. It is a prayerful search for that which human hold in awe and respect'.

The prime minister presented a scroll to Sir Edmund on the occasion.

Referring to mountaineering, Vajpayee said, "It is a spiritual sport, which purifies our lives and urges us to conquer hatred, prejudice, mutual strife and other baser instincts that have disfigured life on our beautiful planet.

"The Himalayas have a special place in every Indian heart. I have just returned from a brief summer vacation in Manali in Himachal Pradesh and I am still under the spell of its green valley ringed by snow-capped mountains.

"The Himalayas are an epitome of beauty and benevolence. No wonder the Himalayas inspired the seers to see the unity between truth and godliness and beauty -- satyam shivam sundaram."

He said the same message was conveyed whenever humans went in pursuit of the beyond -- whether it was Neil Armstrong who landed on the moon or Kalpana Chawla and her fellow astronauts, who died in the Columbia crash.

Vajpayee said 50 years ago, Jawaharlal Nehru had set up the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute at Darjeeling. He said he was happy to announce his government's decision to establish an institute for mountaineering and allied sports in the northeast.

Earlier, Sir Edmund told the rapt audience that 'climbing the Everest was the beginning, rather than an end'. He said he could clearly remember standing on top of the mountain and looking down in satisfaction.

He expressed happiness for having spent five years in India when he visited the Himalayas and built 27 schools and bridges for the benefit of his dear friends -- the sherpas.

Sir Edmund, however, lamented that 'vast changes are taking place in the Himalayan peaks' and referred to the rubbish strewn on them.

"It is hardly mountaineering and more a conducted tour," he said, referring to the recent expeditions.

While expressing happiness that some damage control exercises are being taken, he said, "A sense of responsibility (to preserve) mountain environment should be there."

He said he was not at all surprised when Norgay rescued him from a crevice into which he had fallen just before reaching the summit.

"Tenzing and I were a team; teamwork it was that brought Tenzing and me at the top of the Everest.

"Tenzing was a strong and a brave man and I hope India would be proud of him.

"He was a mighty man who lived up to his reputation till the final moment."