Hordes of pilgrims flock to Pandharpur for Pandharpur temple live darshan through their television sets or such other media. In the district Solapur in the state of Maharashtra in western India lays a town called Pandharpur. In Maharashtra it is one of the most revered pilgrimage site. Pandharpur temple i.e Vithoba temple is the main center of worship for the Hindu deity Vithoba. Vithoba is believed to be the local form of lord Krishna or Vishnu and his consort Rukmini. It is one of the most visited temples in Maharashtra.
Pandharpur is located 65km west of Solapur on the banks of river Bhima. It is also known as Chandrabhaga. Pandharpur, also known as southern Kashi of India proudly hosts the kuldaivat of Maharashtra state i.e shree Vithoba and Rukmini. Vithoba, also known as Vitthal, Pandurang or Pandhari is supposed to be the supreme god of universe and an incarnation of lord Shiva and Vishnu for the Maharashtrians. The word Vitthal is taken from the word Vishnu in kanada. The old name of Pandharpur – Pandurang is a sanskritized form of Pandarang.
Pandharpur Temple Live Darshan :
This shrine is also called as Pundarika pura after a saint – pundalik who was closely associated to this shrine.The worship of Vishnu is derived mainly from the augmented contribution of the great Vaishnava saints of Maharashtra and Karnataka from the 13th through the 17th centuries like Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Sant Eknath, Purandara Dasa, Vijaya Dasa, Gopala Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa, Chokhamela, Janabai and many others. The Wakaris i.e traditional Maharashtrian tribes start marching from their homes to the temple of Pandharpur in groups called Dindi to reach on kartaki ekadashi or aashadi ekadashi according to the Hindu calendar.
A dip in the holy river Chandrabhaga is believed to have power to wash all sins. The temple which covers a vast area has 6 gates. Namdev gate is the eastern entrance of the temple. The temple has a standing image of Vithoba. The image stylistically dates back to the 5th century BC. Inscriptions that adorn the temple date back to the 13th century.
In the temple there is a special ceremony called as ‘Pad-Sparsh-Darshan’. Any devotee irrespective of caste can place his/her head at the feet of Vitthal. Initially everyone was allowed to touch the deity’s feet. However later on lord’s feet started chiseling out. So now only priests are allowed to touch the idol and conduct rituals. Certain daily rituals that are not religious but are crucial to perform form the routine of Bhagwat dharma at Pandharpur.
This signifies the devotedness of the pilgrims towards their lord and Almighty. These rituals include various puja’s such as Kakad Arati (Early Morning Prayers), Mahapuja (Mega-Worship), Mahanaivedya (Food offering), Poshakh (putting the Read the full article »
