Thousands Throng Prati Pandharpur Vitthal Temple In Wadala On Ashadhi Ekadashi; Mayor Ritu Tawde Prays For Good Rains

Mumbai: Thousands of devotees thronged the historic Vitthal temple in Wadala, popularly known as Prati Pandharpur, on Ashadhi Ekadashi on Saturday, marking the spiritual culmination of the annual Wari pilgrimage to Pandharpur.

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Mayor's Visit and Rain Prayer

Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde visited the temple and later told the media that she had prayed for good rains to ease the city's water scarcity.

Devotees began queuing from midnight for darshan of Lord Vitthal and his consort, Rakhumai. The Wadala shrine serves as an important place of worship for devotees unable to undertake the pilgrimage to Pandharpur.

Temple's 400-Year-Old Origin Story

According to Dr Suresh Bhat, a Vitthal devotee and former medical practitioner from Bandra East, the temple's origins date back more than 400 years. Legend has it that a group of Koli and Agri devotees travelling on the Wari discovered an idol of Lord Vitthal in the Chandrabhaga river after their Guru injured his foot while bathing. Acting on the Guru's instructions, they brought the idol to Wadala and built a small shrine, where Sant Tukaram is believed to have performed the pran pratishtha of the deity in 1614.

Ashadhi Ekadashi marks the high point of Maharashtra's centuries-old Wari tradition. Every year, during the month of Ashadh, lakhs of warkaris dressed in white walk to Pandharpur behind the two principal palkhis—the Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi from Alandi and the Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi from Dehu. Several other palkhis dedicated to saints including Sant Nivruttinath Maharaj, Sant Eknath Maharaj, Sant Namdev Maharaj, Sant Muktabai, Sant Sopankaka and Sant Gajanan Maharaj also converge on the temple town from across the state.

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Dr Bhat, who is currently in Pandharpur providing medical assistance to pilgrims, said he had walked with the devotees for eight days. Each procession comprises organised groups known as dindis, carrying saffron flags as musicians play the tal and mridang. Women balance tulsi vrindavans on their heads throughout the journey, while men carry saffron flags, veenas and other instruments, filling the route with devotional songs.

Among the pilgrimage's most revered traditions is the Ringan ceremony. During the Gol Ringan, the riderless Maulincha Ashva, believed to embody the saint's spirit, gallops in a circle amid chants, while in the Ubhe Ringan, it races through two rows of waiting pilgrims. As night falls, cooking fires illuminate the camps, where meals and tea are shared in a spirit of devotion and community.

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