Vari Pilgrimage: Bhakti, Being and Beyond

The Vārī to Pandharpur is one of the most significant pilgrimages in Maharashtra and India. It is a living tradition and attracts millions of pilgrims annually from across the Marathi-speaking region and beyond. This book highlights the structure, organization, symbolism, and wide range of social interactions during the Vārī pilgrimage through the dindis and pālkhī processions. Vārkarī Sampradāya is a community of devotees unequivocally associated with the Varī pilgrimage. While understanding and analyzing the Vārī pilgrimage, the book also discusses the Varkarī Sampradāya, its ethos, philosophy, santa tradition, literary canon, and how it has contributed to shaping Maharashtrian culture. It is argued that the Vārkarī bhakti ethos is circulated through various public means of bhakti, and the Vārī pilgrimage is the most prominent site of this circulation. Though the Vārī pilgrimage is considered mainly a spiritual and religious phenomenon, an attempt is made to highlight its social, political, and cultural dimensions. Vārī is a site that enables the negotiation of social and cultural power relations. The book argues that the Vārī is an inclusive and open platform. In the process of the Vārī pilgrimage, a particular kind of public emerges that acquires a Vārkarī identity without necessarily transcending social identities and power structures attached thereto.