At the age of 74, Swami Atmaramji, who has already completed a voyage of 64,800 km on foot, is on a pilgrimage of Twelve Jyotirlingas covering 10,200 km in two years.
Atmaramji, who is on his way to Kanyakumari, said that this was his fifth ‘pedestrian’ pilgrimage. “On the completion of the yatra, I will have walked 75,000 km in my life. Besides spreading the message of India’s eternal religion (sanatana dharma), it is also an inspiration for the youth, who have now become lazy. I am still young at 74,” he told Express.
He said that the pilgrimage had started from Somnath on December 3, 2012, and will conclude at the same place on November 10, 2014, covering all the ‘Twelve jyotirlingas’.
About his aim of the pedestrian pilgrimage , Atmaramji said: “I have undergone all the yatras and the present yatra is to spread over message of ‘sanatana’, Indian culture, devotion to God, penance and self-knowledge for the human being, taking the help of the media.”
A life devoted to spreading the message of ideal living and thinking for world peace, the Swami said that his pilgrimage covers the seven holy cities, four Shankaracharya ‘peeths’, four great ‘dhams’ and the Narmada and Sarayu rivers.
Atmaramji undertook his first pilgrimage on foot at the age of 58 years, when he completed 23,000 km in 1999. In his second pedestrian pilgrimage, he completed 17,000 km in 2003. He covered 12,000 km during his third ‘yatra’ in 2006 at the age of 66. In his fourth pilgrimage, he covered 12,800 km at the age of 72 in 2011.
He said that the inspiration for the unique pilgrimage was derived from Vidurji, Balbhadraji (Daooji), Adi Jagadguru Shankaracharya, Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji, Swami Vivekananda, Swaminarayan Bhagwan, Mahavir Swami, Bhagwan Buddha and Nanak Maharaj.