Over 66,000 Km and counting: Man takes mother on pilgrimage on scooter

Travelling with bare minimum essentials, a mother-son duo on a pilgrimage is busy zipping through temples and shrines not just across India but even as far as Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar, notching up thousands of miles—all on an over 20-year-old Bajaj Chetak scooter.

Travelling with bare minimum essentials, a mother-son duo on a pilgrimage is busy zipping through temples and shrines not just across India but even as far as Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar, notching up thousands of miles—all on an over 20-year-old Bajaj Chetak scooter.

D Krisha Kumar and his mother on their old scooter in Prayagraj on Friday (HT)

The two reached Prayagraj from Chitrakoot on Thursday and left for Varanasi on Friday evening but only after taking a dip at Sangam, offering prayers at different temples and performing Ganga arti on the banks of the revered confluence. They spent the night at Ramkrishna Mission ashram in Mutthiganj.

Residents of Bogadi locality in Mysuru, 44-year-old Dakshinamurthy Krishna Kumar, a software engineer, and his 74-year-old mother Choodarathna have completed 66,889 km by road and reached Prayagraj on their old and trusted scooter since starting their ‘holy adventure’ on January 16, 2018.

Covid pandemic halted their journey and after remaining stuck near the Bhutan border for over 50-odd days they had to return to Mysuru travelling 2,673km in September 2020. “Ever since the restrictions were lifted, we have again started visiting pilgrimage centres since August 15, 2022,” said Kumar often dubbed as the modern-day Shravan Kumar— a character mentioned in the ancient Hindu text Ramayan. (He took his blind parents on a pilgrimage carrying them on his shoulders in two baskets tied to the two ends of a bamboo pole.)

“My mother has lived within four walls of our home for more than 60 years. I wanted to fulfil her wishes to visit temples and so I started the journey ‘Matru Seva Sankalp Yatra’ for my mother on the same scooter that my father, whom I lost in 2015, had bought for me 20 years ago,” Krishna Kumar said adding that he always feels the blessings of his father while riding the scooter.

To make the journey possible, four years ago Krishna Kumar left a high-paying corporate job after working for 13 years and got the scooter customised to be able to undertake the long journey with his cherished pillion-rider.

So far, the unique journey has spanned across most prominent states of India including Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and others. “After UP, we plan to enter Bihar,” added Krishna Kumar, who shared that as they are on pilgrimage they only stay in temples, ashrams and mutts instead of hotels and guest houses.

“At times there are no ashrams or temples. But people often invite us to stay at their homes and serve us food,” he added.

Despite having gained much popularity on social media, the duo accepts no donations for travel expenses and Krishna Kumar uses his own savings.