A Japanese woman has been walking on foot for the 20-day trek for 29 years; other foreigners too find peace in march
A Japanese woman has been walking on foot for the 20-day trek for 29 years; other foreigners too find peace in march
Clad in a white cotton sari, this face stood out amongst the warkaris headed to Pandharpur. Yuriko Ikenoya, a Japanese by birth, has actually been walking all the way to Pandharpur for the last 29 years. "Main yahaan har saal aati hoon," she says in fluent Hindi, "I love coming here."
Every year, she has been participating in the annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur along with nearly three lakh warkaris, devotees of Lord Vithoba, walking on foot from Alandi and Dehu to Pandharpur, covering a distance of more than 200 kms. This takes around 20 days of travel.
A 50-year-old, Yuriko is a resident of the Pavnar Ashram, Nagpur and thinks India is her "first home". She says, "I heard about Sant Dnyaneshwar from Acharaya Vinoba Bhave and I was so moved by his visions that I couldn't resist the urge of becoming a warkari myself. I have also read the Dnyaneshwari and it has influenced my life greatly."
Yuriko also performs 'palatwari', which means returning to Alandi by foot. While more than three lakh people travel to Pandharpur by foot, most return by buses or other vehicles. Only around 300 people do the 'palatwari'.
"The companionship of fellow warkaris gives you such peace. We sing, dance and pray all the way," Yuriko says. Don't her feet ache? "No. Lord Vithal takes care of us," she adds.
Apart from Yuriko, there were other foreigners spotted. "I felt very positive and purified even though it was crowded," says Sarah James, a 20-year-old research student from the US. "I even joined the chorus. I felt peaceful in their company," says 19-year-old Andrea Schneider from Germany, who is on her first visit to India. "It was overwhelming. India is such a religious country," says Josephe Leroy, 20-year old French film student.
Their only problem? The spicy Indian food.
