Puri: After covering a distance of 65 kilometres on foot, two visually impaired friends Thursday reached Puri to experience oneness with Lord Jagannath.
Bansidhar Pradhan and Prashant Sahu are visually impaired by birth. They grew up hearing a lot about Lord Jagannath like how He looks like, how He accepts coconut from Dasia Bauri etc. But with their physical limitations, they were deprived of seeing their Lord.
“We can’t see the Lord. That does not mean that we cannot visualise him, we cannot feel his presence,” said Bansidhar while coming out of the temple after a visit.
“The pandemic kept us away from visiting the temple for 10 long months. As the restrictions have been lifted, we seven friends started our journey for Puri from Naveen Slum near Satya Nagar in Bhubaneswar Tuesday. We covered the distance on foot. We did not take anything but water on our way. While we two could make it to the temple Thursday, the rest five had to take rest at Malatipatapur. They resumed their journey and visited the temple Friday,” Prashant said.
Prashant and Bansidhar described the feeling they had during the time they were inside the shrine. “Eyes are not essential to see the Lord. According to me, one does not need eyes to experience his presence and greatness. He is the God of emotion. Feeling his proximity, I feel as if I attained salvation,” Bansidhar explained.
Notably, the administration engaged a travel guide for Bansidhar and Prashant to ensure they do not experience any issues during their visit to the temple.
PNN