Vithoba , also known as
Vitthala and
Panduranga ( and both ), is a
HinduHinduism is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as ', a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law", by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as...
god, worshipped predominantly in the Indian states of
MaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located on the western coast of India. Maharashtra is a part of Western India. It is India's third largest state by area and second largest by population....
,
KarnatakaKarnataka is a state in the southern part of India. It was created on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act...
and
Andhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , abbreviated A.P., is a state situated on the south-eastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Hyderabad...
. He is generally considered a manifestation of the Hindu god
VishnuVishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God...
or his
avatarIn Hinduism, Avatar or Avatara usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes, often translated into English as incarnation.Avatars that are of importance are mainly those of the Supreme Being...
(incarnation)
KrishnaKrishna is a deity worshipped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of perspectives...
or, occasionally, his avatar the Buddha. He is also sometimes associated with the god
ShivaShiva , also known as Rudra is a major Hindu god and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme God...
. Vithoba is often depicted as a dark young boy, standing arms-
akimboAkimbo is a human body position in which the hands are on the hips and the elbows are bowed outward, or bent/bowed in a more general sense .-Origins:...
on a brick, sometimes accompanied by his main consort Rakhumai (
RukminiIn Hinduism, Rukmini is the principal wife and queen of Krishna at his city of Dwarka. Krishna heroically kidnaps her from an un-wanted marriage at her request . Of Krishna's 16,108 queens, Rukmini is the first and most prominent...
).
Vithoba is the focus of the monotheistic, non-Brahmanical
VarkariVarkari is a religious movement within the bhakti spiritual tradition of Hinduism. It is geographically associated with the Indian states of Maharashtra and northern Karnataka. In the Marathi language of Maharashtra, vari means 'pilgrimage' and a pilgrim is called a varkari...
sect of Maharashtra and the
HaridasaThe Haridasa devotional movement is considered as one of the turning points in the cultural history of India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and mystics helped shape the culture, philosophy and art of South India and Karnataka in particular by exerting considerable spiritual...
sect of Karnataka. Vithoba's
main templeVithoba temple, Pandharpur is the main centre of worship for the Hindu deity Vithoba, believed to be a local form of god Krishna or Vishnu and his consort Rakhumai. It is the most visited temple in Maharastra. The warkaris start marching from their homes to the temple of Pandharpur in groups called...
stands at
PandharpurPandharpur is an important pilgrimage city on the Bhimā river in Solāpur district, Maharashtra, India. The Vithoba temple attracts about half a million Hindu pilgrims during the major yātrā in the month of Ashadh .-Geography:...
in Maharashtra, close to the Karnataka border. Vithoba legends revolve around his devotee
PundalikPundalik or Pundarik is a central figure in the legends of the Hindu god Vithoba, generally considered a Vaishnava deity identified with deities Vishnu and Krishna. He is credited to have brought Vithoba to Pandharpur, where Vithoba's central shrine stands today...
, who is credited with bringing the deity to Pandharpur, and around Vithoba's role as a saviour to the poet-saints of the Varkari faith. The Varkari poet-saints are known for their unique genre of devotional lyric, the
abhanga, dedicated to Vithoba and composed in Marathi. Other devotional literature dedicated to Vithoba includes the Kannada hymns of the Haridasa, and Marathi versions of the generic Hindu
arati songs, associated with rituals of offering light to the deity.The most important festivals of Vithoba are held on the eleventh (
ekadashi) day of Hindu lunar months:
Shayani EkadashiShayani Ekadashi or Maha-ekadashi or Padma Ekadashi is the eleventh lunar day of the bright fortnight of the Hindu month of Ashadha . Thus it is also known as Ashadhi Ekadashi or Ashadhi...
in the month of Ashadha, and Prabodini Ekadashi in the month of
KartikKartika , is a month of Hindu and Bengali calendars, named after Hindu god, Karttikeya....
.
The historiography of Vithoba and his
cultIn traditional usage, the cult of a religion, quite apart from its sacred writings , its theology or myths, or the personal faith of its believers, is the totality of external religious practice and observance, the neglect of which is the definition of impiety. Cult in this primary sense is...
is an area of continuing debate, even regarding his name. Various indologists have proposed a prehistory for Vithoba worship where he was previously: a
hero stoneHero stone is an Indian memorial commemorating the honorable death of a hero in battle in India. A hero stone can display a variety of adornments, including bas relief panels, statues, and figures of carved stone...
, a pastoral deity, a manifestation of Shiva, a Jain saint, or even all of these at various times for various devotees. Though the origins of both his cult and his main temple remain subjects of debate, there is clear evidence that they already existed by the
13th centuryAs a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 through 1300 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era...
.
Etymology and other names
Vithoba is known by many names, including: Vitthala, Panduranga, Pandharinath, Hari and Narayan. There are several theories about the origins and meanings of these names. Varkari tradition suggests that the name Vitthala (also spelled as Vitthal, Viththal, Vittala and Vithal) is composed of two Sanskrit-Marathi words:
, which means 'brick'; and
thal, which may have originated from the Sanskrit
sthala, meaning 'standing'. Thus, Vitthala would mean 'one standing on a brick'.
William CrookeWilliam Crooke was an English orientalist and "the central figure in Anglo-Indian folklore" according to Richard Mercer Dorson.Born in a family long settled in Ireland, he was educated at Tipperary Grammar School, before winning a scholarship to the Trinity College, Dublin...
,
orientalistOriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the term Asian studies has mostly replaced the older term. European study of the region had primarily religious origins,...
, supported this explanation. The prescribed iconography of Vithoba stipulates that he be shown standing arms-akimbo upon a brick, which is associated with the legend of the devotee Pundalik.
