8,600 kms in nearly 370 days: Indian man’s epic Haj journey from Kerala to Mecca

Mangalore Today News Network

Saudi Arabia, June 10, 2023: It took a Kerala man a little over a year (approximately 370 days) to walk from his state to the holy city of Mecca. For Shihab Chottur, the journey, which spanned 8,640 km, took him through Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and finally Saudi Arabia. And just to reiterate, he completed the journey on foot.

 

Shihab Chottur, who hails from Valancherry in Kerala’s Malappuram district, started his marathon trek to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj on June 2, 2022. He reached Mecca this month.

During his journey on foot, Shihab traversed India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait, and crossed the Saudi Arabian border from Kuwait in the second week of May.

After entering Saudi Arabia, Shihab went to Medina, an important Islamic pilgrimage site. He spent 21 days in Medina before he left for Mecca.

Shihab covered the 440 km distance between Medina and Mecca in nine days. Shihab will perform the Haj after his mother, Zainaba, arrives to the city from Kerala.

The Kerala man, who runs his own YouTube channel, has been keeping his viewers regularly updated about his journey from the southern state in India to holy city of Mecca.

After starting on his Haj journey in June last year, Shihab walked through several states in the country before he reached the Wagah border, via which he wanted to enter Pakistan.

Here, he faced his first hurdle as he was stopped by Pakistan’s immigration authorities as he did not have a visa.

He had to wait for months at a school in Wagah to get a transit visa. Finally, in February 2023, Shihab managed to get a transit visa and entered Pakistan and his journey to Saudi Arabia resumed after a brief pause. Four months later, Shihab Chottur reached his destination for Haj pilgrimage.

Courtesy: India Today