The teenager, who is 18 in October, is just two feet tall and is set to take the official crown from 2ft 5in He Ping Ping of China.Born in the remote Baglung District 125 miles from the capital Kathmandu, he weighs only 10lbs, Khagendra has become a celebrity of sorts in his native Napal, where politicians are calling for him to be recognised officially as the smallest in the world.
"He was born weighing only 600 grams (1lb 5oz)," said his mother Dhana Maya Thapa Magar.
"It was like watching a newly hatched chick fresh from a shell.
"I admit that at first I was ashamed of him and would not leave the house, but now I only feel pride and am desperate for him to be named as the tinniest man in the world."
Although it has never been medically confirmed, doctors in Nepal believe he suffers from a malfunctioning pituitary gland.
Otherwise considered to be healthy, the Khagendra Thapa Magar Foundation has been set up by his family to promote his bid to be officially declared the smallest man in the world.
His father Rupp Abrader Thana Magyar, 36, said: "His fame has spread across Nepal and into India.
"He travels as part of a dancing troupe so that people can see him.
"He does this only a couple of times a year and now we only do this to make people realise that he is going to be the smallest man in the world."
If he takes the crown as the world's smallest man he will replace 20-year-old He Ping Ping of Huade County in China.
Suffering from learning difficulties, he has recently enrolled in his local nursery school to learn to read and write. He helps his parents in their fruit shop in Pokhara at the weekends and in his spare time watches karate shows on television.Khagendra said: "Once I am named as the world's smallest man then I can fulfil my dream of visiting the United States of America.
"I can show off my dancing moves and I can show people how good I am at karate.
