PUNE, Jan 17: Abiding by the four-century-old tradition of paying reverence to their lifeline - the river Krishna - the people of Wai will be celebrating their famous Krishnabai utsav, a festival dedicated to the river, beginning from Monday.Wai, the first temple town, once a seat of learning, along the Krishna after it originates from the high-rainfall region of Mahabaleshwar, and each of its seven ghats are all decked up for the annual festival.The festival, this year, will commence from Bhimkund ali and thereafter other ghats, Madhali ali Dharampuri, Ganapati ali, Brahmanshahi Ramdho ali and Gangapuri.Available chronicles do not offer much information on initiation of the festival which goes for 45 days at a stretch. A legend, however, speaks of certain rituals that included praying for Chhatrapati Shivaji's victory over Adil Shah's general Afzal Khan who had vowed to finish the Maratha empire in mid-17th century. According to one of the legends, the river used to provide huge silver utensils for the final day community feast. The utensils used to emerge from the quiet waters of Krishna at the Ramdoh ghat and the village elders used to return the utensils to the river after using them.