However, the Varkari poet-saint
TukaramTukārām was a prominent Marathi Sant and religious poet in the Hindu tradition in India.-Early life and background:Tukaram was born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune city in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "Moray" - the descendent of the...
proposed a different etymology—that Vitthala is composed of the words
vittha (ignorance) and
la (one who accepts), thus meaning 'one who accepts innocent people who are devoid of knowledge'. Historian
Ramakrishna Gopal BhandarkarRamakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar was an Indian scholar, orientalist, and social reformer.-Early life:Bhandarkar was born in Malvan in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. After his early schooling in Ratnagiri, he studied at Elphinstone College in Bombay...
offers yet another possibility—that Vitthu is a Kannada corruption of the name Vishnu adopted in Marathi. The suffixes -
la and -
ba (meaning 'father' in Marathi) were appended for reverence, producing the names Vitthala and Vithoba. This corruption of Vishnu to Vitthu could have been due to the tendency of Marathi and Kannada people to pronounce the Sanskrit
as
, attested since the 8th century.
According to research scholar M. S. Mate of the
Deccan CollegeDeccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute is a post-graduate institute of Archeology and Linguistics in Pune, India.Established October 6, 1821, Deccan College is one of the oldest institutions of modern learning in India...
, Pundalik—who is assumed to be a historical figure—was instrumental in persuading the Hoysala king
VishnuvardhanaVishnuvardhana , was a king of the Hoysala Empire in present day Indian state of Karnataka. Vishnuvardhana took the first step in consolidating the Hoysala Empire in South India through a series of battles against the Cholas and is overlords, the Western Chalukya empire...
alias Bittidev to build the Pandharpur temple dedicated to Vishnu. The deity was subsequently named as Vitthala, a derivative of Bittidev, by the builder-king. Other variants of the name include (King Vitthala), and (Mother Vitthala). The people of
GujaratGujarat is the westernmost state in India. It is home to the Gujarati speaking people of India. The state encompasses major sites of the Indus Valley Civilization such as Lothal and Dholavira. Gujarat played an important role in the economic history of India throughout the history of India...
add the suffix -
nath (Lord) to Vitthala, which yields the name Vitthal-nath.
Panduranga, also spelt as Pandurang and Pandaranga, is another popular epithet for Vithoba, which means 'the white god' in Sanskrit. The Jain author-saint Hemachandra (1089–1172 AD) notes it is also used as an epithet for the god
RudraRudra is a Rigvedic God of the storm, the wind, and the hunt. The name has been translated as "Roarer", "Howler", "Wild One", and "Terrible".Rudra is thought to be an early form of Shiva...
-Shiva. Even though Vithoba is depicted with dark complexion, he is called a "white god". Bhandarkar explains this paradox, proposing that Panduranga may be an epithet for the form of Shiva worshipped in Pandharpur, and whose temple still stands. Later, with the increasing popularity of Vithoba's cult, this was also transferred to Vithoba. Another theory suggests that Vithoba may initially have been a
ShaivaShaivism names the oldest of the four sects of Hinduism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. Shaivism is...
god (related to Shiva), only later identified with Vishnu, thus explaining the usage of Panduranga for Vithoba. Crooke, however, proposed that Panduranga is a Sanskritised form of Pandaraga (belonging to Pandarga), referring to the old name of Pandharpur. Another name, Pandharinath, also refers to Vithoba as the lord of Pandhari (yet another variant for Pandharpur). Finally, Vithoba is also addressed by generic
VaishnavaVaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu or his associated avatars, principally as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God. This worship in different perspectives or historical traditions addresses God under the names of Narayana,...
names like
HariIn Hinduism, Hari is another name of and , and appears as the 650th name in the Vishnu sahasranama of Mahabharata. In Sanskrit "Hari" sometimes refers to a colour, yellow, or fawn-coloured/khaki ....
and
NarayanaNarayana or Narayan is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...
, which are typical of the cult of the god Vishnu.
Origins and development
Reconstruction of the historical development of Vithoba worship has been much debated. In particular, several alternative theories have been proposed regarding the earliest stages, as well as the point at which he came to be recognised as a distinct deity.
Panduranga-shataka-stotra, a hymn attributed to
Adi ShankaraAdi Shankara ; , also known as ' and ', was an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, a sub-school of Vedanta. His teachings are based on the unity of the soul and Brahman, in which Brahman is viewed as without attributes...
charya of the 8th century, indicates that Vithoba worship might have already existed at an early date.
According to Richard Maxwell Eaton, author of
A Social History of the Deccan, Vithoba was first worshipped as a pastoral god as early as the 6th century. Vithoba's arms-akimbo iconography is similar to
Bir KuarBir Kuar or Birkuar , also known as Birnath, is a Hindu cattle-god worshipped by the herder-class of Ahirs of western Bihar in India. He is considered to be a form of god Krishna. He is worshipped in form of wooden posts that depict him standing arms-akimbo...
, the cattle-god of the
AhirsThe Ahirs, also referred to as Abhira or Abhir, are one of the ancient martial tribes , of India, who ruled over different parts of India and Nepal since ancient times. The word A-bhira means "fearless".There are around 40 million Ahirs in India.Historians such as James Todd and K.C...
of
BiharBihar is a state in eastern India. Bihar is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at 38,202 sq mi , and 3rd largest by population. Close to 85 percent of the population lives in villages...
, who is now also associated with Krishna. Vithoba was probably later assimilated into the Shaiva pantheon and identified with the god Shiva, like most other pastoral gods. This is backed by the facts that the temple at Pandharpur is surrounded by Shaiva temples (most notably of the devotee Pundalik himself), and that Vithoba is crowned with the Linga, symbol of Shiva. However, in the 13th century, the poet-saints like
NamdevNām dev was a prominent religious poet from the Marathwada region of Maharashtra state, India in the Hindu tradition, and was one the earliest writers in the Marathi language. He also wrote some hymns in the Hindi and the Punjabi languages...
,
EknathEknāth was a prominent Marāthi religious poet in the Hindu tradition in India.Eknath was born and lived most of his life in Paithan in Mahārāshtra, India.He was a Kulkarni of that Village. Eknath's family name is almost unknown...
and Tukaram identified Vithoba with Vishnu.
