Wari in Dhapewada, but devp eludes town

Nagpur: A wari comprising 200 devotees left for Dhapewada on foot from Laxmi Narayan temple at 7am on Thursday. Carrying a palki with the idols of Rukmani and Vitthal, it took three stops on the 21km route before arriving at the temple town at 7pm.
“We take stops at Upasani Maharaj ashram on Katol Road, at Nari Niketan at Fetri, and have rest and lunch at Kalmeshwar. The wari leaves from here around 5pm and arrives at Dhapewada at 7pm,” informs wari pramukh Suresh Joglekar.
More than two lakh devotees and 200 dindis arrive here from entire Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh during this period, according to figures provided by Shri Vitthal Rukmini Devsthan Trust.Built in 1737, the temple has earned the title of Pandharpur of Vidharba. Dindis, warkaris and devotees flock for darshan from Ashadhi Ekadashi to two days after Gurupurnima.
The construction of a bridge over the Chandrabaga river, which flows adjacent to the temple, and of a cement road leading directly to the temple has made it easy for devotees to reach the temple. But the other ambitious plans for the town’s beautification and development are still in limbo. “The development of this area now comes under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of central government under which spiritual circuits are being developed,” said a Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) official.
The tourism development body has been entrusted with the development of Dhapewada, Paradsinga and Adasa, which fall under category B temple towns. The illumination of the area, a parking plaza, landscaping of garden opposite the temple and pathways have all been dropped now, since under this scheme the basic infrastructure development has to take place first, said the official.
“We are planning to develop stone ghats on both sides of the river and provide aesthetically designed chhatris or viewpoints. A sewage treatment plant will also be installed to ensure that only clean water flows into the river,” says the official. Kiosks will be set up to provide seating arrangement for devotees, who otherwise have to brave rains. Rest rooms and a community centre too will come up to ease the stay and provide a venue for activities like bhajan singing. All this will be done in a budget of 20 crore.
Meanwhile, devotees from Nagpur will continue with their arrangement of night stay at the local Kolba Swami High School. “There are around 70 women in the group so this is the only option with us,” says Joglekar. “We will carry the palki to the temple on Friday morning and have a bhajan programme there. Around 11.30am, we will leave for Adasa and return to Nagpur by state transport corporation buses by 2.30pm,” he added.