Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray today performed the mahapuja (prayer ceremony) at the Vitthal-Rukmini temple on the occasion of ‘Ashadi Ekadashi’ today. Thackeray, who was accompanied by his wife Rashmi, drove the 360-km distance amongst Mumbai and Pandharpur in the state’s Solapur district in his individual automobile on Monday. Their son, Aditya, also a minister in the state government, accompanied the couple on the pilgrimage.
Ekadashi is the culmination of the wari or pilgrimage undertaken by devotees from across Maharashtra on foot to the temple town. The mahapuja took spot about 2 am. It is a lengthy-standing tradition for the state’s chief minister and his spouse to be present through the ceremony. A wakari couple, selected just about every year to execute the ceremony with the chief minister, was also present. According to NDTV, Keshav and Indubai Kotle had been selected to execute the ceremony this year.
Thackeray stated he had seen hundreds of thousands of warkaris through regular instances, adding that it was like witnessing a sea of devotion in Pandharpur, NDTV reported. He stated he hoped to see that image when once again and had prayed to Lord Vitthal to restore that sight by ending the crisis of Covid-19.
The Shiv Sena leader added that devotion and self-self-assurance had been necessary to attain Pandharpur on foot, adding that that self-self-assurance helped one overcome challenges. He also expressed his gratitude at getting provided the chance to execute the mahapuja.
Expressing his appreciation of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, the Maharashtra chief minister stated just about every pillar, stone, and idol at the temple expressed a thing. He recommended to Dattatray Bharne, the minister in the state government’s common administration division, that he ought to undertake a project to showcase the temple’s heritage. Thackeray also handed more than a cheque of Rs 5 crore from the state government to the Pandharpur Municipal Council.