Maharashtra: Palkhis reach Pandharpur amid Covid restrictions

PUNE: The palkhis of Sant Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram reached Wakhari village, about 8km from Pandharpur, in flower-decked buses on Monday evening, amid the chants of ‘Jai Hari Vitthal’ and ‘Dnynoba Mauli Tukaram’.



Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state government did not allow the pilgrimage on foot and permitted 40 warkaris with each palkhi this year. As per the plan, the palkhis travelled under police protection to prevent any disruption during the journey.

People welcomed the decorated buses by showering flowers and cracking firecrackers at many places along the route. Some of them even tried to touch the buses. At some locations, people queued along the route with cellphone in their hands to capture the journey of the palkhis.

“This is the second consecutive year when we couldn’t participate in the palkhi procession due to the Covid situation. We are hopeful for the next year,” said Bhausaheb Karhe from Indapur tehsil.

Vikas Dhagepatil, the trustee of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Temple trust, said, “The journey has been completed as per the state government guidelines. All rituals will be done as per the schedule in the next two days.”

Sanjay More, president of the Sant Tukaram Maharaj temple trust, said, “The condition of roads ahead of Akluj in Solapur district was bad so the palkhi reached two hours late. Thousands of people had gathered almost in all villages along the route.”

Expand

Milind Shambharkar, Solapur district collector, said all the palkhis were received at Wakhari village. “We have conducted RT-PCR tests of the people at Vitthal Rukmini temple. We will permit limited representatives of each tehsil to enter the sanctum sanctorum on the Ekadashi to prevent crowding. We have taken enough measures to prevent mass gathering on the temple premises,” he told TOI.

“We have deployed enough police bandobast in the town to prevent gathering in and around the temple for the next couple of days,” said superintendent of police Tejaswini Satpute of Solapur district.

The padukas of all the saints will be taken to the Vitthal Rukmini temple to perform pooja on Ashadhi Ekadashi on Tuesday.

As per the tradition, chief minister Udhhav Thackeray, along with his wife, will perform ‘Mahapooja’ in the early hours of Tuesday in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.