Google on Saturday celebrated the 187th birth anniversary of explorer Nain Singh Rawat with a doodle. Rawat, one of the first Indians to explore the Himalayas for the British, was born in 1830.

He was the first man to survey Tibet, determine the exact location and altitude of Lhasa, map Tsangpo and describe the gold mines of Thok Jalung, Google said on its doodle.

Rawat was often disguised as a Tibetan monk when he walked from his Kumaon home to places like Kathmandu, Lhasa, and Tawang, Google said. “He maintained a precisely measured pace, covering one mile in 2000 steps, and measured those steps using a rosary.” Further describing the steps Rawat took to explore, Google said: “He hid a compass in his prayer wheel and mercury in cowrie shells and even disguised travel records as prayers.”

The doodle was created by Hari and Deepti Panicker. It is a silhouette diorama illustration, which portrays Rawat as he “might have looked on his travels — solitary and courageous, looking back over the distances he had walked, rosary beads in hand, and staff by his side”.