Grand welcome for Sant Tukaram Maharaj 'palkhi' in Pune

Thousands of devotees of Pimpri-Chinchwad area on Thursday gave a rousing reception to the Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi (palanquin) when it reached the Bhakti-Shakti chowk in Nigdi at about 5:30 pm.

Pimpri-Chinchwad mayor Yogesh Behl and municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma welcomed the palkhi at the traffic intersection on the Mumbai-Pune national highway-4.

The area was chock-a-bloc with devotees and onlookers as the palkhi passed through that area. Devotees with veenas, mridungas, dholkis and chiplis chanted
‘Tukaram-Tukaram’ and showered flowers.

After crossing Nigdi, the palkhi reached Vitthal Rukmini temple in Akurdi, where it would remain on Thursday night before resuming its journey on Friday towards Pune.

Hundreds of devotees queued up at the mandir for darshan. The leaders of dindis and warkaris were felicitated by the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.

Traffic from Bhakti-Shakti chowk to Akurdi was thrown out of gear due to the procession. There was a traffic jam opposite Big Bazaar and at Chinchwad station as the grade separator was closed from Chinchwad to Nigdi for the safe passage of the palkhi.

Every year, the palkhi of Sant Tukaram Maharaj halts for the night at the Vitthal temple in Akurdi. This year, the palkhi will halt in Akurdi on Thursday and will also halt at Sant Tukaramnagar in Pimpri on June 24. The PCMC had put up welcome arches for the palkhi in Nigdi and for Dnyaneshwar palkhi procession at Bhosari phata.