Mumbai warkaris reach Pune for 250-km devotional walk
Mumbaikars, who will take part in the annual 'wari' or walking pilgrimage, called dindi, to the Lord Vitthal temple in Pandharpur for Ashadhi Ekadashi, reached Pune to join the walking processions. The day is the eleventh in the month of Ashadh and Lord Vitthal is the manifestation of Lord Vishnu.
Doctors from Mumbai reached Pune as part of 'Doctor Dindi' to tend to devotees who may need medical help during the strenuous walk of nearly 250 km. Dr Suresh Bhat from Bandra Government Colony was in Pune on July 1. He left on Tuesday for the Saswad town on the Sant Dnyaneshwar palkhi route. His team, travelling in four ambulances, will follow the pilgrims, providing emergency medical care if needed.
The waris, as the groups of pilgrims are called, start from towns and villages across Maharashtra and other states, but the main processions start from Alandi and Dehu, towns near Pune. Many smaller groups converge with the processions coming from these places and meet in Pune before taking different routes to Pandharpur.
The devotional walk is rooted in the Bhakti tradition, a religious revival and reform movement going back to the seventh and 10th centuries. The pilgrimage is believed to have begun in the lifetime of Sant Dnyaneshwar, the 13thcentury poet and philosopher and an important figure in the Bhakti movement.
This year, a procession carrying 'padukas' or footwear worn by the saint left from Alandi, his resting place, on June 29 towards Pune. A day before, another procession left Dehu, carrying the footwear of Sant Tukaram, another Bhakti poet from the 17th century. The processions from Dehu and Alandi met at Wakdewadi in Pune on June 30. They left on July 2 along with Sant Dnyaneshwar palkhi (palanquin) at Palkhi Vithoba temple and Sant Tukaram palkhi at Nivdunga Vitthal temple.
Meanwhile, Mumbai's main temple to the deity, Vithal Rakhumai shrine at Wadala, prepares for its biggest annual festival on Ashadi Ekadashi. Nitin Mhatre, a temple trustee, said they were expecting fiveseven lakh devotees between July 16 and 17. “Last year, the queue of devotees was so long that the temple was open till 2am,” said Mhatre.