Ashadi Wari 2026: 430 Doctors Join 'Doctor Dindi' To Provide Medical Care To Warkaris En Route To Pandharpur

Mumbai: As pilgrims from across Maharashtra begin the annual walk to the Lord Vitthal Temple in Pandharpur for Ashadi Ekadashi on July 25, a group of more than 40 doctors and medical staff set off from Mumbai on Sunday to provide medical care during the arduous pilgrimage through the monsoon.

For Dr Anuradha Mohite from Shell Colony, Chembur, the annual journey with the Warkaris – participants in the Wari pilgrimage – reflects both her commitment to medicine and her spiritual faith.

"I have undertaken this pilgrimage every year for the past 34 years. Serving the Warkaris is serving God," said Mohite who will be part of the group for around two weeks.

This year, more than 430 doctors have registered for the 'Doctor Dindi', organised by the Mauli Charitable and Medical Trust. Doctors will work in shifts, ensuring that 40 to 50 are available each day at camps and along the procession to treat unwell pilgrims.

The Mumbai team will travel to Alandi, where it will join the Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi on July 9 before proceeding to Pune. After other groups converge there, the procession will continue through Saswad, Jejuri, Lonand, Phaltan, Shegaon and Wakhri before covering nearly 200 km to Pandharpur, arriving on Ashadi Ekadashi.

Arvind Bhosale, trustee of the Mauli Charitable and Medical Trust, said three hospitals and medical colleges, including Yerala Medical College, are participating this year. They have deployed seven ambulances, including two equipped for cardiac emergencies, while 22 medical camps will be set up along the route.

The camps will include a small operating theatre for minor surgical procedures, while patients requiring specialised treatment will be referred to hospitals en route.

"At Wakhri, where pilgrims assemble for the final leg of the journey, the crowds become enormous. They have already been walking for more than 20 days, making conditions particularly demanding," said Bhosale.

Mohite said the changing weather and terrain posed significant health challenges. "Many pilgrims are over 50, and some are in their eighties. We commonly treat respiratory infections, exhaustion, food-borne illnesses and injuries."

Ashadi Ekadashi, also known as Devshayani Ekadashi, marks the beginning of Lord Vishnu's four-month celestial slumber. Observed on the eleventh day of the bright fortnight of the Ashadha month, it is among the most sacred occasions in the Hindu calendar, drawing lakhs of devotees to Pandharpur each year.

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