CM Yogi Adityanath and Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey offer prayers in Lucknow, Thursday. (Express Photo)With Janakpur in Nepal as its final destination, a chariot carrying the ‘charan paduka’ of Lord Ram started its journey on Thursday from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence in Lucknow.
Named as ‘Shri Ram Purusharth Yatra’ or ‘Shri Ram Karmbhumi Yatra’, the chariot will travel through Ayodhya, considered the birthplace of Lord Ram, and halt for around 12 days in Buxar district of Bihar before heading to Janakpur.
While Janakpur is considered the birthplace of Sita, wife of Lord Ram, Buxar is known as Ram’s ‘karmbhumi’, where he is said to have brought respite to the priests by killing several demons.
The ‘rath yatra’ has been organised by Buxar-based Shri Ram Karmbhumi Nyas, a trust founded three years ago by the Buxar BJP MP and Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey.
The organisers plan to commemorate the route believed to have been taken by Lord Ram when he left for Janakpuri from Ayodhya, travelling via Buxar. They are also planning to develop this route as a tourist circuit.
To mark the arrival of the chariot, Choubey, who is the convener of the yatra, has organised an event named ‘Mujhme Ram – Sanatan Sanskriti Samagam’, in Buxar from November 7 to 15.
An international convention scheduled to be held on November 8 will have RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as its chief guest, Choubey’s personal secretary, Ashutosh, said.
Accompanied by priests chanting mantras, Yogi Adityanath performed a puja of the ‘charan paduka’ before flagging off the chariot, which left for its first halt at Ayodhya.
Choubey, who was also present during the ceremony, will accompany the chariot to Ayodhya, where a pooja will be performed in the evening.
Ashutosh told The Indian Express that the chariot will halt in Azamgarh at night and resume its journey to Buxar tomorrow.
In Buxar, where it’s scheduled to reach on November 6, the chariot will be driven to the villages across the district to let people pay their obeisance to the ‘charan paduka’. It will finally start its journey for Janakpur on November 19 from Buxar.
Ashutosh said the ‘charan paduka’ was brought from Sri Lanka by a team led by the painter, poet and musician, Baba Satyanarayan Mourya. The team travelled through the route Lord Ram is believed to have taken to reach Lanka while he was in exile for 14 years.