Most people take a train. Monu Meturbala runs. The 19-year-old from Araria district in Bihar started his trek on March 15, 2026, with a simple, heavy promise: if his mother recovered from her serious illness, he would visit all 12 Jyotirlingas on foot. She got better. So he laced up his running shoes.
The numbers are staggering for a young man who is still a teenager. He has already covered approximately 8,000 kilometers, averaging nearly 50 kilometers a day. That’s a marathon’s worth of distance every single morning. His first stop was Baba Baidyanath Dham in Jharkhand, known for its healing energies, followed by shrines in Maharashtra where he even caught the attention of a local MLA who joined him for a stretch.
It’s easy to romanticize such journeys, but the reality is brutal. Running 50km daily across unfamiliar terrain in India’s heat is not a leisure activity. It’s physical exhaustion, blisters, and the uncertainty of finding safe places to sleep. Yet, Monu treats every kilometer as a debt paid to the deity he believes gave him back his mother.
For those following his journey, the scale is hard to grasp without seeing the map. The 12 Jyotirlingas are scattered from Somnath in Gujarat to Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. He has checked five boxes so far. The remaining seven—Kedarnath in the freezing Himalayas and the coastal temples of the south—are the hardest parts of the route.
You can track his progress on Instagram at @monu_betaurabala, where he posts videos from the road. It’s not just a religious pilgrimage; it’s a raw look at human endurance. If you’re looking for a story that hits harder than any fitness reel, this is it. Follow his route to see how far a mother’s love can push a son’s legs.