The Wari is undertaken in honour of the god Vithoba.
Location of Pandharpur and the starting place of important palkhis
Tukaram Maharaj palakhi (palanquin)
Tukaram Maharaj palkhi (palanquin) Rath
Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi 2nd Circular ringan. Near, Khudus Phata, Malshiras.
Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi 3rd Circular ringan. Near, Thakur buva samadhi, Velapur.
Pilgrims bathing in the Chandrabhaga river at Pandharpur

Pandharpur Wari or Wari is a yatra to Pandharpur, Maharashtra, to honor Vithoba. It involves carrying the paduka of a saint in a palkhi, most notably of Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram, from their respective shrines to Pandharpur. Many pilgrims join this procession on foot. Warkari is a Marathi term which means "one who performs the wari". The tradition is more than 700 to 800 years old.[1][2][3]

Marches happen on foot from various locations in Maharashtra to Vithoba Temple.[4] The journey takes 21 days. Many palkis join the main Tukaram and Dnyaneshwar palkhis along the way. Two specific pilgrimages honor the two most revered palkhis, starting from their towns located in Pune district of Maharashtra: Sant Dnyaneshwar's palkhi leaves from Alandi, while Tukaram's begins at Dehu. The wari culminates at the Vithoba Temple on the holy occasion of Shayani Ekadashi.[5] Devotees from across Maharashtra and nearby areas leave for Pandharpur, wearing holy basil beads and singing the glories of Vithoba and songs like "Gyanba Tukaram", commemorating the saints.[6] When they reach Pandharpur on Shayani Ekadashi, the devotees bathe in the sacred Bhima River before visiting the temple.

History

Beginnings

Various views exists on the origins of the wari (Marathi: पंढरपूरची वारी or वारी). According to one theory, Vitthalpant, the father of the Varkari saint Dnyaneshwar, began the wari to visit Pandharpur in the Hindu months of Ashadha and Kartik. The tradition of performing a Wari is generally regarded to have existed for more than 800 years.[7][8]

Another theory credits Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram to have started the pilgrimage. They used to take a journey to Pandharpur by foot for 15 days, reaching Pandharpur's Vithoba Temple on Shayani Ekadashi.[9][10] The tradition of carrying the paduka of the saints was started by the Tukaram's youngest son, Narayan Maharaj, in 1685.

British era

Changes were brought to the pilgrimage in the 1820s by Tukaram's descendants and a devotee of Dnyaneshwar named Haibatravbaba Arphalkar, who was a courtier of the Scindias.[11] Haibatravbaba is credited with the organization of the wari in use today. This involved carrying the paduka in a palkhi, having horses involved in the procession, and organizing the devotees or varkaris in Dindis (Dindi stands for a specific group of varkaris).[12]

Wari in present times

The Warkaris—whose patron deity is Vithoba—undertake the wari to Pandharpur, reaching there on a day before Shayani Ekadashi, the eleventh lunar day (Ekadashi) of the bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) of Ashadha (June–July). Pilgrims carry palanquins of the saints from the places of their respective samadhi.[13][14][15]

Dindi

The concept of Dindi (Marathi: दिंडी procession) or troupes of warkari devotees was introduced by Haibatravbaba in the early 1800s.[16] A diṇḍī is a group of Hindu devotees of one caste or village who are part of a larger palkhi going to a holy site on pilgrimage. Some religious institutions and temples also have their own Dindi. Accommodation, meals and other facilities to warkaris are provided through their respective Dindi. Managing members of a Dindi usually travel ahead to make arrangements for food and shelter at their next stop. All registered Dindis are numbered and assigned their place in the procession. Some walk in front of the palkhi and others behind it. During their march, flag and banner-carrying members are at the front of the troupe, and the drummer is at the center of the Dindi.[17]

Along with the procession, sevā is performed for the poor and needy, like dāna. The event is said to be one of the world's largest and oldest movement where people gather on one day each year and walk a distance of around 250 km. The Pandharpur Wari has been classified by the World Book of Records as "one of the most visited places in a day".[18]

Wari management

The Dnyaneshwar palkhi is managed by Haibatraobua Arphalkar's descendants, the hereditary Chopdars, and the Alandi Devasthan Trust.[19]

The wari's schedule is published ahead of time and is strictly followed. It is detailed and minute details are made available, including starting location and the location of breaks, including lunch, rest and night stays. Every morning at early dawn, after worshiping the Saint's footwear, the palkhi leaves at 6am for the next stretch of the route. A tutari (wind instrument) is blown thrice to alert all Warkaris. At the first signal, all warkaris get ready to leave. At the second signal, the Dindis stand in line and start walking at the third signal. After 4 to 5 km, they take a quick break for breakfast.[20]

Economic impact

An estimated one million pilgrims, either varkaris traveling with the palkhi or independent travelers, travel to Pandharpur each year, who require accommodation provided by the mathas and temporary lodging houses.[21]

Public health issues

Because the wari brings many people on the way to Pandharpur through many localities, public health measures have been implemented since the early British colonial period. These included compulsory vaccinations for diseases, such as cholera and plague, segregation of the infected, and restrictions on mobility.[22] According to Manjiri Kamat, the colonial administrators had other motivations, such as generating revenue by collecting pilgrim tax, or maintaining law and order for implementing public health measures.[23] The colonial government's public health measures in the early part of the 20th century included attaching medical staff to different palkhis, removing infected persons, modifying wells for drinking water, digging trenches, providing bins for waste collection, and employing sanitation staff.[24] The requirement to be vaccinated against cholera and typhoid in order to join a dindi has continued in the present times.[25]

