Ambani and commoners Badrinath yatra

It has now emerged that another son,this one not blessed with wealth,carried his mother like Shravan Kumar,in a basket to Badrinath,in bare feet!.

Ambani flew to Badrinath from here in a helicopter to pay obeisance to Lord Badri or Vishnu.

Badrinath is one of the four main Hindu shrines located in the Himalayas (the others being Kedarnath,Gangotri and Yamunotri).

The visit comes within weeks of the Supreme Court denying Anil Ambani group firm RNRL cheap natural gas from elder brother Mukesh Ambani-led RIL.

The youth,who hails from Jabalpur,has done what the mythological character Shravan Kumar did in Lord Rama’s Ayodhya – carried his blind mother in a basket on his shoulder to Badrinath shrine.

Among the first thousand pilgrims who had gathered at the shrine today which opened after a six-month break was Kailash Kumar,who had trekked barefoot all the way from his home carrying his mother on a kanwar (basket) to the shrine nestled in the Garwhal region at a height of 10,278 feet.

It took Kumar four months to reach Badrinath.

Kumar braved inclement weather to offer prayers at the holy shrine.

“Kumar is the first such pilgrim in recent years who has carried his parents to Badrinath in such a manner,” said Ansuiya Prasad Bhatt,Chairman of the Badrinath-Kedernath committee.

“We must take lessons and inspiration from such persons,who shower great respect on their parents,” said Bhatt.

According to mythology,Shravan Kumar born during the rule of King Dassarath in Ayodhya had carried his blind parents in a basket on his shoulder to places of pilgrimage.

He had taken a strong bamboo stick and at its two ends tied two baskets with ropes,placing his father in one of them and his mother in the other.