Journey of Faith

I have recently been to a 'Padyatra' to Mahur, a holy place in Nanded district of Maharashtra. Mahur is 150km away from my village. Almost 80 people from my village started the journey on foot to Mahur on 17 Feb. It is a yearly thing that they do as an expression of their faith in Goddess Renuka. They walk from farms, hills, valleys, by road whichever is the nearest way.

It takes 5-6 days to reach Mahur depending on the weather conditions. A vehicle travels parallelly with them to carry the luggage, food, and stuff.  My parents also are part of this 'padayatra' from last two years. So I decided to accompany them this year. I joined them on the fourth day of the trip (Unfortunately couldn't join from the start). I joined the group at  'Hiwara' a very small village 10km from Mahur. Initially, I was skeptic about my ability to walk for one and half day but I got on anyway. I was really excited. We started at 3 pm from 'Hiwara'. It was really hot till 5 5:30, people were already tired from the 4 days walk but still no less in enthusiasm, which made me even more excited. 

At sunset, we were 2-3 km away from Mahur. It was the most beautiful sight. I clicked many photographs on the way.

We reached Mahur at 7.30pm. We took rest for the night and started again in the morning at 5.30 to visit the temple and other places in Mahur. We walked straight for 12 hrs the next day visiting all the temples. It wasn't exhausting at all. The breathtaking moments of Nature and amazing people made this journey a soothing experience.

I have been to Mahur many times before (by bus or car) but this was the most beautiful journey I have ever had!