Pune: A state transport bus will carry the `Paduka' (holy sandals) of saints Tukaram and Dnyaneshwar to Pandharpur alongwith 20 `warkaries' (pilgrims) on June 30, a senior official said here on Saturday.
As per a tradition which goes back centuries, Paduka of Tukaram and Dnyaneshwar, two revered Marathi saint-poets, are taken to Pandharpur from their temples at Dehu and Alandi, respectively, in Pune district in processions on foot.
However, the yearly pilgrimage to the Vitthal temple at Pandharpur could not be organised in the usual way this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus will take the holy relics to Pandharpur on June 30, a day ahead of the holy day of `Ashadhi Ekadashi', said Pune collector Naval Kishore Ram.
In ordinary times, lakhs of warkaris, devotees of Vitthal who undertake the `wari' or pilgrimage on foot from all over Maharashtra, reach Pandharpur on Ashadhi Ekadashi.
But those scenes would not be seen this year.
