Alandi

Alandi (Marathi: आळंदी) is a city and a municipal council in Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The town is popular as a place of pilgrimage for being the resting place or (Samadhi) of the 13th century Marathi Bhakti saint, Sant Dnyaneshwar

Geography

Alandi (18°40′37.42″N 73°53′47.76″E / 18.6770611°N 73.8966000°E / 18.6770611; 73.8966000) is located on the banks of the Indrayani River, 25 km (16 mi) north of Pune, India. It has an average elevation of 577 metres (1,893 feet).

Pilgrimage center

In the Shaka month of Jeshtha (June- July), a procession that carries symbolic sandals of Dnyaneshwar on a Palkhi starts from Alandi to reach Pandharpur on Ashadhi Ekadashi. The procession is joined by tens of thousands of Varkari devotees for the 150 km journey on foot. The biggest festival in Alandi is held every year on Kartika Vadya Ekadashi (eleventh day of the dark fortnight of Hindu month of Kartik). The festival falls close to the day Dnyaneshwar entered Samadhi. This festival or yatra is attended by hundreds of thousands of Dnyaneshwar devotees and has a great economic significance to the local population.