Gania: A 60-year-old man walked a mindboggling 700 km barefoot from his hometown of Amarkantak in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh to Nayagarh in order to be a part of the Rath Yatra festival that begins next month.
Ram Tera Ram, who reached Gania Tuesday, said he wanted to have a darshan of Lord Jagannath and said his journey on foot was his way of paying obeisance.
Tera Ram began his journey during the scorching summer and in the process, reinforced the adage that age is just a number.
“I covered around 25-30 km a day on average. The journey was tough but I didn’t think much about it as my sole desire was to get a darshan of Lord Jagannath on his chariot during the Rath Yatra,” said Tera Ram.
His only luggage was a small bag in which he carried only the most necessary of items.
The journey, however, was not without its share of pain. Tera Ram had to stop for over a month in Jharsuguda after he fell ill due to his punishing schedule. He resumed his journey after he recuperated, and walked all the way to Gania. Tera Ram said though he preferred not to beg for alms, he would happily accept food if offered by someone. He said he had to go without food on several occasions.
Setting out from Amarkantak, the Jagannath devotee has walked past Raipur, Bilaspur, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Boudh and had to tread hilly terrain and dense forests during his trek. Tera Ram said his determination kept him going and his desire for ‘moksha’ saw him complete his journey without any physical harm.
Asked why he chose to embark on such an excruciating journey at this age, Tera Ram said he wanted to attain ‘moksha’ and be liberated from the birth-death cycle by walking on the ‘Jagannath Sadak’ barefoot.
Earlier, hundreds of devotees used to walk on this route to reach Puri Dham but the number has decreased over the years.
Locals lauded Tera’s expedition and said this would serve as a source of inspiration for other pilgrims. PNN