Modern-age ‘Shravan Kumar’ carries blind mother to pilgrimage centres
AGRA: Kailash Giri Brahmachari is referred to as a modern-age ‘Shravan Kumar’ as he has been carrying his blind mother, now 92, on his shoulders to various pilgrimages for the past 20 years.
A native of Wargi village in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, Giri has been carrying his mother on a ‘kanwar’ made of two baskets since 1996. The total weight he carries is around 100 kg.
Kailash, who has already covered a distance of around 37,000 km, travelling across 16 states, was in the city of Taj on Tuesday and the centre of attraction for people from different walks of life. He also visited the Taj Mahal.
Kailash said he wanted to fulfill his mother’s wish to visit all the major temples of India.
He shared, “When I was around eight years’ old, I fell down from the tree and had a fracture in my hand. go for Char Dhaam Yatra and Narmada Parikrima. Having lost her eyesight, she was not able to complete her wish. So I decided to assist her. I took the decision to carry my mother to religious destinations when I was 24,” stated Kailash. “I first took my mother for the Narmada Yatra and then Kashi, Ayodhya and various other places,” he said. Kailash said that he had visited the eight Jyotirlingas, prominent temples of Lord Shiva in India and temples in Nepal as well. “I am near my final destination and would move to Mathura and Vrindavan and will return to my village in Jabalpur after that,” said Kailash. Though, Kailash also indicated that he may go to Nashik also, but his mother did not want him to continue this yatra. Kailash walks up to 4-5 km daily and sometimes even more, depending upon the weather (preferably in the morning and evening).