For 48-year-old Naveen Karkera, a resident of Mogaveerapatna near Ullal, visiting Sabarimala wearing the ‘maale’ has been an annual affair. But this time, he wanted to do it differently.
It involved a trek from Dwaraka in Gujarat to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and reaching Sabarimala thereafter. His desire was to visit all temples on the shores of the Arabian Sea before having the darshan of Lord Ayyappa. “Having been associated with the sea for decades, I wanted to trek the shores from the north to the south,” Mr. Karkera told The Hindu from Kanhangad on Tuesday.
Mr. Karkera, a fisherman by avocation, is also an active member of the lifeguard team at Mogaveerapatna. Having saved many lives for three decades by braving the rough sea, the trek appeared not very difficult. When he shared his desire among peers and well-wishers, Praveen, who works with Minister U.T. Khader, contacted relatives of Khader Bail of Ullal, who is settled in Gujarat and made arrangements for the commencement of the trek.
Mr. Karkera commenced his journey from Dwaraka with the help of Mr. Khader Bail’s relatives a couple of months ago and reached Thokkottu on Saturday. En-route, he visited temples, came across different sets of people, including tribals. While he walked for about 15 to 17 hours every day, he used to stay at temples during nights, he said during a felicitation by Swami Koragajja Committee at Thokkottu. Trekking barefoot, he initially suffered foot burns and started using socks later, Mr. Karkera said.
It took 57 days for Mr. Karkera to trek about 1,900 km from Dwaraka to Mangaluru and would trek another 600 km to reach Kanyakumari and then about 260 km to reach the final destination.
He said the blazing sun on the west coast did not deter his determination and thanked everyone who supported the mission.
Mangaluru’s Naveen Karkera began the journey from
Dwaraka in Gujarat
