Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Chanting “Gan Gan Ganat Bote” and carrying saffron flags, around 250 warkaris set out on a foot pilgrimage from the city to Shegaon on Sunday. Doctors, engineers, professors, bankers and retired officials set aside their professional identities to dedicate the final 11 days of the year to devotion. Citizens welcomed the procession with flower showers across the Cidco–Hudco area.
The pilgrimage began with rituals at the Sadguru Gajanan Maharaj Temple, Garkheda, where trustee board president Dr. Pravin Vakte placed Maharaj’s silver mask in the palanquin. Amid collective chants, the procession passed through Trimurti Chowk, Jawahar Colony, Akashvani Chowk and Connaught Place, before concluding ceremonially at Cidco N-7, from where the devotees continued towards Shegaon. The dindi will reach Shegaon on the 29th, with darshan scheduled on the 30th. Organisers have arranged insurance cover for all 250 warkaris, underlining both faith and responsibility behind the journey.
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“Contentment lies in devotion, happiness in service, and the true meaning of life in faith,” the foot pilgrimage teaches.
— Datta Aphale, warkari and retired bank officer
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Caption:
Devotees gathered to have darshan of the silver mask of Sadguru Gajanan Maharaj placed in the palanquin during the ‘Shraddhabhoomi to Karmabhoomi’ foot pilgrimage that commenced from the Gajanan Maharaj Temple in Garkheda. Photo: Firoz Khan