West IndiaCommunity FestivalVishnuMarathi · Maharashtra
The Pandharpur Wari is Maharashtra's centuries-old walking pilgrimage, in which lakhs of Warkaris accompany the palkhis of Sant Dnyaneshwar and Sant Tukaram from Alandi and Dehu to Vitthal's temple at Pandharpur, arriving for Ashadhi Ekadashi (June–July). Singing abhangs all the way, the Wari is bhakti in motion — one of the world's great living pilgrimages.
When: The palkhis set out in Jyeshtha and walk about three weeks, reaching Pandharpur for Ashadhi (Devshayani) Ekadashi — Ashadha Shukla Ekadashi (June–July)
Where: From Alandi and Dehu near Pune, some 250 km on foot to the Vitthal-Rukmini temple at Pandharpur on the Bhima (Chandrabhaga) river
Deity: Vitthal (Vithoba, Pandurang) — Krishna-Vishnu standing arms akimbo on the brick, with Rukmini
Observance: Walking pilgrimage in dindis behind the sants' palkhis, continuous abhang kirtan, ringan ceremonies, Chandrabhaga snan and darshan on Ekadashi with a fast kept across Maharashtra
Regional name: Wari / Vari and Ashadhi Ekadashi (Marathi); the tithi is Devshayani Ekadashi, when Vishnu begins his four-month yoganidra
Vitthal on the brick, and the sants who walked to him
Pandharpur's presiding image is unlike any other: Vitthal stands casually, hands on hips, on a brick. Tradition tells of the devotee Pundalik, so absorbed in serving his aged parents that when the Lord himself came to his door, Pundalik tossed him a brick to stand on and asked him to wait — and Vitthal, delighted by such devotion, has waited there ever since. Around this image grew the Warkari sampradaya, the bhakti path of Maharashtra whose scripture is the abhang poetry of its sants: Dnyaneshwar, the teenaged author of the Dnyaneshwari; Namdev the tailor; Chokhamela, born untouchable, whose samadhi stands at the temple's very door; Eknath; and Tukaram the grocer of Dehu, perhaps the best-loved poet in the Marathi language. The Warkari path asks no renunciation — only the vow to walk to Pandharpur, sing the Name, eat simply, and see Vitthal in every fellow pilgrim, greeted as 'Mauli', mother.
The palkhi road to Ashadhi Ekadashi
Each year in Jyeshtha, the padukas — sandal-images — of Sant Dnyaneshwar leave Alandi and those of Sant Tukaram leave Dehu, carried in silver palkhis on decorated carts. For some three weeks they move down well-loved roads through Pune, Saswad, Jejuri and Wakhri, joined by hundreds of dindis — organised walking groups, each with its flag, mridanga and cymbals — until the river of pilgrims runs into the lakhs. The days have their own liturgy: pre-dawn departures, abhangs sung in step, and the breathtaking ringan, when a riderless sacred horse circles the massed Warkaris at full gallop. On Ashadhi Ekadashi the multitude reaches Pandharpur, bathes in the Chandrabhaga, and queues through the night for darshan; across Maharashtra, even those at home keep the Ekadashi fast, for this is Devshayani Ekadashi, when Vishnu enters his four-month sleep and Chaturmas begins.
Walking with the Wari from Ottawa & Canada
The Wari is a pilgrimage of Maharashtra's roads, and no one pretends otherwise; what travels is the Warkari discipline itself. Ottawa families can keep Ashadhi Ekadashi — the site's Ekadashi calendar computes the Ottawa date — with the traditional fast, an evening of abhangs (recordings of 'Sundar te dhyan' or Tukaram's abhangs are easy to find), and a reading from the Dnyaneshwari or Haripath. The palkhi processions and the Pandharpur darshan are broadcast and streamed extensively each year, and many diaspora families make watching the ringan together a fixed appointment. Some plan a future family trip to walk even the final day's stretch into Pandharpur, which pilgrims of every age manage. And the Warkari greeting is portable anywhere: to see the divine in the person beside you, and call them Mauli.
Each link opens our computed festival calendar with exact dates and timings for your city.
Questions
Who is Vitthal?
Vitthal — also called Vithoba or Pandurang — is the form of Krishna-Vishnu worshipped at Pandharpur, shown standing hands-on-hips on a brick. Tradition holds he took that stance while waiting for his devotee Pundalik, who was busy serving his parents. He is the heart of the Warkari tradition and, through its sant-poets, of Marathi devotional culture itself.
What does it mean to be a Warkari?
A Warkari is one who keeps the wari — the vow of regular pilgrimage to Pandharpur, classically for Ashadhi and Kartiki Ekadashi. Warkaris wear the tulsi-bead mala, keep a simple vegetarian discipline, sing the abhangs of the sants, and treat every fellow being as a form of the divine, addressing one another as 'Mauli'. It is a householder's path: no renunciation is asked, only devotion woven into ordinary life.
Why is Ashadhi Ekadashi also called Devshayani Ekadashi?
The Ekadashi of the bright fortnight of Ashadha is held to be the day Vishnu enters yoganidra, his four-month cosmic rest, which opens the Chaturmas period lasting until Prabodhini Ekadashi in Kartika. 'Devshayani' means 'the sleeping of the god'. Its coincidence with the Wari's arrival makes it the most sacred day of the Pandharpur year.
Source: Warkari tradition of Maharashtra, centred on Vitthal of Pandharpur. Regional versions may vary — this text follows the version most widely used in community worship.