This health crisis situation came after around 129 years, this economic crisis hit us after round 100 years but for the very 1st time the situation arose in Maharashtra where there is no Wari towards Pandharpur.
Basically Wari is a pilgrimage of 5 saints-4 brothers and 1 sister who were devotees of Vithoba! This Vaari begins from five different parts of Maharashtra in month of ASHADH where in millions of people walk towards Pandharpur with PALKHI'S od paduka of 5 saints,with an aim to allow these saints to meet Vitthu Mauli. The people who walk with the palkhi's and head towards Pandharpur are named Warkaris-the one who does Wari.
So every year I get the privilege to see this huge,immense,joyful,faithful environment and the admiration in eyes of each and every warkaris passing by my house.Every palakhi does not only have padukas with warkaris but also the horses that perform RINGAN,A group of people who sing BHAJAN, priest who tells the story of VITHURAYA to warkari's,the servers,tent holders and many more.
Millions of warkaris are divided into groups of 200 to 300 people named DINDI.
These Dindi's have to manage the stay,the food,the time on their own with the complete devotion towards pandharicha vithuraya.
My family gets the opportunity to manage all of these for 2 to 3 dindi's every year and thus I get the pleasure to indulge myself into the spiritual environment and know what actually devotion refers to.
I feel so blessed that Vithu mauali made us capable of doing what we do and show our love and gratitude towards him!
That's a very different,very unusual feeling when from my 65 year old grandpa to my 8 year old sibling are standing at the main gate eagerly waiting for our Dindi's to arrive which we will find our Vithu mauli in, and will be able to show our love,devotion and faith in the form of service for next 12 to 13 hours!
When they arrive there's a huge Utsav with chantings of 'Jai Hari Vitthal,Shri Hari Vitthal' with slight Mridung in the background, warkaris are heading in a queue to match the beat with taal in their hands,
Oh God! what a mystical experience it is.
Once we all very busy managing stuff and making sure everything is perfect for our warkaris when my 8th year old brother came running into the house and was searching for the pain relief spray and was asking for a packet of painkillers.
When I handed him the stuff he ran out of the house faster than the wind,I went behind him to know what exactly he was doing.
You won't believe that he gave the packet of painkillers to a 85 to 87 year old granny and explained when and how to have them then sprayed the spray on her legs,gave a massage to her feet. The lady was in pain,her legs were swollen but she had a face smiling widely,chanting 'VITHALLA' constantly!
What my brother did was of no surprise to me because this is how we are grown- TO HELP! what was surprising was the granny's reaction she joined her hands and said "विठोबाच्या रुपात धाऊन आलास रे पोरा!!!" i.e. you came running like Vithoba to help me,live long kid!
And this is the real meaning of wari.
You move ahead with an aim to see Pandhurang at Pandharpur but mean while you find him in the different ways,in different people,in different situation throughout the wari.
If you ever get an opportunity just walk in with warkaris for half an hour and you'll get to know several stories,several aspirations several ideas with a single motive of meeting 'MAZA VITHOBA'.
