Following the Wari

“I was in Alandi to photograph tamasha troupes in 2000-2001. The Warkaris had started trickling into the holy town for the celebrations. This was my first brush with them and I was so impressed by the Warkaris that I knew I would be back to document them,” says Shete,whose day-job includes working as a chief of photography for the Press Trust of India.

Shete’s book chronicles various aspects of the procession that winds its away across the Western Ghats of Maharashtra to the holy cities of Alandi,Rigan Akluj,Dehu,Pune,Diveghat,Pandharpur,Velapur,Bajiraochi Vihir and Ashadhi Ekadashi.

“The Warkari cult is the mainstream Marathi religious tradition that began with Pundalik and was philosophised at the hands of Dnyaneshwar. The traditions were organised by Namdev and popularised by Sant Tukaram,” says Dr Sadanand More from the Department of Philosophy,University of Pune. “The Warkari cult is a religion itself-artistic enough to attract any sensitive person,” he adds.

Shete has indeed caught several humane and sensitive moments between the Warkaris along the way of their pilgrimage. We are presented with an image of a man lifting up his old mother on his broad shoulders while in the next frame,another man lifts his little daughter on to his shoulders. There are images of camaraderie between groups of women cooking hundreds of chapattis,huddled against the monsoon while drinking tea at an encampment or sharing the same rug on the floor to sleep the night off under a truck. Shete has singled out these groups from the teeming millions and it says a lot about his keen eye for compassion.

In another image two men play the fugdi—a custom usually associated with women—this is juxtaposed against images of women balancing the tulsi plant and pots of water on their heads for long distances. Clearly,the pilgrimage is beyond class and gender—people dance,sing and engage in sporting activities like wrestling and swimming.

Meanwhile,the police try to do their job to manage the crowds.