Why in news? G20 Delegates from several countries attended the Digital Economy Working Group Conference, got a glimpse of the 800-year-old Warkari community’s palkhi festival.

Highlights:

• Pandharpur Wari or Wari is a yatra to Pandharpur, Maharashtra, to honor Vithoba.
• It involves carrying the paduka of a saint in a palkhi, most notably of Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram, from their respective shrines to Pandharpur.
• The Palkhi starts in the month of Jyeshth (June) and the whole process lasts a total of 22 days
• People collectively go singing and dancing, chanting Dnyanba-Tukaram in what are called as Dindis (organised group of Varkaris) to the holy town of Pandharpur
• The tradition of carrying the paduka of the saints was started by the Tukaram’s youngest son, Narayan Maharaj.