Pune Rural Police Two flower-decked buses, carrying the 'padukas' (holy footprints) of Sant Dnyaneshwar along with 40 'warkaris', left from Pune for the Pandharpur temple town in neighbouring Solapur district on Monday as part of the annual 'wari' pilgrimage. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maharashtra government this year did not allow the pilgrimage on foot. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, thousands of 'warkaris', or devotees of Lord Vitthal, used to join the pilgrimage to go to Pandhapur on the auspicious day of 'Ashadhi Ekadashi', which falls on Tuesday. The state government recently decided that the holy footprints of saint-poets Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram will be taken to Pandharpur this year by bus with a limited number of warkaris.