Palkhi Marg nearing completion, says Union Minister Gadkari

Dehu, Alandi and Pandharpur are three important places, and both the Centre and State Governments would develop roadside amenities jointly

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. File | Photo Credit: PTI

The four-lane Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi Marg— from Hadapsar-Diveghar to Mohol— and the Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi Marg— from Patas to Tondale-Bondale— were not just roads but an attempt to create a Bhakti Marg, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on March 11.

“Palkhi marg (palanquin route) is a matter of faith,” he said after conducting an aerial survey of the route between Pune’s Dehu and the temple town of Pandharpur in Solapur district.

Every year, thousands of ‘warkaris’, devotees of Lord Vitthal from far-flung areas in Maharashtra and neighbouring Telangana traverse by foot every year in June/July to reach the temple town, to seek darshan of the lord on Ashadi Ekadashi.

The Minister said that they designed something so that the feet of the devotees who undertook the pilgrimage by foot got relief. “The route is nearing completion,” he said, adding that the aerial survey was to see the first-hand progress in the construction of the route, comprising three packages each for the Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi Marg and Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi Marg.

He said that Dehu, Alandi and Pandharpur are three important places and both the Centre and the State governments would develop roadside amenities jointly.

The 221 km of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Palkhi Marg and 130 km of Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi Marg, for which Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation-stone in November 2021, will have dedicated walkways on either side for the safe passage of ‘Palkhis’ heading towards Pandharpur.

Further, the Union Minister said that the flyover at Chandani Chowk in Pune would be inaugurated on May 1, on the occasion of Maharashtra Day.