Pandharpur has drawn leaders of varying hues regardless of their political ambitions. Most recently, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, who is not known for any spiritual leanings, visited the Vitthal-Rukmini temple on May 7, after announcing his resignation (which he subsequently revoked). “I don’t normally visit temples but there are some religious places that have a special place in my heart -- Pandharpur’s Vitthal-Rukmini temple is one such place where I feel fulfilled after a visit,” said Pawar at the time.

When he was appointed chief minister of the state in the early 1990s, then as a Congress leader, Pawar had visited the holy place; and when asked about it he had said: “Lakhs of people have faith in the deity of Pandharpur. A chief minister is a representative of entire Maharashtra and it is his duty to offer prayers here on behalf of the state.”

Congress leader and former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh, is known to visit Pandharpur every year. In 2022, Singh said he had been offering prayers here since 1992, inspired by former president Shankar Dayal Sharma. “I feel deeply connected here,” he said. Sharma is known to have visited the place before he became president of the country and his last visit was in 1995, while still in office.

Maharashtra chief ministers, with their spouses, have been offering prayers on Ashadhi Ekadashi at the temple since 1985. The then deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde visited the temple on Kartiki Ekadashi in 1995, and continued the ritual every year. In July 2018, then Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray held a massive public rally in Pandharpur where he had indicated a breakaway from the alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Faith floats

While the 10-lakh electorate converging at a single spot every year presents an enticing scenario for a leader, the warkaris are not aligned to any political party. But for decades they have been considered a political constituency and are wooed from both within the state and outside. The devotees, who are believed to be an incarnation of Lord Krishna, are mainly agrarian folk and come from the state’s rural and semi-urban parts. They belong to various castes and communities, although Marathas and OBCs largely dominate the sect.

Largely apolitical and caste agnostic, warkaris trace their roots to the Bhakti movement and follow the teachings of Bhakti saint-poets such as Tukaram, Dnyaneshwar and Namdeo, among others.

Since they are especially associated with the annual wari (pilgrimage), the BJP has made attempts to take them along. In June 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a shila (rock) temple at the Sant Tukaram Maharaj mandir dedicated to the 17th-century saint in Dehu, near Pune. The samadhi of the saint is located here, while the samadhi of Sant Dyaneshwar is in the neighbouring town of Alandi – pilgrims start their annual journey from the two places and cover 250 kilometers to culminate in Pandharpur.

“The wari is important for politicians to build their image. Large number of people from varied backgrounds participate in the pilgrimage, and the politicians grab the opportunity to reach out to them,” said political analyst Abhay Deshpande.

Sadanand More, a prominent thinker of the warkari tradition and a descendant of Tukaram Maharaj, saw nothing untoward in party leaders making good of the opportunity to mingle with the electorate at such close quarters, “although this was the first time a political leader had visited Pandharpur with his entire cabinet”. More was referring to the Telangana CM’s visit.

“Of all the religious places in Maharashtra Pandharpur stands apart, as devotees converging here belong to a particular sect,” said More. “Politicians visit all other religious places but devotees there are a mixed lot, contrary to Pandharpur.”

Abhay Tilak, trustee Alandi Devasthan temple trust and head of Sant Tukaram Adhyasana Centre, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), Pune, did not take too kindly to party leaders thronging the holy place. He felt “their participation has led to a gradual but qualitative change in the wari”. “Now there is competition among political parties to use the congregation for ulterior motives,” said Tilak.

Break in peace

While most visits are known to be smooth, in 2018, then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had to cancel his plans to Pandharpur after Maratha outfits threatened to disrupt it – at the time, they had intensified their agitation for reservations for the community in education and government jobs.

When he was at the helm of affairs of the state in 1997, Manohar Joshi decided against conducting prayers here, fearing opposition from Dalit outfits following police firing at Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar, in Mumbai, which left 10 Dalits dead.