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{{Short description|Krishnaite Vaishnava tradition}}
{{refimprove|date=November 2013}}
[[Image:Palkhi 2008.jpg|thumb|A Warkari, carrying an ektari with a saffron flag attached and ''Chiplya'' [[cymbal]]s tied to strings in his hands, journeying from Alandi to Pandharpur]]
{{Vaishnavism}}

'''Warkari''' ([[Marathi language|Marathi]]: वारकरी; Pronunciation: [[Help:IPA/Marathi|[ʋaːɾkəɾiː]]]; Meaning: 'The one who performs the [[Pandharpur Wari|''Wari'']]') is a [[sampradaya]] (religious movement) within the [[bhakti]] spiritual tradition of [[Hinduism]], geographically associated with the Indian state of [[Maharashtra]]. Warkaris worship Vitthal (also known as [[Vithoba]]), the presiding deity of [[Pandharpur]], regarded as a form of [[Vishnu]]. Saints and [[guru]]s of the [[bhakti movement]] associated with the Warkaris include [[Dnyaneshwar]], [[Namdev]], [[Chokhamela]], [[Eknath]], and [[Tukaram]] all of whom are accorded the title of [[Sant (religion)|Sant]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Maharashtra State Gazetteers: General Series, Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e0FuAAAAMAAJ|page=19|publisher=Maharashtra (India), Directorate of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications|year=1971|quote=The Vaishnavism developed in Maharashtra as a special form which goes under the name of the Varkari sampradaya.}}</ref> Recent research has suggested that the Varkaris were historically the followers of [[Krishna]].

== Influence ==
The Warkari tradition has been part of Hindu culture in Maharashtra since the thirteenth-century CE, when it formed as a ''panth'' (community of people with shared spiritual beliefs and practices) during the [[Bhakti movement]]. Warkaris recognise around fifty poet-saints (''[[Sant (religion)|sant]]s'') whose works over a period of 500 years were documented in an eighteenth-century [[hagiography]] by [[Mahipati]]. The Warkari tradition regards these sants to have a common spiritual line of descent.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of Pakistan
|editor1-first=Karine |editor1-last=Schomer |editor2-first=W. H. |editor2-last=McLeod |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1987 |isbn=9788120802773 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OkKhOivXrhgC |pages=3–4}}</ref>

== Practices ==
The Warkari movement includes the worship of Vithoba and a duty-based approach towards life emphasising moral behavior and strict avoidance of [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] and [[tobacco]], the adoption of [[sattvic diet]], a modified [[lacto vegetarianism|lacto-vegetarian]] diet that excludes onion and garlic and fasting on ''[[Ekadashi]]'' day (twice a month), self-restraint (''[[celibacy]]'') during [[student]] life, equality and humanity for all rejecting discrimination based on the [[caste system in India|caste system]] or wealth, the reading of [[Hindu texts]], the recitation of the ''[[Haripath]]'' every day and the regular practice of ''[[bhajan]]'' and ''[[kirtan]]''.<ref name="Reference is in Marathi language">{{cite book|last1=Dikshit|first1=S H|title=Varkari|date=1971|publisher=Marathi Vishwakosh|location=Wai Maharashtra|url=http://marathivishwakosh.maharashtra.gov.in/khandas/khand16/index.php/23-2015-01-15-05-35-16/9948-2012-12-05-07-28-23?showall=1&limitstart=|access-date=3 April 2015}}</ref>{{sfn|Glushkova|2000|pp=47–58}}
The Warkaris wear tulashi-mala, a [[prayer beads|rosary]] made from the wood of the sacred [[Tulsi (disambiguation)|Tulsi]] ([[Ocimum sanctum]] L.) plant. The Warkari men may be known by their three upright brow lines, a black between two white gopichandan or white clay and sandal-paste lines which is also popular with other Vaishnavaite devotees.<ref>{{cite book|title=Maharashtra State Gazetteers, Volume 23|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0hFuAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Directorate of Government Print., Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State|year=1977|page=947|quote=The Vaishnav Varkaris may be known by their three upright brow lines, a black between two white gopichandan or white clay and sandal-paste lines.}}</ref>
Varkaris look upon God as the Ultimate Truth and ascertained grades of values in social life but accept ultimate equality among men. Varkaris bow in front of each other because "everybody is Brahma" and stressed individual sacrifice, forgiveness, simplicity, peaceful co-existence, compassion, non-violence, love and humility in social life.<ref name="Kosambi2000">{{cite book|author1=Meera Kosambi (Editor)|author2=Irene Glushkova (author)|title=Intersections: Socio-cultural Trends in Maharashtra|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XU8dmAiaZSgC&pg=PA47|year=2000|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-1878-0|page=53|chapter=Norms and values in Varkari tradition}}</ref>
The Warkari poet-saints are known for their devotional lyrics, the [[abhang]], dedicated to Vithoba and composed in [[Marathi language|Marathi]]. Other devotional literature includes the Kannada hymns of the Haridasa, and Marathi versions of the generic [[aarti]] songs associated with rituals of offering light to the deity. Notable saints and [[guru]]s of the Warkaris include [[Jñāneśvar]], [[Namdev]], [[Chokhamela]], [[Eknath]], and [[Tukaram]], all of whom are accorded the title of [[Sant (religion)|Sant]].