Christian Lee Novetzke of
University of WashingtonUniversity of Washington, founded in 1861, is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. UW is the largest university in the northwestern United States and one of the oldest public universities on the west coast. The university has three campuses, with its flagship campus...
suggests that Vithoba worship migrated from Karnataka to the formerly Shaiva city of Pandharpur some time before 1000 CE; but under the possible influence of a Krishna-worshipping
MahanubhavaThe Mahanubhav sect, also known as Jai Krishni Pantha in North India due to Punjabi influence, was started by Chakradhar Swami in 1267. Chakradhar Swami propagated a religious movement as well as social movement, in which all were accepted irrespective of their castes and the traditional...
sect, the town was transformed into a Vaishnava center of pilgrimage. This proposal is consistent with contemporary remnants of Shaiva worship in the town.
The religious historian R.C. Dhere, winner of the
Sahitya Akademi AwardSahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters , annually confers on writers of outstanding works in one of the following twenty-four major Indian languages:Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada,...
for his book
Sri Vitthal: Ek Mahasamanvaya, opines that Vithoba worship may be even older—"
VedicThe Vedic Period is the period during which the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of the Indo-Aryans, were being composed. Scholars place the Vedic period in the second and first millennia BCE continuing up to the 6th century BCE based on literary evidence.The associated culture, sometimes referred...
or pre-Vedic", hence pre-dating the worship of Krishna. According to this theory, Vithoba is an amalgam of various local heroes, who gave their lives to save their cattle. He was first worshipped by the
DhangarThe Dhangar caste is primarily located in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The literal translation of the name Dhangar is "Wealthy". The Dhangars of the Northern or Southern India are reasonably considered to belong to the same race. The word Dhangar is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Dhenu' i.e....
, the cattle-owning
casteA caste is a combined social system of occupation, endogamy, culture, social class, and political power. Caste should not be confused with class, in that members of a caste are deemed to be alike in function or culture, whereas not all members of a defined class may be so alike.Although Indian...
of Maharashtra. The rise of the Yadava dynasty, which had cowherd ancestry, could have led to the glorification of Vithoba as Krishna, who is often depicted as a cowherd. This Vaishnavization of Vithoba also led to conversion of the Shaiva Pundarika shrine to the Vaishnava shrine of the devotee Pundalik, who—according to legend—brought Vithoba to Pandharpur. There may have been an attempt to assimilate Vithoba into
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
; today, both are viewed as a form of Vishnu in Hinduism.
Despite assimilation in Vaishnavism as Krishna-Vishnu, Vithoba does not inherit the erotic overtones of Krishna, such as his dalliance with the
gopiGopi is a word of Sanskrit origin meaning 'cow-herd girl'. In Hinduism specifically the name gopi is used more commonly to refer to the group of cow herding girls famous within Vaishnava Theology for their unconditional devotion to Krishna as described in the stories of Bhagavata Purana and...
s (milkmaids). Vithoba is associated more with "compassion, an infinite love and tenderness for his
bhaktas (devotees) that can be compared to the love of the mother for her children ... pining for the presence of his devotees the way a cow pines for her far-away calf."
G. A. Deleury, author of
The cult of Vithoba, proposes that the image of Vithoba is a
viragal (
hero stoneHero stone is an Indian memorial commemorating the honorable death of a hero in battle in India. A hero stone can display a variety of adornments, including bas relief panels, statues, and figures of carved stone...
), which was later identified with Vishnu in his form as Krishna, and that Pundalik transformed the Puranic, ritualistic
puja worship into more idealised
bhaktiBhakti in practice signifies an active involvement by the devotee in divine worship. The term is often translated as "devotion", though increasingly "participation" is being used as a more accurate rendering, since it conveys a fully engaged relationship with God...
worship—"interiorized adoration prescinding caste distinction and institutional priesthood ..." Indologist Dr. Tilak suggests that Vithoba emerged as "an alternative to the existing pantheon" of brahminical deities (related to classical, ritualistic Hinduism). The emergence of Vithoba was concurrent with the rise of a "new type of lay devotee", the Varkari. While Vishnu and Shiva were bound in rigid ritualistic worship and
BrahminBrahmins have historically been the class of educators, scholars and preachers in Hinduism. They are considered as belonging to the "forward castes" of the four varnas of Hinduism....
(priestly) control, Vithoba, "the God of the subaltern, became increasingly human." Vithoba is often praised as the protector of the poor and needy. Stevenson (1843) suggests that Vithoba could have been a Jain saint, the Vithoba images were similar to Jain images.
Pandharpur temple and inscriptions
Scholastic investigation of Vithoba's history often begins with consideration of the dating of the chief temple at Pandharpur, which is believed to be the earliest Vithoba temple. The oldest part of the temple dates to the Yadava period of the 12th and 13th centuries. Most of the temple is believed to have been built in the 17th century, though addition to the temple has never ceased. The date the temple was first established is unclear to Bhandarkar, but he insists there is clear evidence to suggest it existed by the 13th century. According to S. G. Tulpule, the temple stood as early as 1189. In fact, a monument dated 1189 records establishment of a small Vithoba shrine at the present location of the temple; thus, Tulpule concludes, the worship of Vithoba predates 1189.
A stone inscription dated 1237, found on an overhead beam of the present Vithoba temple, mentions that the Hoysala king
SomeshvaraVira Someshwara was a king of the Hoysala Empire. The preoccupation of Vira Narasimha II in the affairs of Tamil country resulted in neglect of northern territories and Vira Someshwara had to face Seuna incursion south of the Tungabhadra river.-Tamil country politics:During the time period 1225-...
donated a village for the expense of the
bhoga (food offering) for "Vitthala". An inscription on a copper plate, dated 1249, records the Yadava king Krishna granting to one of his generals the village Paundrikakshetra (
kshetra of Pundarik), on the river Bhimarathi, in the presence of the god Vishnu. Another stone inscription in Pandharpur narrates a sacrifice at Pandurangapura due to which "people and Vitthal along with the gods were gratified". Thus from the 13th century, the city is known as the city of Panduranga. Inside the temple, a stone inscription records gifts to the temple between 1272–77 from various donors, notably the Yadava king Ramachandra's minister Hemadri.
