Vitthala Temple is the heart of Bhakti movement in central India. The temple is located in Pandharpur dham of Solapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It stands on the banks of the celebrated and sacred river Bhima which appears like a crescent moon as it reaches Pandharpur. Hence, the river is famous as Chandrabhaga here.
Lord Vitthala is swayam Krishna
Dedicated to Lord Vitthala, a form of Lord Krishna, and Rukmini Devi, called Rakhumai, the temple is teeming with Warkaris i.e. devotees who always glorify Lord Vitthala through kirtans primarily. This is mainly in the form of abhangas i.e. devotional songs in Marathi.
Very fondly, Lord Vitthala is also called Panduranga and Vithoba. Just like Lord Jagannath is known as Anna Brahman or Daru Brahman, Lord Srinivasa in Tirumala is known as Kanaka Brahman, Lord Panduranga Vitthala is known as Nada Brahman. Instead of being worshiped by Shodashopachara, in Lord Vitthala’s worship kirtanas are preferred.
Main acharyas associated with the temple include Sant Dhyaneshwar, Sant Namdev, Sant Chokhamela, Sant Eknath, Sant Tukaram and Sant Gadge Maharaj. The glories of the temple have ever been spreading far and wide, especially in the last few centuries. Adi Shankaracharya composed the Pandurangashtakam glorifying Lord Vitthala in the 8th century.
Lord Vitthala is said to be very merciful to His devotees and hence, ensures that everyone who comes to His temple gets to have His darshan. The standing form of Lord Vitthala with His two lotus hands on His lotus waist depicts His assurance of shelter to His devotees. As a result, the temple closes late in the night.
The origin of Vitthala Temple
The appearance of Lord Vitthala is a lila of pure love for His devotee Pundalika. The Padma Purana and Skanda Purana describe the lila of Lord Krishna traveling to Pandharpur and His decision to reside there.
Once, Srimati Radharani visited Lord Krishna in Dwarka. During this time, Queen Rukmini noticed that Her beloved husband was interacting very closely with Radharani. Lord Krishna has never been this close even with His wife Queen Rukmini. Being upset, Queen Rukmini left for Dindirvana, near Pandharpur.
Realizing that Queen Rukmini had left for Dindirvana, Lord Krishna followed Her. He apologized for His behavior but Queen Rukmini still remained upset. In the meantime Lord Krishna visited His devotee Pundarika, who later became famous in Maharashtra as Pundalika.
Pundalika realizes his mistake
Pundalika had always ill-treated his parents Janudev and Satyavati. They were devotees of Lord Krishna. Once, his parents decided to leave for Kashi. Pundalika and his wife too followed his parents on horseback while his parents walked all along. Enroute, they came across the ashram of Kakkut Muni. They decided to stay there being tired from the journey. While staying at the ashram, Pundalika witnessed an amazing sight while lying awake at night.
Before dawn, he observed a few women wearing dirty clothes and with dirty appearance enter the ashram. They did all the chores in the ashram such as cleaning the clothes of the sage, cleaning the ashram, etc. Once done with the work, they went to the prayer room. Looking spotlessly clean, they came out of the room and disappeared.
This sight made Pundalika feel peaceful instead of causing an alarm. He wanted to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming. Remaining awake the next night, Pundalika observed the same activity. This time, he went closer to these beautiful women and asked them about their identity.
The women replied that they were the sacred rivers of Bharat bhumi such as Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, etc. They said that the common people come and dump all their sins in the river waters. Hence, these beautiful women looked dirtily dressed. By serving a pure devotee of Lord Krishna, the sacred rivers would get purified and look clean.
Pundalika was also told that he was a big sinner due to the way he treated his parents. These words opened his eyes. He abandoned his old ways and started serving his parents in the best way possible. Hearing this, Lord Krishna came visiting His dear devotee Pundalika.
Sri Vitthala and Rakhumai appear in Pandharpur
When Krishna came to visit Pundalika, he was busy serving his parents. He gave Lord Krishna a brick to sit on as asana. Out of pure love, the Lord chose to wait for Pundalika standing on the brick with His lotus hands on His lotus waist. In the meantime, Queen Rukmini came to Pandharpur forgetting Her distress and joined Her beloved Lord. They both took a Deity form and stayed on in Pandharpur becoming famous as Vitthala and Rakhumai.
The Transcendental Deity of Panduranga in Vitthala Temple
The Deity of Lord Panduranga in Vitthala temple is swayambhu i.e. self-manifested and five thousand years old. This is confirmed in the lila of Lord Vitthala’s appearance. The gently smiling, blackish complexioned Deity of Lord Vitthala is three-and-a-half feet tall standing on the very same brick given by Bhakta Pundalika. This brick was the manifestation of Indra.
His lotus hands are resting on His lotus waist indicating that He is always ready to shelter His devotees. He wears a Kausthuba jewel around His conch like neck. A unique aspect here is that devotees can touch the lotus feet of Lord Vitthala by standing in a separate que. Some devotees touch their head to the lotus feet of the Lord.
Behind Lord Vitthala’s shrine is the shrine of Rukmini Devi. The Deity here is swayambhu too. Rukmini Devi too places Her lotus hands on Her lotus waist.
Deities in Vitthala Temple
A deity of Lord Ganesha can be seen as you enter the main door of the temple. Devotees pray here to remove all obstacles to their worship of Lord Vitthala. The samadhi of Sant Namdev and Sant Chokhamela are present at the entrance too. The samadhi of Sant Namdev is known as Namdev Pyari.
