Sant Dnyaneshwar Palkhi on June 21, five lakh devotees to attend

For the last two years, due to the pandemic, the wari tradition was cancelled by the state government

PUNE After a gap of two years, the walking tradition of the ‘Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi’ aka wari will continue with the Alandi Devsthan temple trust having declared its schedule for this year’s palkhi according to which the prasthan of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj’s palkhi will take place on June 21 this year. While the number of warkaris is expected to increase by about 1 lakh, as there was no wari for the last two years, the number might even cross 5 lakh till the palkhi reaches Pandharpur.

Members of the trust inspected the Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi route on Wednesday. (HT)

“There was a gap of two years in the wari tradition due to the pandemic and all the warkaris strictly followed this decision and no one came to Pandharpur. Whereas now as the vaccination has taken place on a large scale, Covid restrictions have been removed and there is a lot of enthusiasm amongst the people to attend this year’s wari. We have already started preparations and at the recent meeting held at Pandharpur, it was decided that the Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi prasthan will be on June 21,” said Vikas Dhage-Patil, president, Alandi Devsthan temple trust .

For the last two years, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the wari tradition was cancelled by the state government. Every year, lakhs of pilgrims walk from Dehu and Alandi to Pandharpur and all devotees of Sant Tukaram and Sant Dnyaneshwar go along with their Palkhis to Pandharpur. While cancelling the wari palkhis of both these saints, the pilgrims were taken by MSRTC buses to Pandharpur for the last two years with only a few select warkaris in the bus.

Before the pandemic, annually, more than 3 to 4 lakh warkaris would join several dindis (groups of warkaris) with the Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj palkhi and Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi that starts from Alandi and Dehu villages, respectively. There are around 250 registered dindis (group of warkaris) which follow the palkhi on its way to Pandharpur and lakhs of warkaris walk in the wari. Dindis from across Maharashtra start coming to Alandi and Dehu a week before the starting day and then, both the villages are crowded with warkaris.

“We are expecting more warkaris this year; every year, the number goes up to 4 lakh warkaris when the palkhi reaches Pandharpur but this year, it would increase to more than 5 lakh warkaris. So for this we have made some changes on the walking route. For example, the earlier stay at Lonanad and Phaltan was 1.5 days which has now been extended to 2.5 days. Also, we are making some changes at the halting spots on the route and our talks with the state government officials are going on,” said Dhage-Patil.