Pune Rural Police
Two flower-decked buses, carrying the padukas (holy footprints) of Sant Dnyaneshwar along with 40 warkaris , left from Pune for the Pandharpur temple town in neighbouring Solapur district on Monday as part of the annual wari pilgrimage.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government this year did not allow the pilgrimage on foot.
Before the outbreak of COVID-19, thousands of warkaris , or devotees of Lord Vitthal, used to join the pilgrimage to go to Pandhapur on the auspicious day of Ashadhi Ekadashi , which falls on Tuesday.
The state government recently decided that the holy footprints of saint-poets Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram will be taken to Pandharpur this year by bus with a limited number of warkaris.
The annual Palkhi event, which will begin this year on July 2, will be conducted in a low-key manner this time as well. As opposed to the thousands of people wh