Alandi Sanjeevan Samadhi Sohala — Kartiki Yatra from Pune (2026)

Kartik Vadya Ekadashi, the main day of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj's Sanjeevan Samadhi Sohala at Alandi, falls on Friday, 4 December 2026. The Sohala continues to Trayodashi, around Sunday 6 December, and Alandi is only about 25 km from Pune. This guide gives the dates, darshan pattern, PMPML buses, road closures and the walk to expect.

📅 The dates: Ekadashi to Trayodashi

Maharashtra follows the Amanta calendar, so the dark fortnight after Kartik Purnima is still Kartik Vadya here. In 2026 Kartik Vadya Ekadashi, listed as Utpanna Ekadashi in North Indian panchangs, is Friday, 4 December. The Ekadashi tithi runs from about 11 pm on 3 December to roughly 11:45 pm on 4 December.

Dnyaneshwar Maharaj took Sanjeevan Samadhi on Kartik Vadya Trayodashi in 1296, at the age of 21. So the Sohala's final rituals fall on Trayodashi, which is around Sunday, 6 December 2026. In 2024 the programme opened on Kartik Vadya Ashtami, and in 2023 it ran from 5 to 12 December.

Do not confuse this with Kartiki (Prabodhini) Ekadashi on 21 November 2026, which is Pandharpur's big day. We cover that separately in our Kartiki Ekadashi at Pandharpur plan.

🕉️ Darshan at the Samadhi Mandir during the Sohala

On an ordinary day the Samadhi Mandir is open from about 6 am to 9 pm in one stretch. Kakad aarti is around 4 am, the morning aarti about 7 am and the shej aarti about 8:30 pm. There is no entry fee, and photography inside is not allowed.

During the Sohala the pattern changes. Reports from 2024 describe the crowd swelling towards midnight on Ekadashi, and the first Samadhi darshan of the morning being given at the pre-dawn pooja. In practice the mandir runs through Ekadashi night, but the Sansthan publishes the hour-by-hour schedule only days before, so check it on the day.

Elders should budget for several hours standing in the Ekadashi queue, with no shade in the lanes. A folding stool, water and a light shawl for the night chill matter more than anything else you carry.

🚌 PMPML special buses from Pune and Pimpri

PMPML has treated this yatra as a major event every year. In 2023 it added 342 extra buses to Alandi and kept them running until 12 December. In 2022 it ran about 300 buses between 17 and 23 November.

The 2023 origin points were Swargate, Hadapsar, Pune Station, Manapa Bhavan (beside Shivajinagar), Nigdi, Pimpri, Chinchwad, Dehugaon, Bhosari and Rahatani. Expect a similar list for 2026, announced about a week before Ekadashi.

• Night buses ran after 11 pm in 2022, with a ₹5 surcharge over the regular fare.

• Passes were not valid on those late-night extra services.

• The Alandi stand moves during the yatra. It was shifted to Katewasti in 2022, and in December 2025 PMPML buses were moved onto the ST land, leaving a walk of about 1.5 km to the mandir.

The bus is the cheapest way in, but the return is the problem. Evening queues at the temporary stand are long, and the last buses fill within minutes.

🚧 Road diversions and where cars are stopped

Pune Traffic Police issue a yatra traffic order each year. In November 2025 a complete ban on heavy vehicles applied on the Vishrantwadi–Alandi road until 21 November, with trucks sent via Nagar Road. In 2023 heavy vehicles coming from the Ahmednagar side on Markal Road were diverted through Lonikand.

Private cars are allowed in, but not up to the mandir. On Ekadashi the police hold vehicles at the edge of town, and from there it is a walk of roughly 1–2 km through packed lanes. Wear shoes you can slip off quickly at the mandir gate.

• Normal day: Shivajinagar to Alandi via Vishrantwadi and Dighi is about 25 km, 35–45 minutes.

• Ekadashi: allow 1.5–2 hours each way, and more after 6 pm when the dindis move.

• Alandi–Dehu road: carries warkari traffic from Dehugaon; it is slow but open to cars.

🌊 Indrayani ghat and the dindis

Alandi's festival is built around the Indrayani. Dindis from across Maharashtra walk in over the preceding days, and on Ekadashi morning the ghat below the mandir fills with Yatris taking snan before darshan. Kirtans run on the ghat steps and in the maths through the night.

The pradakshina round the Samadhi Mandir, and the longer one round the town, are both part of the Sohala. Inside the complex, the Ajan vruksha and the Siddheshwar mandir draw their own queues, so leave time for them.

Two practical points. The ghat steps are wet and slippery before dawn, so hold the railings. And the river ghat is where crowd pressure is highest around midnight, so elders are better off there before 9 pm.

🛕 Adding Dehu on the same day

Dehu, Sant Tukaram Maharaj's village, is 22–25 km from Alandi, about 40 minutes on a normal day. The Gatha Mandir has around 4,000 abhangs carved on its marble walls. Our Pune to Alandi and Dehu one-day guide covers the normal-day loop in detail.

On Ekadashi itself, skip Dehu. Combining both means fighting warkari traffic on the Alandi–Dehu road twice. If you want both, do Dehu first on Dwadashi morning inside its 10:30 am window, then reach Alandi by noon when the Ekadashi crowd has thinned.

🧭 Which day and which way should you choose?

• With elders: go on Dashami afternoon (3 December) or Dwadashi morning. Take a taxi to the hold-point and walk slowly; avoid the midnight ghat.

• On a budget: PMPML from Manapa Bhavan or Bhosari, leaving before 6 am. Carry exact fare for the night surcharge if you return late.

• On a tight schedule: Ekadashi pre-dawn taxi, darshan by 8 am, back in Pune by early afternoon before the evening movement.

• For the atmosphere: Ekadashi night at the ghat and the kirtans, with a Pune bed booked and a driver on call.

• Avoid: driving your own car in on Ekadashi afternoon. You will park far out, walk in the heat and sit in traffic on the way back.

🛏️ Where to stay

Alandi has maths and dharmashalas, but during the Sohala they are full of dindis, and the few small lodges go weeks ahead. For most Pune families the honest answer is to sleep in Pune and drive in, a 25 km trip.

Stay on the north side, in Vishrantwadi, Viman Nagar or Bhosari, and you cut 20 minutes off the yatra-day drive. Our where to stay in Pune guide lists the areas that work for temple trips.

Walk in with the dindis, take your snan at the Indrayani and let the queue move at its own pace. Jai Hari Vitthal, Dnyanoba Mauli Tukaram.