Pal, India

Pal or Pali khandobachi in Satara district

Pal(or pali) is a historical place famous for shrine of Lord Khandoba, who is reincarnation of Lord Shiva. It is situated 28 kilometres (17 mi) south of satara. Thousands of devotees visit this place to worship Lord Khandoba. In January there is an annual yatra, or pilgrimage. Thousands of devotees and priests come and worship Lord Khandoba. During yatra, Lord Shiva gets married to Mhalsadevi.

On the same day there is a rally in the village along with an elephant. The rally starts from the Main palace Devraj Dada's Wada (home) of village which is on right bank of Tarali river. The chief of Pal, Mankari Devraj Dada Patil, sits on the elephant and the rally moves towards the Temple which is on left bank of river. The rally is accompanied by lots of villagers and chief persons, Karkhana. The procession moves from the bed of river where there lots of pilgrims usually camp to see the rally and worship.

When the rally enters into the temple, the Chief person, Devraj Dada Patil, gets down from the elephant and enters the main shrine to Lord Khandoba. He has many civic people along with him. They worship idols (masks) of Lord Khandoba and Mhalsadevi. The Chief person then picks up these idols from the temple and places them on the elephant.

All other civic persons then come out from the temple and join the rally. When the rally comes out of the large main gate of temple, lots of devotees and pilgrims shower bhandara and coconut chips on the elephant.

Eventually the rally arrives at the marriage palace (called "Bahula"). The Chief person gets down from the elephant along with the idols of Lord Khandoba and Mhalasadevi. He enters into the "Bahula". By this time, lots of people have gathered for the wedding. The wedding takes place in the presence of large numbers of devotees and Mankaris and civic persons. After the wedding, the rally returns to the main palace ("Wada").