Ranade believes that an inscription, found in
AlandiAlandi is a city and a municipal council in Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India.-Geography:Alandi is located on the banks of the Indrayani River, 25 km east of Pune, India. It has an average elevation of 577 metres .-Demographics: India census, Alandi had a population of...
and referring to Vitthala and Rakhumai, is the oldest related to Vithoba, and dates it to 1209. However, the name Pandaranga is found on a
RashtrakutaThe Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of southern, central and northern India between the sixth and the tenth centuries. During this period they ruled as several closely related, but individual clans...
copper plate inscription, dated 516. Citing this, Pande infers that Vithoba's cult was well established by the 6th century.
Central image
The physical characteristics of the central
murtiMurtiFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to:navigation, searchA clay Ganesha murti, worshipped during Ganesh Chaturthi festival.In Hinduism, a murti typically refers to an image, a deity, in which a Divine Spirit is expressed . Hindus consider a murti worthy of worship after the divine is...
(image) of Vithoba at Pandharpur, and various textual references to it, have inspired theories relating to Vithoba worship. Sand concludes, from a version of Pundalik's legend in the
Skanda PuranaSkanda Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, is the largest Purana and is devoted mainly to the life and deed of Kartikeya , a son of Shiva and Parvati. It also contains a number of legends about Shiva, and the holy places associated with him...
(see
Legend below), that two distinct
murtis must have existed at Pandharpur—one each of
tirtha and kshetraCoupled with the concept of the power of the Mantra, in Hinduism, there is the concept of the holiness of a place. A holy place or a place of pilgrimage has two technical equivalents in Hindu tradition, namely, Tirtha and Kshetra.-Tirtha:...
type. The earlier one was a
tirtha murti, an image purposely sited near a holy body of water (
tirtha), in this case facing west, on the
BhimaThe Bhima River originates in Bhimashankar hills near Karjat on the western side of Western Ghats, known as Sahyadri, in Maharashtra state in India. Bhima flows southeast for 725 km through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh states. Bhima is the most important tributary of the Krishna river,...
riverbed, near the Pundalik shrine. The later murti, according to Sand, was a
kshetra murti, located at a place of holy power (
kshetra), in this case facing east, on the hill where the current temple has stood since about 1189. Thus, Sand proposes that the worship of Vithoba may predate the temple itself.
Deleury suggests that although the temple may have been built in the 13th century, given the
HemadpanthiHemadpanthi Sculpture is an architectural form or a style, which is named after its introducer and founder, the prime minister named Hemadpant in the court of Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri. The period of discovery was during the 13th Century in Maharashtra. Main ingredients in the construction include...
style architecture, the statue of Vithoba is of an earlier style so may have been carved for an earlier, smaller shrine that existed in Pandharpur. The workmanship of the image is earlier than the style of the Yadava (1175–1318), the Anhivad
ChalukyaThe Chalukya dynasty was an Indian royal dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related, but individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty, known as the "Badami Chalukyas", ruled from their capital...
(943–1210) and even the Ajmer
ChohansChauhan or Chohan - is a Rajput clan found in the Indian subcontinent.- Origins :According to the Rajput bards, Chauhan is one of the four Agnikula or 'fire sprung' clans who were created by the Gods in the anali kund or 'fountain of fire' on Mount Abu to fight against the Asuras or demons...
(685–1193) eras. Although no other existing Vishnu temple has iconography like Pandharpur's Vithoba, Deleury finds similarities between the Pandharpur image and the third-century, arms-akimbo Vishnu images at
Udaygiri CavesUdaygiri caves are situated in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh in India. These caves are at a distance of 4 km from Vidisha and 13 km from Sanchi. Udaygiri is word of Sanskrit language meaning – sunrise hills. These are a group of rock-cut caves sanctuaries carved into a sandstone hill that...
, but declares that they are from different schools of sculpture.
Pundalik
The devotee Pundalik, thrower of the brick (see Legend below), is a major character in the legends of Vithoba. He is commonly perceived to be a historical figure, connected with the establishment and propagation of the Vithoba-centric Varkari sect. Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar considers Pundalik to be the founder of the Varkari sect and the one who promulgated the sect in Maratha country. Stevenson (1843) goes further, suggesting he might have been a Jain or a Buddhist, since Varkari tradition is a combination of Jain and Buddhist morals, and Vithoba is viewed as Vishnu in his form as Buddha. Frazer, Edwards and P.R. Bhandarkar (1922) all suggest that Pundalik tried to unify Shiva and Vishnu, and that this sect originated in Karnataka. Ranade (1933) thinks that Pundalik, a Kannada saint, was not only the founder of the Varkari sect but also the first great devotee or first high priest of the Pandharpur temple. Upadhyaya supports the priest theory but declines the Kannada origin theory. According to M. S. Mate, Pundalik was instrumental in coaxing the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana to build the Pandharpur temple to Vishnu, placing him in the early 12th century. Other scholars like Raeside (1965), Dhanpalvar (1972), and Vaudeville (1974) have questioned the historicity of Pundalik altogether, and dismissed him as a mythical figure.
Identifications
Primarily, there are three Hindu deities associated with Vithoba: Vishnu, Krishna and Shiva. Gautama Buddha is also associated with Vithoba, consistent with Hindu deification of the Buddha as the ninth incarnation of Vishnu. However, Varkari consider Vithoba to be the
svarup (original)
Vishnu himself, not an
avatarIn Hinduism, Avatar or Avatara usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes, often translated into English as incarnation.Avatars that are of importance are mainly those of the Supreme Being...
(manifestation) of Vishnu like Krishna, despite legends and consorts linking Vithoba to Krishna. However, even the
MahanubhavaThe Mahanubhav sect, also known as Jai Krishni Pantha in North India due to Punjabi influence, was started by Chakradhar Swami in 1267. Chakradhar Swami propagated a religious movement as well as social movement, in which all were accepted irrespective of their castes and the traditional...
s, who rose in the 13th century as a Krishna-worshipping sect, not only dismissed the notion that Vithoba is Krishna but also frequently vilified Vithoba.
