CM performs ‘mahapuja’ at Pandharpur temple on occasion of ‘Ashadhi Ekadashi’
| Date :13-Jul-2019 |
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with his wife Amruta Fadnavis offers prayers to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur in Solapur on the occasion of Ashadhi Ekadashi on Friday. ‘Warkari’ (pilgrims) couple Vithal Chavan and his wife Prayag got the opportunity to perform the rituals alongside the Chief Minister
MUMBAI:
MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday performed the ‘mahapuja’ of Lord Vitthal and Goddess Rukmini in the temple town of Pandharpur on the occasion of ‘Ashadhi Ekadashi’. ‘Warkari’ (pilgrims) couple Vithal Chavan and his wife Prayag got the opportunity to perform the rituals along side the Chief Minister and his wife Amruta. The rituals at the Lord Vitthal temple in Pandharpur in Solapur district,around 350 km from here, began past Thursday midnight ataround 2.30am.Speaking after the puja,which Fadnaviss kipped last year, the Chief Minister said, he had prayed for peace and prosperity ofthe State and its people.
“I prayed to Vithoba (another name for Lord Vitthal) for giving his blessings to the Government’s efforts to make the Stated rought free,” he said. Recalling thathewasn’t able to participate in the annual puja last year, Fadnavis said, “The Lord resides in the hearts and homes of people outside Pandharpur too.” It’scustomary forthesitting Chief Minister of the State to perform the traditional puja every year. Last year, Fadnavis performed the puja at his official residence ‘Varsha’ in south Mumbai after Maratha groups, agitating for quota for the community in jobs and education, threatened to disrupt the religious event in Pandharpur.In late 2018,the BJP led Government enacted the quota law for Marathas and the Bombay High Court last month upheld the constitutional validity of the legislation.
Talking to reporters later, Fadnavis said he had prayed for good rains in the State. Asked if he would come to Pandharpur again for the puja next year, he said,“Thepeople of the State and Lord Vitthal had blessed us last time (in the 2014 polls)and would do the same this yeartoo.”Maharashtra Assembly elections are due in October. Ashadhi Ekadashi is a day that marks the culmination of the annualpilgrimagetoPandharpur by ‘warkaris’. Decorated palanquins with ‘padukas’ (footprints) of various saints, especially Sant Tukaram and Sant Dnyaneshwar, are carried by devotees from their respective shrines inthe Stateon their way to Pandharpur. Devotees set out for Pandharpur on foot singing glories of Lord Vithoba and songs like “Gyanba-Tukaram”.