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the wari was reduced with fifty varkaris joining the march to Pandharpur. The paduka of the saints were either driven to or flown to Pandharpur for Shayani Ekadashi on July 1, 2020.[26]

Goa Dindi festival

The Dindi festival is an annual festival held in Margao, Goa's Vithal Rakhumai temple, and the Damodar Temple in the month of November.[27][28][29][30] The Dindi festival is dedicated to Hindu deity Vithoba, the festival dates back to 1909. It is one of the oldest festivals in Salcete(Margao) taluka.[31]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Pandharpur Wari 2015, Schedule, Route and Pandharpur Yatra Videos". Punebuzz.com. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Warkari wave sweeps Pune city, Pimpri-Chinchwad". Indianexpress.com. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  3. ↑ "Pandharpur Palkhi Sohala 2015". Tourismpune.org. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  4. ↑ Nitnaware, Himanshu (3 June 2019). "This year's wari moves towards greener pastures; plantation drive to be undertaken on widened Mangalwedha-Pandharpur stretch". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  5. ↑ "Ashadi Ekadashi, Pandharpur". Incredibleindia.org. Archived from the original on 30 July 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  6. ↑ "Elaborate arrangements for Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi procession". Times of India. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "Pandharpur Wari" (PDF). Parikramaholidays.
  8. ↑ "PANDHARPUR WARI:PILGRIMAGE ON FOOT". All India Radio.
  9. ↑ "Palkhi Festival". Maharashtrattourism.net. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  10. ↑ Gethe, Subhash. "Varkari Movement". Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "The wari tradition". Wari Santanchi. Archived from the original on 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  12. ↑ Mokashi, Digambar Balkrishna (1987). Palkhi: An Indian Pilgrimage. Translated by Engblom, Phillip C. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 18. ISBN 0-88706-461-2.
  13. ↑ "Pandarpur Yatra - Pandharpur Ashadhi Ekadasi Wari Pilgrimage, Palkhi Festival - Palki Festival Maharashtra, Palkhi Festival Pandharpur India". www.newsonair.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "The Pandharpur Wari" (PDF). Parikramaholidays.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017. The Wari begins on the 8th/9th lunar day of the waning moon in the Hindu month of Jyeshtha and reaches a day before Ashadhi Ekadashi at Pandharpur. People from various castes and socio-economic backgrounds participate in the Wari, with the common goal to reach Pandharpur and worship the deity. Along the Way the procession passes cities, towns and villages. The local residents of place along the route come out to greet, feed and house the varkari pilgrims.
  15. ↑ Jayant K. Lele (1 January 1989). Language and Society: Steps Towards an Integrated Theory. BRILL. p. 26. ISBN 90-04-08789-3.
  16. ↑ Mokashi, Digambar Balkrishna (1987). Palkhi: An Indian Pilgrimage. Translated by Engblom, Phillip C. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 18. ISBN 0-88706-461-2.
  17. ↑ Jones, J (2016). "Pilgrimage and Audience on the Maharashtrian Vārī". Yale Journal of Music & Religion. 2 (2): 115–132. doi:10.17132/2377-231X.1063.
  18. ↑ "World Book of Records". worldbookofrecords.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  19. ↑ Shinde, Kiran A (30 May 2018). "Chapter 13, Palkhi: A moving sacred town". In Olsen, Daniel H; Trono, Anna (eds.). Religious Pilgrimage Routes and Trails: Sustainable Development and Management. CABI. pp. 150–165. ISBN 978-1-78639-027-1.
  20. ↑ "Wari" (PDF). Parikramaholidays.com. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  21. ↑ Baad, D (2016). IMPORTANTANCE OF WARI (YATRA) IN POINT OF ECONOMIC VIEW. Lulu.com. p. 40. ISBN 9781329943117.
  22. ↑ Das, Dilip (March 2013). Pandey, Gyanendra (ed.). Subalternity and Difference: Investigations from the North and the South. Routledge. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-1-136-70162-7.
  23. ↑ Kamat, M., 2001. The Palkhi as plague carrier’: The Pandharpur fair and the sanitary fixation of the colonial state; British India, 1908–1916. Health, medicine and empire: Perspectives on colonial India, pp.299-316.
  24. ↑ Biswamoy Pati; Mark Harrison (13 February 2018). Society, Medicine and Politics in Colonial India. Taylor & Francis. p. 1279. ISBN 978-1-351-26218-7.
  25. ↑ Koiso, C., Social Implications of Two Hindu Pilgrimages in Maharashtra. In Regional Routes, Regional Roots? Cross-Border. Patterns of Human Mobility in Eurasia (pp. 99-109). Hokkaido Slavic-Eurasian Reserarch Center.
  26. ↑ Bengrut, Dhiraj (2020). "Urban warkaris redraw wari plans due to Covid-19 pandemic, go online". Hindustan Times. No. June 18, 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  27. ↑ Pran Nath Chopra Encyclopaedia of India: Goa, Daman & Diu 1992– Page 102 "A big festival attended by thousands of people known as 'Dindi' is held every year. A procession is taken out from this temple to Vithal "
  28. ↑ Robert Bradnock, Roma Bradnock Footprint Goa Handbook: The Travel Guide 1903471222 - 2002 -Page 173 The Damodar Temple, 2 km from Kadamba bus terminaL hosts the winter Dindi festivaL when there is a palanquin ptocession along with singing of devotional hynms.
  29. ↑ "Palkhi procession: Virtual dindi walks for a noble cause this year — Save Water Campaign in Pune | The Indian Express". The Indian Express. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  30. ↑ "Herald: Dindi euphoria stems demonetisation anxiety". heraldgoa.in. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  31. ↑ "Dindi festival lights up Margao". www.navhindtimes.in. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
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