How musicians are reinventing the centuries-old abhang

It’s 4 a.m., the sky, a deep indigo, is illuminated by fading stars and the air is crisp with the promise of dawn. The waris gear up to begin their annual 250 km yatra to the abode of Vithoba in Pandharpur. The men dressed in white dhoti or pyjama, kurta and the familiar Gandhi topi and women in vibrant nauvari (nine-yard sari worn in Maharashtrian style) gather with saffron patakas (triangular flag) fluttering in the early morning breeze. Some carry instruments such as the chipli (wooden clappers), mridanga (drum), tuturi (curved brass horn) and ektari (stringed instrument). All through the journey they sing abhangs in unison till the yatra culminates on Ashadi Ekadashi.