Time after time: The palki festival

 It’s simply and commonly called the vari, and no matter what you are told, nothing can quite prepare you for it. Over 150 palkis start from different places in western and southern India, and the varkaris (or pilgrims) walk from villages in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka but chiefly Maharashtra, sometimes for up to two months, mostly between three weeks to ten days in a yatra by foot (although many simply take a bus or car to Pandharpur in Maharashtra, where the vari culminates). The Sant Dnyaneshwar palki from Alandi and the Sant Tukaram palki from Dehu are the largest, adding up to nearly a hundred thousand varkaris between them alone. The tradition is over eight centuries old and while there is no fixed date on which the vari must begin, the concluding day is always Ashadhi Ekadashi (9 July; mtdctourpackages.com).