Other deities present in the temple include Radhika Devi, Satyabhama Devi, Annapoorna Devi, Lord Narasimha, Lord Venkateshwara, Mahalakshmi Devi, Nagaraj, Garudadev and Bhakta Hanuman. Huge four-armed deities of Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Vaikuntha flank the entrance of Lord Vitthala’s room.
Architecture of Vitthala Temple
The current Vitthala temple was constructed by King Vishnuvardhana of Hoysala dynasty in the 12th century after being convinced of the lilas of Lord Vitthala and His devotee Pundalika. The Vitthala temple has six entrances. The entrance to the shrine is through a silver door called Rupyacha Darwaja.
The eastern entrance is called Mahadwara or Namdev gate which is connected to the Mahadwara Ghat, one of the 14 ghats on the banks of the Chandrabhaga river via a small street. A mandap at the beginning of the entrance has a nagarkhana where various musical instruments are placed. Two deepmalas are present in the west which are lit only during festive occasions.
Garuda and Hanuman shrines are present in this mandap. The chowk is lined with rooms on both sides for resident devotees. It leads to the Solakhambhi Mandap i.e. Mandap with 16 pillars which is engraved with Krishna lilas and Vishnu avataras.
You can observe many beautiful carvings on the shikara of the temple reminiscent of the amazing Hoysala architecture seen elsewhere. Corridors built alongside the walls lead devotees up to the darshan hall. A Garuda stambha embraces the darshan hall. Devotees embrace this pillar after darshan with the faith that Garudadeva will take them back to Vaikuntha.
Festivals of Vitthala Temple
Although Vitthala Temple celebrates lot of festivals, there are few prominent festivals celebrated here.
Dindi Yatra is the most popular and vibrant festival here. It happens on the occasion of the Ashadhi Ekadashi i.e. between June to July and the Karthiki Ekadashi in November. The Karthiki Ekadashi happens exactly four months after the Ashadhi Ekadashi when Lord Vishnu is said to wake up from His sleep in the Ksheerasagar i.e. ocean of milk.
The Warkaris i.e. devotees of Lord Vitthala travel long distances from various places in Maharashtra on foot carrying a beautifully decorated pallaki with the ‘padukas’ of Lord Vitthala. They walk from Dehu and Alandi covering over 21 kms, singing the glories of Lord Vitthala and dancing to the same until they reach Pandharpur.
It happens right after the sowing season. This yatra has been honoured by the World Book of Records under the title ‘One of the most visited places in a day’.
The Magha Ekadashi and Chaitra Ekadashi are also important festivals for the Warkaris.
Other festivals such as Janmashtami, Deepavali, Holi, Dussehra, etc., are also celebrated in the temple.
Temple Timings of Vitthala Temple
Once the darshan opens in the morning at 6 AM, Lord Vitthala takes very little rest until He retires for the night around 12 AM. The following are the official darshan timings of Vitthala Temple –
Morning: 6 AM to 4.30 PM (Darshan is closed for 15 minutes between 11 AM to 11.15 AM for Mahanaivedya)
Evening: 5 PM to 11.15 PM (Darshan remains closed for half-an-hour from 4.30 PM to 5 PM for Poshak.
The Shej/Shayana Arati happens between 11.30 PM to 12 AM following which Lord Vitthala retires for the day.
The following is the program schedule of aratis and other offerings at the Vitthala temple –
04.00 AM: Opening of the gate of Namdev payari.
04.30 AM: Kakada bhajan of Vitthal Rukmini.
04.30 AM to 5.30 AM – Nityapooja
06.00 AM: Darshan begins
11.00 AM: Mahanaivedya (offering of lunch)
04.30 PM: Poshakh (clothing of Lord Vitthala)
06.45 PM: Dhoop arati
How to Reach Vitthala Temple
The best and the easiest way to have darshan in Vitthala Temple is to travel on Pandharpur Tour by Tirtha Yatra. Pandharpur dham is well connected to other parts of India directly and indirectly. You can reach Pandharpur via the following means of transportation –
By Road: The Maharashtra State Transport corporation operates regular buses from important cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Solapur, Khandala, Bijapur and Belgaum. You can catch a private bus to Pandharpur too.
By Rail: Pandharpur Railway Station serves the town through trains from various important cities and towns in Maharashtra. If you are travelling from cities outside Maharashtra such as Mysore, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, etc., you can catch a train to Kurduvadi station 50 kms away from Pandharpur. From Kurduvadi, you can board a bus, ride a taxi or catch a train to Pandharpur.
By Air: The Pune Airport at Lohegaon is the nearest airport 213 kms away. You can fly in here and catch a train, taxi or bus to Pandharpur.
Liberation awaits you at Vitthala Temple
Sant Tukaram says that the word Vitthala means ‘one who accepts the ignorance of people’. No wonder why Lord Vitthala waits for His devotees to come and see Him. So much that He sleeps late around midnight after giving darshan to all devotees.
Standing on the brick given by His devotee Pundalika with His lotus hands on His lotus waist, the Lord indicates that He is ever ready to receive His devotees. He is very open-hearted that He allows them to touch His lotus feet and get blessed. He rejoices in the grand kirtans conducted by His devotees.
The mood of bhakti in the temple will transport you beyond the influence of this material world. Afterall, eternal happiness is what you truly desire. And that is what Lord Vitthala promises you.
Jaya Rukmini-Vitthala!
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