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It was over five hours after which Mahendra Gawade along with his group reached The Vitthal Mandir (Prati Pandharpur) in Wadala. The group started off at Khar Danda and walked barefoot singing bhajans of Sant Dnyanoba and Sant Tukaram as one does in a pilgrimage walk to Pandharpur for Ashadi Ekadashi. “It is something we have been doing for the past 60 years. Since we cannot go to Pandharpur, we do it here. We walk every year and this walk keeps us sammohit (hypnotised) and energised,” said Gawade, part of the Hari Om Warkari Sampraday Bhajan Mandal.
A Place of Significance: Wadala Vitthal Mandir
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Thousands like Gawade on Thursday walked barefoot or stood in long queues to seek blessings of Lord Vitthal to mark Ashadi Ekadashi. The Wadala Vitthal Mandir commonly frequented by many is popular as it is considered to be over 400 years old with the pran pratishtha done by Sant Tukaram. “It is a duplicate (Prati) of the The Vithoba Temple in Pandharpur so we feel we have done the darshan of Lord even if we could not go to Pandharpur,” said Mahadeo Khopatkar who had come from Charkop to seek blessings of the Lord.
Devotion and Festivities
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Khopatkar’s forehead wore religious symbols drawn out of sandalwood paste that was generously being applied to most devotees. The area around the temple wore a look of a mela with many temporary shops doing sewa or selling different products. “Every year we give around 100 dozens of bananas, over 50 kgs of peda and chikki to devotees. We feel we should do this as a service. Only once we have distributed these do we go inside to take Darshan of the Lord,” said Satish Kokate of Dadar-Tata-Wadia-KEM Share Taxi union. Kokate was not alone, many served free tea, snacks and water. Political parties too competed to provide snacks and water and even held Bhajans.
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First-Time Visitors Express Their Faith
Among those who visited were also first timers like Soni Gupta. She had come from GTB Nagar barefoot. “I have been living in Mumbai for a long time but never visited. This is the first time I am here because I got to know of the temple. I have a lot of Shraddha for Ekadashi and fast regularly. I do not know much about Ashadi Ekadashi but Lord Vitthal is after all Lord Vishnu only,” said Soni Gupta, who had come barefoot from GTB Nagar.
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