In some traditions though, Vithoba is also worshipped as a form of Shiva. The Dhangars still consider Vithoba to be a brother of the god Viroba, and view Vithoba as a Shaiva god rather than a Vaishnava one. Underhill proposes that the shrine of Pandharpur is a combined form of Vishnu-Shiva established by the
BhagavataBhagavata, with the literal meaning of that which comes from Bhagavan or the Lord, signifies in the context of Hinduism. In this context bhakti has the primary meaning of 'adoration', while Bhagavat means 'the Adorable One', and Bhagavata is a worshiper of the Adorable One...
sect that worships Vishnu-Shiva—the Lord, which is what
bhagavata means. However, for the chief priests of the Pandharpur temple—Brahmins of the Badva family —" is neither nor . is " (IAST original). Despite this, some priests of the temple point to marks on the Vithoba image's chest as proof of Vithoba being Vishnu, in his form as Krishna.
Vithoba's image replaces the traditional representation of Buddha, when depicted as the ninth avatar of Vishnu, in some temple sculptures and Hindu astrological almanacs in Maharashtra. In the 17th century,
Maratha Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste or to the Maratha and Kunbi castes together; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people; historically, it describes the Maratha empire...
artists sculpted an image of Pandharpur's Vithoba in the Buddha's place on a panel showing Vishnu's avatars. This can be found in the Shivner caves of
JunnarJunnar is a city with thousands of years of history in the Pune district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a taluka headquarter. Situated at the base of the Sahyadri mountains, it is around 100 km east of Mumbai and 94 km north of Pune...
. Stevenson goes so far as to call devotees of Vithoba (
Vithal-bhaktas) Buddhist Vaishnavas (
Bauddho-Vaishnavas), since they consider Vithoba to be the ninth—namely Buddha—avatar of Vishnu. The poet-saints praised Vithoba as a form of Buddha.
B. R. AmbedkarBhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian nationalist, jurist, Dalit, political leader, activist, philosopher, thinker, anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, revolutionary and the revivalist of Buddhism in India. He was also the...
, an Indian political leader and Buddhist convert, suggested that the image of Vithoba at Pandharpur was in reality the image of the Buddha.
Iconography
thumb
All Vithoba images are generally modelled on his central image in Pandharpur. The Pandharpur image is a black basalt sculpture that is tall. Vithoba is depicted as dark young boy. The poet-saints have called him "
Para-brahmanPara Brahman pronounced as "Para Bramhan" - is a term often used by Vedantic philosophers as to the "attainment of the ultimate goal". It is believed that all Vaishnava and other schools attribute Personhood to this concept, as in Svayam bhagavan...
with a dark complexion". He wears high, conical headgear or a crown, interpreted as Shiva's symbol—the Linga. Thus, according to Zelliot, Vithoba represents Shiva as well as Vishnu. The first Varkari poet-saint,
DnyaneshwarSant Jñāneshwar / Sant Dnyāneshwar , also known as Jñanadeva - ज्ञानदेव, was a 13th century Maharashtran saint, poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath tradition whose works Bhavartha deepika teeka , and Amrutanubhav are considered to be milestones in Marathi...
(13th century), states that Vithoba (Vishnu) carries Shiva, who according to Vaishnavism is Vishnu's first and foremost devotee, on his own head.
Vithoba is shown standing arms-akimbo on the brick thrown by the devotee Pundalik. He wears a necklace of
tulsiOcimum tenuiflorum is an aromatic plant in the family Lamiaceae...
-beads, embedded with the legendary
kaustubhaKaustubha is a divine jewel - the most valuable stone "Mani" is in the possession of lord Vishnu who lives in the Ksheer Sagar - "the ocean of milk".-In History :...
gem, and
makara-kundala (fish-shaped earrings) that the poet-saint Tukaram relates to the iconography of Vishnu. Pandharpur's Vithoba holds a
shankhaShankha is the divine Conch shell or sea shell, which is one of the insignia in the Hindu God Vishnu's hands. Lord Vishnu, also called Narayan, is imagined to have four hands...
(conch) in his left hand and a
chakraChakra is a Sanskrit word that translates as "wheel" or "turning"....
(discus) or lotus flower in his right, all of which are symbols traditionally associated with Vishnu. Some images depict Vithoba's right hand making a gesture that has been traditionally misunderstood as a blessing; no gesture of blessing is present in the Pandharpur image.
The Pandharpur image, when not clothed by its attendant priest to receive devotees, provides Vithoba with the detailed features distinctive of a male body, visible in full relief. However, close inspection of the stonework reveals the outline of a
loinclothA loincloth is a one-piece male garment, sometimes kept in place by a belt, which covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks.-History and types:Loincloths are and have been worn:*in societies where no other clothing is needed or wanted...
, supported by a
kambarband (waist belt), traced by thin, light carvings. Other images and pictures depict Vithoba clothed, usually with
pitambara - a yellow
dhotiThe Dhotī or Doti in Hindi, called Dhotiyu in Gujarati, Suriya in Assamese, Vaytti or Veshti in Tamil, Dhuti in Bangla, Dhoti or Kachche Panche in Kannada, Dhotar,Angostar,Aad-neschey or Pudve in Konkani, mundu in Malayalam, Dhotar in Marathi , Laacha in Punjabi and Pancha in Telugu is...
and various gold ornaments—the manner in which he is attired by the priests in the daily rites.
The Pandharpur image also bears, on the left breast, the mark known as the
srivatsa- Religious symbolism :Srivatsa or Shrivatsa is Sanskrit for Endless Knot. It is a mark on the chest of Vishnu where His consort Sri Lakshmi resides. It is said that the 10th avatar of Vishnu, Kalki will be bearer of the Srivatsa mark on his chest...
lanchhana—said to be a curl of white hair, usually found on the breast of Vishnu and Krishna images. The image is also dignified with a ring-shaped mark called
shriniketana on the right breast,
mekhala (a three-stringed waist-belt), a long stick (
kathi) embedded in the ground between the legs, and double ring and pearl bracelets on the elbows.
Consorts
Vithoba is usually depicted with his main consort, Rakhumai, on his left side. Rakhumai (or Rakhamai) literally means 'mother Rukmini'. Rukmini is traditionally viewed as the wife of Krishna. Hindus generally consider Krishna to be a form of Vishnu, hence his consort as a form of
LakshmiLakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity, light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm...
