Mother, son return home after a two-and-a-half-year long pilgrimage on scooter

Mysuru: Nearly two years and four months after travelling 56,027km through four countries, including Nepal, with his mother , Mysurean Dakshina Murthy Krishna Kumar has returned to Karnataka.

On Saturday evening they entered the state from Andhra Pradesh, and are now staying at Ramakrishna Ashram in Teggihalli village in Madhugiri taluk.

Krishna Kumar had taken his 71-year-old mother Chudarathna on a pilgrimage , and visited temples on a two-wheeler. “I decided to engage myself in spirituality. In this ashram, I have found a place to engage in reading, to serve my mother and practice spirituality,” he said. “We don’t have any immediate plans to return to Mysuru,” he said.

“I learnt a few important life lessons. In my journey for over two years, I didn’t face any problem anywhere. We didn’t have to sleep on an empty stomach anywhere, throughout our journey. The people gave us such a wonderful reception,” he said.

Chudarathna said it was her luck to give birth to a son like Krishna Kumar. “I didn’t know anything beyond the four walls of the kitchen, but today my son took me to every nook and corner of Bharatha Khanda. I am really happy. It was a great pilgrimage,” she said.

“I had a special feeling when we entered our state. I feel great. For the time-being, we have decided to stay in the ashram,” she said.

He started his pilgrimage ‘Matru Seva Sankalpa Yatra,’ with his mother on a scooter , on January 2018. He visited almost all the temples across Karnataka and India, besides visiting several temples in Nepal, Myanmar, and Bhutan. He uses a 19-year-old scooter. Krishna Kumar is a bachelor, and has dedicated his life to serving his mother.

Major places visited include Shakti Peethas, Char Dham, Parshuram Khund, Varanasi, Haridwar, Bhadrachalam, Kalighat, Kamakhya Temple, various monasteries in Arunachal Pradesh .