A brush with divinity

As MF Husain relinquishes his Indian passport, The Sunday Express visits his birthplace,the temple town of Pandharpur in Maharashtra,to which lakhs of devotees including chief ministers flock every year....

Husain kaun? asks 88-year-old Nabilal Abdul Zaari,who lives in the Zaariwada area of the temple town of Pandharpur. The octogenarian is not the only one in Pandharpur to appear confused whenever MF Husains name crops up. Most old-timers have little clue about Husain and even whether he ever lived in Pandharpur at all. Shivaji Shankar Kalekar,75,who runs a tailoring shop here,says,1915 is a long time ago. I was born in 1935,but I dont remember anyone by that name from my younger days.

You wander about Zaariwada,the 100-year-old wada located along a narrow lane in the heart of the town. For here is where the painter is supposed to have spent his formative years. But the seven Muslim families who reside here appear ambiguous about the neighbourhoods erstwhile resident. Like Zaari,Yunus Zaari,63,attired in a Gandhi topi,pyjama and a sadra,says he knows nothing about the painter.

By now you are wondering whether you are chasing a trail to nowhere. But coming to your rescue is Husains own visit to the temple town in 1995,when he was bestowed the Phandhari Bhushan puraskar by a local organisation. It was then that the painter had reiterated his bond with his birth place. And the visit,unlike Husains roots,is clearly etched in the minds of many of the residents,especially the younger generation.

It seems as word spread about Husains arrival,the day saw nearly 10,000 people crowding to watch Husain exhibit his deft strokes. The master painter did not disappoint his gaonwallahs,as he referred to them. On the side of a bull,Husain drew a sketch of a beautiful woman,in 10 minutes flatthe muse being none other than his obsession at the time,Bollywoods reigning queen Madhuri Dixit. For days the awed villagers paraded the bull around the town.

Recalling the moment,Professor Subhas Pataskar,63,a painter himself,says,It was as if Pandharpur had come to a standstill. Around 8,000-10,000 people turned up to see the master at work. Husain mingled freely,shook hands with people and spoke in chaste Marathi. Pataskar says he also heard Husain enquiring about Zaariwada. During an interaction with the locals,Husain referred to Zaariwada,saying,Main yaha rahata tha. After receiving the award,Husain went to the famous Vithal-Rukmai temple and had darshan amidst a sea of devotees.

Seventy-year-old Jeevan Patil sums up the general Pandharpurs sentiment on Husain. Though there are no traces of Husain here,it is good to see that a man born in Pandharpur rose to such big heights. There is something different in the mati earth of this temple town.

That is beyond doubt. For what else can explain the 250-km journey undertaken by warkaris devotees every year on foot to the religious town in continuation of a 700-year-old tradition? In the month of Ashadh June,lakhs of devotees walk to Pandharpur,carrying the palkhis palanquins of Sant Dnyaneshwar and Sant Tukaram from Alandi and Dehu respectively. With chants of Dnyanba-Tukaram filling the air,they measure their steps towards the durbar of the ardha daivatthe deity of the warkari communitythe Vitthal-Rukmai temple in Pandharpur.

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The drive from Pune to Pandharpur is arid and replete with potholes. Large tracts of farm land stretch idly on both sides. The landscape changes as you pass Saswad,the historic city of Phaltan and the Dive Ghat,which is eagerly photographed every year as the palkhis wind through the ghat area. Go past the chaotic weekly bazaar at Malshiras,where vendors display their fresh vegetables,and you come to Wakhri,just five km short of Pandharpur. Villagers here take pride in the halt that the palkhis make on their way to Pandharpur to form the famous ringan or circle.

The moment of reckoning arrives as we reach the abode of Vitthal-RukmaiPandharpur,where the temple has stood the test of time for a good 1,000 years. On the day of the Ashad ekadashi the eleventh day in the moons waxing phase,the temple witnesses a seven-km-long queue for darshan. Over 10 lakh people gather here on that day, says temple manager Kiran Kakade. From that day to full moon,some 20 lakh devotees converge at Pandharpur for darshan and a dip in the holy Chandrabhaga river. The temple gets a donation of nearly Rs 1 crore every year.

Chief ministers regularly land up in Pandharpur on the eve of Ashad ekadashi. At 2 a.m.,they perform an hour-long pooja,which is followed by a joint press conference of the CM accompanied by the first devotee who arrives for darshan. I dont remember any CM missing the pooja in the last three decadesand they all arrive well before time, says former temple manager Parmeshwar Pawar. That is part of the magic of Pandharpur.

The state government has now decided to set up a Pandharpur Vikas Pradhikaran for the development of the town. The palkhi route,too,will be redone, says Divisional Commissioner Dilip Band. V Utpat,trustee of the temple,says a memorial to Savarkar will soon be opened to the public.