==Pilgrimages==
Warkari people undertake an annual pilgrimage called [[Pandharpur Wari|''wari'']], to Pandharpur, gathering there on ''Ekadashi'' (the 11th day) of the Hindu [[lunar calendar]] month of [[Ashadha]], corresponding to a date falling sometime between late June to July in the [[Gregorian calendar]]. Pilgrims carry [[Pandharpur Wari|Palkhi]] of the saints from their places of ''[[Samadhi]]'' (Enlightenment or "spiritual birth"). The tradition of carrying the ''paduka'' (sandals) of the sants in a Palkhi was started by the youngest son of [[Tukaram]], Narayan Maharaj, in 1685. Further changes were brought to the pilgrimage by descendants of Tukaram in the 1820s and by Haibatravbaba, a courtier of the [[Scindia]]s and devotee of Dnyaneshwar.<ref>{{cite web|title=The wari tradition|url=http://www.warisantanchi.com/english/parampara2.html|website=Wari Santanchi|access-date=8 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mokashi|first1=Digambar Balkrishna|last2=Engblom|first2=Philip C (Translator)|title=Palkhi: An Indian Pilgrimage|date=1987|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany|isbn=0-88706-461-2|page=18|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5vIv4oxeh4C&pg=PA1}}</ref>

Devotees of Vitthal were holding pilgrimages prior to the 14th century. In the present day, about 40 palkhis and their devotees from all over Maharashtra do so.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071001031921/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/07/31/stories/2005073100130200.htm Hindu.com] and page 21 of [http://www.vidyaonline.net/arvindgupta/introhisddk.pdf VidyaOnline.net]</ref> Another pilgrimage is celebrated on the ''Ekadashi'' of the month of [[Kartik (month)|Kartika]], which falls in November of the Gregorian Calendar.

Events such as ''Ringan'' and ''Dhava'' are held during the pilgrimage. During the ''Ringan'', an unmounted sacred horse called Maulincha Ashva, who is believed to be the soul of the saint whose idol is being carried in the litter, runs through the rows of pilgrims, who try catching the dust particles kicked off and smear their head with the same. ''Dhava'' is another kind of race where everyone wins and it is held to commemorate the manner in which Tukaram first saw the temple at Pandharpur and started running in sheer exhilaration.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mokashi|first1=Digambar Balkrishna|last2=Engblom|first2=Philip C (Translator)|title=Palkhi: An Indian Pilgrimage|date=1987|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany|isbn=0-88706-461-2|page=264|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5vIv4oxeh4C&pg=PA1}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{cite journal |url= http://www.ic.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/276.pdf |title= The Vithoba Faith of Maharashtra: The Vithoba Temple of Pandharpur and Its Mythological Structure | journal=Japanese Journal of Religious Studies |volume=15 |issue=2–3 |first=Shima |last=Iwao |date=June–September 1988 |publisher=Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture |pages=183–197 |issn=0304-1042 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326062749/http://www.ic.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/pdf/276.pdf |archive-date=2009-03-26}}
*Turner, Victor. “The Center out There: Pilgrim’s Goal.” ''History of Religions'', vol. 12, no. 3, 1973, pp. 191–230. ''JSTOR'', {{JSTOR|1062024}}. Accessed 23 Oct. 2022.

[[Category:Warkari| ]]
[[Category:13th-century establishments in India]]
[[Category:Anti-caste movements]]
[[Category:Bhakti-era Hindu sects]]
[[Category:Hinduism in Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Krishnaite Vaishnava denominations]]
[[Category:Religions that require vegetarianism]]
[[Category:Sant Mat]]
[[Category:Vaishnava sects]]

Warkari - Revision history

Kuldeep Singh Deep: typo fix

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article