PCMC to get land for Santpeeth at Chikhli

PIMPRI CHINCHWAD: Around three hectares of state government land at Chikhli will be transferred to the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) for construction of the Santpeeth. The Santpeeth will provide education to the younger generations about the rich heritage of sants.
The students can stay and study in a residential hostel, where they can also learn to sing and play musical instruments like tabla, taal, and mrudang.The civic body will tie up with the Savitribai Phule Pune University to issue degrees to the students.
A senior civic official explained, "The election code of conduct will not put any hurdle for transfer of land."
The open grazing land measures 3.42 hectares, and is reserved for municipal use and secondary school. The civic administration is following this up with the divisional commissioner.
Chikhli village is located along Indrayani river, and is almost equidistant from two holy places - Sant Tukaram's Dehu village and Sant Dnyaneshwar's Alandi town. It is of great historical significance. Datta Sane, a local corporator from Chikhli, said, "A number of villagers from Chikhli are warkaris. Annually, around 500 warkaris accompany the Sant Tukaram Maharaj palkhi procession from Dehu to Pandharpur."
Speaking about the Santpeeth, Sane said, "It will be the first Santpeeth to be run by any civic body in the state. They will study Dnyaneshwari, Sant Tukaram Gatha and other books of all castes and religions. Students can study and get doctoral degrees here."