He pedals his way across difficult terrain

Amritsar, Punjab: At 61, with hundreds of kilometres covered by his sheer grit, Paramjit Singh prefers to cycle his way through the world. Making it his life pursuit, this veteran has pedalled to many holy shrines on his humble mode of travel — his bicycle.

After successfully completing his pilgrimage to 5 Takhts, this man has now accomplished his journey of visiting various holy shrines, irrespective of any religion, in Punjab.

Commencing his journey from Amritsar on March 16, he first paid obeisance at Anandpur Sahib and then visited different temples and Gurudwaras at Mandi, Kullu, Manali, Hoshiarpur, Batala, Manikaran Sahib, Kotha Sahib, Jwala ji and Chintpurni among others. He returned on March 30.

Immediately after completion of this journey, he embarked on another one and visited Moga, Faridkot, Jagraon, Nanak Sar, Malerkotla, Ludhiana, Bilgha, Nakodar and Sultanpuri Lodhi.

“I prefer bicycle rather than any other mode of travelling. It gives me immense satisfaction and an opportunity to visit other shrines en route my destination. It also keeps me in the best of my health,” he said.

He added it was his aim to spread the message of peace and humanity enshrined in the teachings of Sikh Gurus.

“Earlier, I paid obeisance at 5 Takhts and it took me around two months to complete that journey. I paid obeisance at Keshgarh Sahib in Anandpur, Takht Damdama Sahib in Talwandi Sabo, Takht Sri Patna Sahib in Bihar, Takht Sri Hazoor Sahib at Nanded (Maharashtra) and culminated my yatra at Akal Takht Sahib,” he said.

Paramajit is a carpenter by profession and is a father of four children, including two girls. He said his family always supported his cause.

“In fact they encouraged me to continue my zeal of paying obeisance at various shrines,” he added.

In his journeys, he sometimes had to face a lot of difficulties. “People always helped me in overcoming problems and sometimes supported me financially to complete my yatra,” he said.

Paramajit said, recently, he watched people dying during his visit to Uttarakhand. He said he narrowly escaped flash floods, which took huge toll of lives and property.

“Ultimately, I had to return home. But this did not affect my objective of undertaking religious tours and spread the message of welfare of humanity,” he said.

Source: The Tribune