A 64-year-old man from Hyderabad has embarked on a 7,200 km walk to Ayodhya to present a gold-plated pair of sandals as an offering to the Ram Lalla idol ahead of its unveiling on January 22.
Challa Srinivas Sastry commenced his padayatra (march on foot) in July 2022, retracing the route taken by Lord Rama from Ayodhya to Rameswaram during his exile. He is expected to reach Ayodhya by January 15 to gift the sandals to the Ram Lalla deity.
“My target is to reach Ayodhya on January 15. I will hand over this ‘charan paduka’ to UP CM Yogi Adityanath on January 16,” Sastry told ANI during the journey.
The devotee has crafted the special sandals using 8 kg of silver and coated them with gold. As per his estimate, they are valued at around Rs 65 lakh, partly funded by donations from other devotees.
Sastry claims he is adhering to the detailed route map charted by Dr Ramavatar, who dedicated 15 years to tracing Lord Rama’s footsteps during the 14-year exile period.
#WATCH | Challa Srinivas Sastry says "…I have made this 'charan paduka' using 8 kg silver and got it coated with gold…I am walking on the route which Lord Ram took from Ayodhya to Rameshwar. My target is to reach Ayodhya on January 15th. I will hand over this 'charan paduka'… pic.twitter.com/XijQs2g0xT
— ANI (@ANI) January 10, 2024
The 64-year-old took a brief break from the padayatra to travel to the UK in December 2022 before resuming his walk from where he had paused in Tamil Nadu. Covering 30-50 km daily, Sastry wishes to settle in Ayodhya permanently.
Earlier, he had contributed five silver bricks toward the construction of the Ram Mandir, which will be inaugurated by PM Modi ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The offering of gold sandals denotes respect for Lord Rama, harking back to the Ramayana era when Bharata ruled Ayodhya by symbolically placing Rama’s sandals on the throne during his absence.
