'Crawling' man reaches Jammu to visit Vaishno Devi

For a thirty-year-old man from Maharashtra, faith comes first that strengthened him to crawl thousands of kilometre along with his family to pay obeisance at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine situated in Trikuta Hills of mountainous Resai district.

Crawling for the last eight months, Devi Dass along with his wife, mother and a two-year child left his native village Amravati in Maharashtra on October 10 last year and reached this winter capital of the state last night.

''We are travelling for the last eight months and my wife, mother and two-year old son, make me stronger with each passing day whenever I felt low,'' Devi Dass told UNI.

He said that he has full faith in Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji and it is only due to her blessings, that he reached the shrine without facing any hardships.

''The goddess comes into my dreams, bless me and asks to visit the shrine,'' he said and added that this is for the fourth time in 13 years, he is visiting the holy cave shrine.

''In the last 13 years, this is for the fourth time, in the same way I will be reaching the shrine to pay obeisance,'' he said adding, ''I started my journey crawling from the very first day from my hometown in Amravati on October 10 and after 8 months journey, we reached here.'' Devi Dass said after every 10-kilometres distance, they halt and spend a night on the roadside.

''On way to Vaishno Devi, the people, who meet us, help us with food and money, '' Devi Dass added.

Devi Dass, who works as a welder also carts a rickshaw decorated with the pictures of deities and feels that it is only the supreme power that encourages him to crawl and reach the hill shrine.