Maharashtra CM Uddhav prays to Lord Vitthal in Pandharpur; seeks blessing to destroy COVID

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday morning performed the customary puja on the Ekadashi day at the Vitthoba temple in Pandharpur, his first as CM. The Chief Minister said that he prayed for help to destroy the Coronavirus. The Chief Minister was accompanied by his wife Rashmi Thackeray, Guardian Minister and son Aaditya Thackeray, and state minister of PWD Dattatray Bharane.

CM Uddhav had earlier declared that he will go to Pandharpur on the auspicious day and pray for freedom from coronavirus. "I recall, in 2010 I had gone there during the celebrations to click aerial photos and I was overwhelmed at seeing the devotion of the warkaris. May Lord Vitthal remove all hurdles and problems in the state,” he had said. 

On Wednesday morning, as per tradition, all palkhis meet at Wakhri before heading towards Pandharpur to celebrate Ashadhi Ekadashi. The buses carrying 'padukas' (holy footprints) of saint-poets Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram and palkhis of other holy figures reached Wakhri, a village 5 kilometres from temple town Pandharpur, late Tuesday night.

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"The buses carrying the padukas of Sant Dnyaneshwar and Sant Tukaram from Alandi and Dehu respectively and other prominent palkhis of Sant Eknath (Paithan in Aurangabad), Sopandev Maharaj, Nivruttinath Maharaj, Sant Muktabai reached Wakhri. They were received by Solapur guardian minister Dattatray Bharne. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will perform the mahapuja of Lord Vitthal and Rukhmini in the early hours of Wednesday," a Solapur district administration official said.

Earlier in the day, two flower-decked buses carrying the 'padukas' left from Pune with a limited number of warkaris for Pandharpur on the eve of 'Ashadhi Ekadashi'. People were seen lined up along the roads with folded hands as the buses passed. Lakhs of 'warkaris', or devotees of Lord Vitthal, from Maharashtra and other states throng the temple in Pandharpur every year on the occasion of 'Ashadhi Ekadashi'.

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What is the procession?

Pandharpur Wari is an annual pilgrimage to Maharashtra's Pandharpur town, which is the seat of God Vitthal. Every year, warkaris on foot carry palakhis (palanquin processions) in honour of the deity. Saint Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram from the Warkari sect, are taken from their respective shrines to Pandharpur in these huge processions. The tradition is more than 700 to 800 years old, as per reports.

However, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government cancelled the annual wari pilgrimage, which is characterised by people walking for far to Pandharpur with palanquins. The district administration had said in the morning that 90 warkaris were allowed to accompany the procession after COVID-19 tests. 

READ | Maharashtra govt to decide on Pandharpur Wari procession after May 30 as COVID cases rise

Maharashtra's COVID tally

The number of recovered patients from the novel Coronavirus disease in Maharashtra surpassed 90,000 on Tuesday in a piece of encouraging news even as new infections continue to rise substantially. The state health department informed that 1,951 COVID-19 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours, taking the aggregate to 90,911.

Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state jumped to 1,74,761 after 4,878 new cases of the disease were reported. The death toll rose by a staggering 245, of which 95 deaths occurred in the last 48 hours and rest 150 are from the previous period, to touch 7,855.

In state's capital Mumbai, 893 people were diagnosed with COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel Coronavirus, on Tuesday, taking the aggregate to 77,658. Meanwhile, the tally in neighbouring Thane touched 37,630, while that in Palghar stood 5,858. Pune so far has 22,327 cases while that in Nagpur is 1,468.

READ | Coronavirus Live Updates

(with PTI inputs)