A world-class event deserves world-class support
What more can be done to treat the Warkari pilgrimage as a world-class event? After all, this annual spiritual march by more than half a million people in an 800-year-old tradition is one of its kind worldwide. Ishani Bose explores
The chants of Dnyanoba Mauli Tukaram and Jai Hari Vitthala fill the air when lakhs of pilgrims (warkaris) from Maharashtra and Karnataka, primarily farmers, cover over 250km walk to Pandharpur in the monsoon months of June-July every year. They carry the palkis (palanquins) of the two most prominent saints of the state –Sant Dnyaneshwar (from Alandi) and Sant Tukaram from Dehu Road) among others who join along the way.
The pilgrimage that began 800 years ago and is undertaken by countless people speaks volumes about this one-of-its-kind event worldwide. The quintessence of the warkari tradition is the humble reality that all pilgrims are treated equally during the pilgrimage. Several centuries have gone by but this religious journey has witnessed little to no change, with worshippers, both young and old, flocking in huge numbers filled with an infectious enthusiasm irrespective of the weather, be it scorching heat or heavy rains, during the pilgrimage.
Beginning their journey from Alandi, the warkaris halt in Pune for two or three days, and the civic administration and the police are entrusted with ensuring that the wari passes through the city smoothly without disrupting daily life. From establishing an effective communication system and providing medical aid and accommodation facilities to making proper sanitation and the like available, the authorities have taken initiatives to improve the wari over the years.
The warkari movement’s tradition of strict adherence to certain principles–abstinence from alcohol and tobacco, consumption of vegetarian food on certain days of the week, and reading of holy scriptures have a lasting effect on every warkari. Technology has played a significant role in spreading this spirit of the warkaris across the world. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and applications such as WhatsApp are flooded with pictures of the palkis and the pilgrims, which now include foreigners too.
In 1988, German documentary film-makers the late Gunther Sontheimer and Henning Stegmuller made a film on the wari titled: Wari: An Indian Pilgrimage‘, which showed how people back then began recognising the annual tradition on a global platform.
The smooth organisation of this historical walk of faith that sees a sea of pilgrims from different walks of life journeying shoulder to shoulder as equals on foot shows the effectiveness of the authorities. However, it still calls for raising the level of handling such a grand gathering to greater heights for the world to stand up and acclaim its importance.