The Dhammayatra Padyatra, which started on Friday, will conclude at Pandharpur. (Express photo) The Dhammayatra Padyatra, which started on Friday, will conclude at Pandharpur. (Express photo)

A group of Buddhists started the ‘Dhammayatra Padyatra’, a march from the Jaystambh near Koregaon Bhima to Pandharpur in Solapur district, on Friday. The participants of the march, which follows close on the heels of the palkhis of Sant Tukaram and Sant Dnyaneshwar, believe that Lord Vitthal was none other than ‘Bhagwan Buddha’ and the Vitthal temple in Pandharpur was a ‘Buddha Vihar’.

The march started amid heavy rain at the Jaystambh, a memorial constructed by the British in memory of the soldiers who died in a battle against the Peshwas on January 1, 1818.

About 100 people, including Buddhist monks from Chandrapur, Nagpur and other places, as well as Rajabhau Saravade, a Dalit leader from Solapur, were present at the Jaystambh and they shouted slogans of ‘Jai Bhim’ as the padyatra started.

The march will conclude at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar statue in Pandharpur on July 9.

The march has been organised by the Buddhist Monk Dnyanjyoti Mahasthveer and the Bhikkhu Sangha from Chandrapur and an appeal has been made to all “bahujan samaaj” (backward classes) to participate in it.

According to Dnyanjyoti, the Battle of Bhima Koregaon was a battle for equality against the “Brahmanical forces” and the Ashadhi or wari procession was “part of the Buddhist culture”.

Speaking to The Indian Express at the Jaystambh on Friday, Dnyanjyoti said, “On January 1, 1927, Dr B R Ambedkar had visited the Jaystambh and in 1935, during his historic speech in Yeoala, Nashik, he announced his conversion and later embraced Buddhism in 1956.

Dr Ambedkar’s article, ‘Who was Vitthal’, published in Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Writing and Speeches, Volume 18, mentions that Vitthal was none other than Bhagwan Buddha and the Vitthal temple in Pandharpur was a Buddha Vihar… all ancient temples were Buddha Vihars. Even in his speech, while inaugurating the Buddha Vihar in Dehu Road on December 25, 1954, Ambedkar had described the prosperous Buddhist culture in Maharashtra.”

“Dr Ambedkar told us the real history, which was forgotten after Brahmanical forces started ruling the society. I visited Jaystambh with some youths on January 1, 1977, when I was an activist of the Republican Students Federation. Nobody used to come here that time… Later, I became a bhikkhu (monk) in 1997. I believe those who forget their history can’t create history. In 2014, we started the ‘Dhammayatra Padyatra’, from Jaystambh to Pandharpur, to tell the real history, bring equality and make people aware that the non-brahmanical society, which is currently divided along the lines of caste and creed, was once a follower of Buddha,” he said.

“This is the sixth year of our march. The response has been improving every year and we hope our movement will grow manifold in the coming years,” added Dnyanjyoti.

Last year’s ‘Dhammayatra Padyatra’ was held between July 10 and July 21. The route of this march is different from the route of the traditional ‘wari’, where lakhs of devotees or warkaris across rural Maharashtra walk towards the Vitthal temple in Pandharpur along with the palkhis of Sant Tukaram and Sant Dnyaneshwar. The ‘Wari’ will conclude with the grand ‘Ashadhi Ekadashi’ celebration on July 12.

“We walk towards Pandharpur peacefully, speak to people on the way and at places were we live. Warkaris consider me a guest and they invite me to speak. Police have been co-operating with us,” said Dnyanjyoti.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest Pune News, download Indian Express App.