Ashadhi Ekadashi 2025: Youths Carry 12,000 Seed Balls To Green The Route To Pandharpur

Mumbai: Among the lakhs of pilgrims taking part in the walking pilgrimage, called dindi or wari, to the Lord Vithal temple in Pandharpur for the Ashadhi Ekadashi festival on July 6, there are devotees whose mission is more than just spiritual. There are medical professionals who are on a 'doctor dindi' to provide health services to the pilgrims. There is an 'IT dindi' of information technology workers who provide food and other services to the pilgrims.

Joining them is a small group of young people on a 'vruksh wari' with a mission to plant seeds of trees along the road the pilgrims take from Pune to the shrine. This year, the group is carrying around 12,000 seed balls donated by Prashn Foundation. The seed balls, also known as earth balls, consist of seeds rolled within a ball of soil and other organic nutrients that are planted in the soil.

The balls are thrown into vacant or deforested areas to grow forests, with the nutrients in the ball assisting the germination. The rainy season is the best time to show the seeds. The method is also called guerrilla gardening.

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This is the third year of the Vruksh Wari programme. In 2024, the group planted around 5000 to 6000 seeds along the route. The soil balls that the volunteers are carrying contain seeds of jambul or java plum; sag or teak; tamarind, neem, and other tree species. School students helped make the seed balls and donated them to the Prashna Foundation.

Once disadvantage with guerrilla gardening is that the survival rate of saplings can be law. The young plants can die in the dry season or are eaten by grazing animals. The volunteers, aware of this problem, decided to involve residents of villages along the pilgrimage route in the programme.

"This year, we are meeting representatives of the local gram panchayats to request them to maintain the saplings once they sprout. We walk with the warkaris and when they stop to rest, we use that time to contact local residents," said Shubham Shelar, a botanist who is a member of the group.

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Pratik Sangle, who is pursuing a master's in agriculture, is participating in the wari for the first time. "I heard from my elders that when they walked to Pandharpur, they would take breaks under the shade of trees. I joined this group because I wanted to do the wari and also loved the idea of planting seeds along the roads," said Sangle.