. Rakhumai is depicted in the arms-akimbo posture, standing on a brick. She has an independent
cellaA cella or naos , is the inner chamber of a temple in classical architecture, or a shop facing the street in domestic Roman architecture .-Greek and Roman temples:...
in the Pandharpur temple complex. According to Ghurye, Rukmini—a princess of the
VidarbhaVidarbha is the eastern region of Maharashtra state made up of Nagpur Division and Amravati Division. It occupies 31.6% of total area and holds 21.3% of total population of Maharashtra. It borders the state of Madhya Pradesh to north, Chattisgarh to east, Telangana to south and Marathwada and...
region of the Maharashtra kingdom—was elevated to the status of the main consort instead of
RadhaRadha is the principal devotee of Krishna in the Bhagavata Purana, and the Gita Govinda of the Hindu religion. Radha is almost always depicted alongside Krishna and features prominently within the theology of today's Gaudiya Vaishnava religion, which regards Radha as the original Goddess or Shakti...
, because of her affiliation with the region. According to Dhangar tradition, Rukhumai is worshipped by the community as Padmavati or Padubai, a protector of the community and cattle in particular. Dhangar folklore explains the reason behind separate shrines for Vithoba and Padubai as the outcome of Vithoba invoking a curse on his consort, and his non-attachment to
samsaraSamsara is the endless cycle of suffering caused by birth, death and rebirth within Buddhism, Bön, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and other related religions....
(the householder's life). Apart from Rakhumai, two other consorts
SatyabhamaSatyabhama is the third wife of Lord Krishna, known for her strong will and tantrums.She is believed to an Avatar of Bhudevi.-Marriage:Satyabhama was the daughter of Satrajit who owned the Syamantaka jewel. Satrajit, who secured the jewel from Surya, and would not part with it even when Krishna the...
and Rahi (derived from Radha) are worshipped too. All three consorts are regarded as Krishna's in Hindu mythology.
Worship
Vithoba is a popular deity in Maharashtra and Karnataka; devotees also exist in
Andhra PradeshAndhra Pradesh , abbreviated A.P., is a state situated on the south-eastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Hyderabad...
and
Tamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai . Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by Puducherry , Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh...
, but not in the same numbers. Vithoba is worshipped and revered by most Marathis, but he is not popular as a
kuldevtaKuldevata , also known as Kuldev and Kŭldaiwat, stands for "family deity, that either a god or godess" within Hinduism, as a distinction from personal ishta-devata and village deities.- In Practice :...
(family deity). The main temple of Vithoba, which includes a distinct, additional shrine for his consort Rakhumai, is located at Pandharpur. In this context, Pandharpur is affectionately called "Bhu-Vaikuntha" (the place of residence of Vishnu on earth) by devotees. Devotees from across Maharashtra, Karnataka and
TelanganaTelangana or Telingana is a region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It more or less corresponds to that portion of the state which was previously part of the princely state of Hyderabad...
region of Andhra Pradesh, visited Vithoba's central temple at Pandharpur, since the times of Dnyaneshwar (13th century).
Two distinct traditions revolve around the worship of Vithoba in Maharashtra: ritual worship inside the temple by the
BrahminBrahmins have historically been the class of educators, scholars and preachers in Hinduism. They are considered as belonging to the "forward castes" of the four varnas of Hinduism....
priests of the Badva family; and spiritual worship by the Varkaris. The ritual worship includes five daily rites. First, at about 3 am, is an
arati to awaken the god, called . Next comes the , a
puja that includes a bath with five (
pancha) sweet substances called
panchamritaPanchamrita is a mixture of five foods used in Hindu worship and puja, usually honey, sugar, milk, yoghurt, and ghee.-Etymology:Pañcāmṛta is a Sanskrit compound of two words:, 'five'....
. The image is then dressed to receive morning devotions. The third rite is another
puja involving re-dressing and lunch at noon. This is known as . Afternoon devotions are followed by a fourth rite for dinner at sunset—the . The final rite is , an
arati for putting the god to sleep. In addition to the rites at the main temple in Pandharpur, Haridasa traditions dedicated to Vitthala flourish in Karnataka.
Varkari sect
The
VarkariVarkari is a religious movement within the bhakti spiritual tradition of Hinduism. It is geographically associated with the Indian states of Maharashtra and northern Karnataka. In the Marathi language of Maharashtra, vari means 'pilgrimage' and a pilgrim is called a varkari...
Panth (Pilgrim Path) or Varkari
SampradayaIn Hinduism, a sampradaya can be translated as ‘tradition’ or a ‘religious system’, although the word commands much more respect and power in the Indian context than its translations in English does...
(Pilgrim Tradition) is one of the most important Vaishnava sects in India. It is a monotheistic,
bhakti sect, focused on the worship of Vithoba and based on traditional Bhagavata
dharmaThe term , is an Indian spiritual and religious term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term. A Hindu's Dharma is affected by a person's age, class, occupation, and sex. In Indian languages it can be equivalent simply to "religion", depending on context...
. The sect is a "Shaiva-Vaishnava synthesis" and "nominal Vaishnavism, containing a free mix of other religions". It is believed to have originated in Karnataka and migrated to Maharashtra. This last theory is based on a reference to Vithoba as "Kannada" (belonging to Karnataka) in the work of the first of the poet-saints,
DnyaneshwarSant Jñāneshwar / Sant Dnyāneshwar , also known as Jñanadeva - ज्ञानदेव, was a 13th century Maharashtran saint, poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath tradition whose works Bhavartha deepika teeka , and Amrutanubhav are considered to be milestones in Marathi...
. However, this word can also be interpreted as "difficult to understand". Varkaris and scholars who believe Pundalik to have been a historical figure also consider him to be founder of the cult of Vithoba. This is evidenced by the liturgical call—
Pundalikavarada Hari Vitthala!—which means "O Hari Vitthala (Vithoba), who has given a boon to Pundalik!" However, according to Zelliot, the sect was founded by Dnyaneshwar (also spelled Jnaneshwar), who was a Brahmin poet and philosopher and flourished during the period 1275–1296. Varkaris also give him credit with the saying—
Dnyanadev rachila paya—which means "Dnyaneshwar laid the foundation stone".
