The Varakari or Varkari (वारकरी) tradition : started by Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj (affectionately known as Mauvli in Marathi language which means mother) over 700 yrs ago sowed the seeds of “Bakthi” in every individual irrespective of caste, creed or status in erstwhile state of Maharashtra. Varkari or Varakari in Marathi language means “travellers or more precisely periodic travellers”.
The Varkari sampradaya (tradition) is a bhakti (devotion) movement and is so called because the followers travel hundreds of miles to the holy town of Pandharpur on foot, every year on the Ekadashi (11th day by lunar calendar) in the Hindu calendar month of Aashaadha (which falls sometime in July) and Kartik Ekadashi (which falls sometime in November). This pilgrimage is called vari (वारी) in the Marathi language and thus one who performs it in the path of devotion is a varkari.
Vitthal devotees have been performing “Vari” even before Saint Dnyaneshwar (13th century). However, the current tradition of carrying the “Paduka” (sandals) of the saints in a palkhi (palanquin) from their “hometown” (place of Samadhi) to Pandharpur was started by the youngest son of Sant Tukaram called Narayan Maharaj in 1685.
The base for the Varakari Sampradaya bhakti movement (devotion) is the 3 treatise (Prasathaana Traya) written in Marathi language
- Tukaram Gatha (abhangs of Tukaram Maharaj).
- Eknath Bhagavath (Commentary on 11th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatham by Sant Eknath Maharaj)
- Dnyaneshwari (Bhagavat Gita commentary by Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj)
Vitthal devotees have been performing “Vari” even before Saint Dnyaneshwar (13th century). However, the current tradition of carrying the “Paduka” (sandals) of the saints in a palkhi from their “hometown” (place of Samadhi) to Pandharpur was started by the youngest son of Sant Tukaram called Narayan Maharaj in 1685