Pandharpur Kolhapur Yatra - Part 1

Our trip to Pandharpur started very early on 25/12/21. The Tempo Traveller (TT) picked up 12 Yatris from Chembur as well as our packed breakfast. Three of us got on board at 7.30 a.m. and we were on our way. The road was crowded with many vehicles going out of the city to enjoy the long weekend. We were on the expressway towards Pune by 8 a.m. At around 9 a.m., after the first toll at Khalapur, we stopped for breakfast. 

The packed 'surprise' breakfast comprised of Kesari, Pongal & Vada with coconut chutney. It tasted heavenly and we washed it down with tea from a nearby shop.

By 9.30 a.m. we were on the road again when we encountered severe traffic jams on the expressway. It was partly due to the ongoing repair work at various stretches and partly due to the breakdown of several vehicles which were not in good condition. We were crawling slowly and started getting worried about the same.

Thankfully, the group of 15 were keeping ourselves engaged with banter & humour. We also had some good devotional songs being played on the music system of the TT.

As we reached the outskirts of Pune, the TT driver who did not have any GPS to guide him decided to take his familiar shorter route. That probably was a bad decision as the road here were chock-a-block with vehicles of all types. We were still in Greater Pune till 2.30 p.m.when we stopped at a roadside restaurant called Elite for lunch.

The restaurant had good washroom facilities for the guests and also served food as fast as possible. The place was clean and the food was good. The pricing was also reasonable - about Rs. 200/- per person.

After the refreshing meal, we were on our way towards our destination. The traffic had eased by this time. The rest of the journey was smooth as we reached our hotel Marigold Regency at around 6.45 p.m. This is a relatively new hotel having been inaugurated only a few months before. The hotel had quite a few teething issues like geyser not working, bathroom door not closing etc. After freshening up and doing our evening prayers, we changed from the travel attire to a darshan attire (meaning the ladies wore Sarees and the gents wore Dhotis).

We left for the temple by around 7.30 p.m. There wasn't much crowd there. We were told that since the advent of Covid19, only darshan from a distance was allowed. This is called Mukh-darshan. In the past, we could get Charan-darshan where we were allowed to put our head on the feet of the deity.

One of the Yatris had some local contact who facilitated early darshan by breaking into the queue. As we were a large party, only 12 could get this. Three of us joined the regular queue and it took us approx. 35-40 minutes to get His darshan.

The Lord Vittal was adorned in beautiful yellow cloth and looked very attractive & adorable. He was wearing His crown made up of a cloth of matching colour and was also wearing a single garland. He seemed as eager to see us as we were to have His darshan. The viewing distance was approximately 25-30 feet. As the 3 of us who joined the queue were among the last Yatris of the day, we were allowed to stand for a longer time. We could chant a few slokas during the time we stood there. We were blessed with a wonderful darshan of the Lord.

We came out by 9.45 p.m and the entire group went for dinner at a good Thali restaurant called Savera located at Shivaji Chowk, Pandharpur. The food as well as service was excellent and we were famished. After a hearty dinner (costing just Rs. 230 per person), we went back to our Hotel by around 11 p.m.

Thus ended the eventful & hectic first day of our yatra.