NamdevNām dev was a prominent religious poet from the Marathwada region of Maharashtra state, India in the Hindu tradition, and was one the earliest writers in the Marathi language. He also wrote some hymns in the Hindi and the Punjabi languages...
(
c. 1270–1350), a
ShudraShudra is the lowest Varna in the traditional four-section division in the Hindu caste system. Their assigned and expected role in post-Vedic North India was that of farmers, craftsmen and labourers...
tailor, wrote short
Marathi devotional poemsMarathi literature is the body of literature of Marathi, a Sanskrit-derived language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Maharashtra and written in the Devanagari script.-Early Marathi Literature :...
in praise of Vithoba called
abhangas (literally 'unbroken'), and used the call-and-response
kirtanKirtan is call-and-response chanting performed in India's devotional traditions. A person performing kirtan is known as a kirtankar. Kirtan practice involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium, the two-headed mrdanga or pakawaj drum, and karatal...
(literally 'repeating') form of singing to praise the glory of his Lord. Public performance of this musical devotion led to the spread of the Vithoba faith, which accepted women, Shudras and outcaste "
untouchablesDalit is a self-designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as low caste or untouchables . Dalits are a mixed population of numerous caste groups all over South Asia, and speak various languages. It is impossible to differentiate between Dalits and the various other caste groups on the...
", something forbidden in classical brahminical Hinduism. In the times of Muslim rulers, the faith faced stagnation. However, after the decline of the
Vijayanagara empireThe Vijayanagara Empire referred as the Kingdom of Bisnaga by the Portuguese, was a South Indian empire based in the Deccan Plateau. Established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I, it lasted until 1646 although its power declined after a major military defeat in 1565 by the Deccan...
, when wars erupted in the Deccan region, the Muslim rulers had to accept the faiths of Maharashtra in order to gather the support of its people. In this period,
EknathEknāth was a prominent Marāthi religious poet in the Hindu tradition in India.Eknath was born and lived most of his life in Paithan in Mahārāshtra, India.He was a Kulkarni of that Village. Eknath's family name is almost unknown...
(
c. 1533–99) revived the Varkari tradition. With the foundation of the
Maratha empireThe Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was a Hindu state located in present-day India. It existed from 1674 to 1818...
under
ShivajiShivaji Raje Bhosle , popularly known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj laid the foundations of the Maratha Empire. Shivaji Maharaj was younger of the two sons of Shahaji Bhosle and Jijabai...
,
TukaramTukārām was a prominent Marathi Sant and religious poet in the Hindu tradition in India.-Early life and background:Tukaram was born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune city in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "Moray" - the descendent of the...
(
c. 1568–1650), a Shudra grocer, further propagated the Vithoba-centric tradition throughout the Maharashtra region.
All these poet-saints, and others like
JanabaiJanābāi was a Marāthi religious poetess in the Hindu tradition in India, who was born likely in the seventh or the eighth decade of the 13th century. According to folklore, she died in 1350....
, the maidservant of Namdev, wrote poetry dedicated to Vithoba. This Marathi poetry advocates pure devotion, referring to Vithoba mostly as a father, or in the case of the female saint Janabai's poetry, as a mother (Vithabai). Not only women, like Janabai, but also a wide variety of people from different castes and backgrounds wrote
abhangas in praise of Vithoba:
Visoba KhecharaVisoba Khechara , spelled also as Visoba Khechar or Visoba Khecar, was the yogi-guru of the Varkari poet-saint Namdev of Maharashtra, India. Visoba was a disciple of the Varkari poet-saint Dnyaneshwar . He had linkages with the Varkari tradition as well as the Nath tradition of Maharashtra...
(who was an orthodox Shaiva and teacher of Namdev),
Sena the barberA Marathi Vaishnava Saint who was a devotee of Lord VittalA Marathi Vaishnava Saint who was a devotee of Lord VittalA Marathi Vaishnava Saint who was a devotee of Lord Vittal:As a barber, I shall give a dressing...
, Narhari the goldsmith,
Savata the gardenerShri Sant Savata Mali, born into the Mali community, went on to become a Hindu Saint.There is a temple of Shri Sant Savata Mali at Pabal .Shri Sant Savata Mali, born into the Mali community, went on to become a Hindu Saint....
, Gora the potter,
KanhopatraKanhopatra or Kanhupatra was a 15th century Maharashtrian poetess and saint, venerated by the Varkari sect of Hinduism....
the dancing girl,
ChokhamelaChokhamela was a saint in Maharashtra, India in the 14th century. He belonged to the Mahar caste considered untouchable in India in that era. He was born at Mehuna raja, a village in Deulgaon Raja Taluka of Buldhana district. He lived at Mangalvedhe in Maharashtra. He wrote many Abhangas...
the "untouchable"
MaharThe Mahars are an important social group within the Indian state of Maharashtra state and surrounding states. A grouping of related endogamous castes, the Mahar are the largest scheduled caste group in Maharashtra. In the early 1980s, the Mahar community was estimated to make up about 9% of the...
, and even the
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
Sheikh Muhammad (1560–1650). Anyone born Shaiva or Vaishnava who considers Vithoba his
maya-baap (mother-father) and Pandharpur his
maher (maternal house of a bride) is accepted as a Varkari by the sect irrespective of the barriers of
casteA caste is a combined social system of occupation, endogamy, culture, social class, and political power. Caste should not be confused with class, in that members of a caste are deemed to be alike in function or culture, whereas not all members of a defined class may be so alike.Although Indian...
. Varkaris often practice Vithoba
japaJapa is a spiritual discipline involving the meditative repetition of a mantra or name of God. The mantra or name may be spoken softly, enough for the practitioner to hear it, or it may be spoken purely within the recitor's mind. Japa may be performed while sitting in a meditation posture, while...
(meditative repetition of a divine name), and observe a fast on the
ekadashi of each month.
