‘Stapathi’ to walk 500 km from Yadadri to Tirumala

The devotee’s padayatra will begin on December 18 after a puja at Yadadri and reach Tirupati on January 2.

Hyderabad: People take up walkathons to raise funds or to support a cause. Here is a man, who is going to walk over 500 kilometres, all the way from Yadadri in Telangana to Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, to thank the Lord for the successful completion of the Yadadri Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple.

Work on the temple began formally in 2016, and in 2017, Yadadri temple Deputy Stapathi Jatavath Motilal had taken a vow that he would walk all the way to Tirupati once it was completed. Since then, he has not got a haircut and neither did he shave his beard.

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“It is my faith in Lord Sri Venkateswara. I had prayed to the Lord that Yadadri temple works should be completed successfully” said Motilal. It was actually Tamil Nadu-based Stapathi V Soundarajan, who also participated in Yadadri temple works, who inspired him to take up the trip, he said.

The temple now has devotees visiting from far off and returning mesmerised by the grandeur and majestic work, especially the sculptures and architecture.

Motilal’s padayatra will begin on December 18 after a puja at Yadadri and reach Tirupati on January 2. Impressed with his will, nearly 100 devotees aged between 18 and 50 years from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and even Uttar Pradesh are joining him voluntarily.

“They all came to know about the trip through our Banjara community members. It takes about 17 days to reach Tirupati. Every day, about 25 to 30 km will be covered,” he said.

Supporting his cause, a devotee offered a specially decorated vehicle to accompany the pilgrims all through their trip. “It is generally a ratham (chariot used for rituals). It is equipped with a sound system and we are planning to use it to conduct bhajans and keertans to beat the stress and fatigue,” said Motilal.

The pilgrims aim to conduct their walk in three intervals of 6 am to 9 am, 10 am to 1 pm and 3 pm to 8 pm. A van equipped with cooks, rice, vegetables, stoves will accompany them to prepare food for them besides arranging other logistics like make-shift shelters for night stay.