The distinguished anthropologist Irawati Karwe wrote, “I found a new definition of Maharashtra: the land whose people go to Pandharpur for pilgrimage.”

Pandharpur, near the city of Solapur, is a sacrosanct destination for the Varkari path within Hinduism, centred around the worship of the deity Vitthal or Vithoba, a form of Vishnu. The Varkaris are a part of the Bhakti movement, a spiritual tradition characterised by the immersive loving worship of a chosen deity.

The word ‘Varkari’ means “one who performs the vari”— vari in Marathi refers to the annual 21-day pilgrimage to Pandharpur, which devotees of Vitthal perform as an expression of faith. The vari is a symbolic journey of the sants (those who have seen the truth) from their respective hometowns to the abode of Vitthal, and the varkaris carry symbolic palk ...