Pune yatra

Walking with the Wari

Every summer two palanquins carrying the sandals of the poet-saints Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram leave Alandi and Dehu and walk to Pandharpur: about 250 km, twenty-one days, several hundred thousand people on foot. The two processions meet in Pune, halt for a day, then part. The tradition is seven to eight centuries old, and anyone may join for a day or for the whole road.

In 2026 the Tukaram palkhi leaves Dehu on 7 July and the Dnyaneshwar palkhi leaves Alandi on 8 July; both reach Pandharpur on Ashadi Ekadashi, 25 July. The dates move each year with the lunar calendar.