Dehra Dun: A youth from Jabalpur has done
what the mythological character Shravan Kumar did in Lord
Rama`s Ayodhya - carried his blind mother in a basket on his
shoulder to Badrinath shrine.
Among the first thousand pilgrims who had gathered at
the shrine Wednesday which opened after a six-month break was
Kailash Kumar, who had trekked barefoot all the way from his
home carrying his mother on a kanwar (basket) to the shrine
nestled in the Garwhal region at a height of 10,278 feet.
It took Kumar four months to reach Badrinath.
Kumar braved inclement weather to offer prayers at the
holy shrine.
"Kumar is the first such pilgrim in recent years who
has carried his parents to Badrinath in such a manner," said
Ansuiya Prasad Bhatt, Chairman of the Badrinath-Kedernath
committee.
"We must take lessons and inspiration from such
persons, who shower great respect on their parents," said
Bhatt.
According to mythology, Shravan Kumar born during the
rule of King Dassarath in Ayodhya had carried his blind
parents in a basket on his shoulder to places of pilgrimage.
He had taken a strong bamboo stick and at its two ends
tied two baskets with ropes, placing his father in one of them
and his mother in the other.
PTI
