Lakhs of warkaris start spiritual journey to Pandharpur

The air resonated with the chants of ‘Jai Hari Vitthal’ and ‘Gyanba Tukaram’, as lakhs of warkaris started their 22-day annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur from Sant Tukaram Maharaj Devasthan in the temple town of Dehu on Saturday. This is the 328th Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi procession.

The palkhi or wari tradition is an inseparable part of the Maharashtrian culture. Villagers draw rangolis in front of their houses to welcome the palkhi

The Sant Tukaram Palkhi Prasthan Sohala at Dehu saw a sea of devotees. Showering ‘belful’ amidst chants of Vithoba and Shree Sant Tukaram Maharaj, warkaris left the Dehu temple for Pandarpur around 3.27 pm.

Nearly 350 dindis (groups that walk along with the palkhi) from various parts of the state arrived in Dehu for their annual journey to Pandharpur. The Sant Tukaram palkhi will reach Pimpri-Chinchwad on Sunday. Aarti was performed before the palkhi hit the road and the atmosphere was purified with devotional chants.
The palkhi will halt at Inamdarwada at Dehu on Saturday night and reach Bhakti-Shakti Chowk in Nigdi on Sunday afternoon.

The exuberant warkaris sang and danced to the tune of veenas, mridungas, dholkees and chiplis. The ghat section of Indrayani river was occupied by the warkaris. The warkaris started making a beeline for the palkhi prasthan from early morning.

After the mahaaarti, the palkhi was carried by thousands of devotees to the historic Inamdar Wada. The atmosphere brimmed with excitement and devotion as the warkaris performed the traditional phugdi and danced to the tunes of traditional percussion and string instruments. With saffron-coloured patakas (flags) in hand and tulsi on their heads, they presented themselves as the Vaishnav community. The palkhi reached Inamdar Wada in the evening.

The local municipal council of Dehugaon provided all the basic facilities to the warkaris, including five drinking water tankers. Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) ensured uninterrupted power supply to the temple town. Jeevan Pradhikaran provided 24x7 water supply to warkaris during the palkhi procession. The district collectorate deployed an extra 75 employees for the event.

The district collectorate had deployed extra manpower to ensure that warkaris accompanying the palkhi are not inconvenienced. Heavy police bandobast was maintained at Dehu and CCTV cameras were put up at various places in the temple town.