Haridasa sect
HaridasaThe Haridasa devotional movement is considered as one of the turning points in the cultural history of India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and mystics helped shape the culture, philosophy and art of South India and Karnataka in particular by exerting considerable spiritual...
means servant (
dasaDasa is a Sanskrit term. Under the primary meaning 'enemy' sometimes relates to tribes identified as the enemies of the Vedic tribes in the Rigveda...
) of Vishnu (Hari). According to Haridasa tradition, their
sampradaya, also known as Haridasa-kuta, was founded by Achalananda Vitthala (
c. 888). It is a distinct branch within Vaishnavism, centered on Vitthala (the Haridasa–Kannada name for Vithoba).
Where Varkari are normally associated with Maharashtra, Haridasa are normally associated with Karnataka. The scholar Sharma considers Vithoba worship first emerged in Karnataka, only later moving to Maharashtra. He argues this on the basis of the reference by Dnyaneshwar, mentioned in section "Varkari sect" above. Lutgendorf credits the movement to
VyasatirthaVyasatirtha , also called Vyasaraja or Vyasaraya or Vyasacharya, was acclaimed as one on the three spiritual lights of Vedanta, i.e, Sri Madhvacharya, Sri Jayatirtha and Sri Vyasatirtha. He was a scholar of very high order with a judicious defence of the Dvaita Vedanta against all rival schools...
(1478–1539), the royal
guruA guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . As a principle for the development of consciousness it leads the creation from unreality to reality, from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge...
(
rajguru) to king
KrishnadevarayaTuluva Sri Krishna Deva Raya a.k.a. Krishna Raya was the famed Emperor of Vijayanagara empire. Presiding over the empire at its zenith, he is regarded as an icon by all Indians and especially the Tuluvas, Kannadigas and Telugus, one of the great emperors of India...
of the Vijayanagara empire. Vitthala enjoyed royal patronage in this era. Krishnadevaraya is also credited with building Vitthala's temple at the then capital city
VijayanagaraVijayanagara is in Bellary District, northern Karnataka. It is the name of the now-ruined capital city, located at , of the historic Vijayanagara empire which extended over the southern part of India.-Location and Surroundings:...
(modern
HampiHampi is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. Hampi is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, this village continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple. The village of...
).
Haridasas consider the temple of Pandharpur to be sacred, as well that of Hampi, and worship Vitthala along with forms of Krishna. Haridasa literature generally deals with praise dedicated to Vitthala and Krishna. Haridasa poets like
Vijaya VitthalaVijaya Dasa or Sri Vijaya Dasa was a prominent saint from the Haridasa tradition of Karnataka, India in the 18th century. He is considered one of the most accomplished scholars belonging to the Dvaita philosophical tradition...
,
Gopala VitthalaSri Gopala Dasa was a prominent saint, under the Haridasa tradition, who lived in the 18th century . Along with other contemporary Haridasas such as Vijaya Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa and Venugopala Dasa, Gopala Dasa propagated the Dvaita philosophy of Sri Madhvacharya throughout South India through...
, Jagannatha Vitthala, Venugopala Vitthala and Mohana Vitthala assumed pen-names ending with "Vitthala", as an act of devotion. The Haridasa poet
Purandara DasaPurandara Dāsa was one of the most prominent composers of Carnatic music and is widely regarded as the "father of Carnatic Music". Purandara Dasa addressed social issues in addition to worship in his compositions, a practice emulated by his younger contemporary, Kanaka Dasa...
or Purandara Vitthala (1484–1564), "father of
Carnatic musicCarnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
", often ended his Kannada language compositions with a salutation to Vitthala.
Festivals
The festivals associated with Vithoba primarily correspond to the bi-annual
yatra' , in Hinduism and other Indian religions, generally means pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of sacred rivers, places associated with Hindu epics such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana, and other sacred pilgrimage sites. Tīrtha-yātrā refers to a pilgrimage to a holy site, and is...
s (pilgrimages) of the Varkaris. The pilgrims travel to the Pandharpur temple from Alandi and
Dehu-Geography:Dehu is located at . It has an average elevation of 594 metres .-Demographics: India census, Dehu had a population of 5340. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Dehu has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is...
, towns closely associated with poet-saints Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram respectively. Along the way, they sing
abhangas (devotional songs) dedicated to Vithoba and repeat his name, carrying the
palkhis (palanquins) of the poet-saints. Varkaris do not engage in ritual worship but only practice
darshan is a Sanskrit term meaning "sight" , vision, apparition, or glimpse. It is most commonly used for "visions of the divine," e.g., of a god or a very holy person or artifact...
(visual adoration) of the deity. The ritual worship by the priests is restricted to five days each around the Ashadha (June–July) and Kartik (October–November)
EkadashiEkadashi or Agyaars is the eleventh lunar day of the shukla or krishna paksha of every lunar month in the Hindu calendar . In Hinduism and Jainism, it is considered a spiritually beneficial day...
s, when a large number of Varkaris participate in the
yatras. In smaller numbers, the Varkaris also visit the temple on two other Ekadashis—in the Hindu months of
MaghaMaagha is a month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Maagh is the eleventh month of the year, beginning in January and ending in February....
and
ChaitraChaitra is a month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar Chaitra is the first month of the year. It begins in March or April, depending upon the position of planet system. There is no fixed date in Gregorian calendar for beginning of the Hindu New Year i.e...
.
Up to 600,000 Varkaris travel to Pandharpur for the
yatra on Shayani Ekadashi, the 11th day of the
waxing moonA lunar phase or phase of the moon refers to the appearance of the illuminated portion of the Moon as seen by an observer, usually on Earth. The lunar phases vary cyclically as the Moon orbits the Earth, according to the changing relative positions of the Earth, Moon and Sun...
in the lunar month of Ashadha. Both Shayani Ekadashi and Prabodini Ekadashi (in the waxing half of Kartik), are associated with the mythology of Vishnu. Hindus believe that Vishnu falls asleep in Ksheersagar (a cosmic ocean of milk), while lying on the back of
Shesha-nāgaIn Hindu tradition, Shesha or Adi-shesha is the king of all nagas, one of the primal beings of creation, and according to the Bhagavata Purana, an avatar of the Supreme God known as Sankarshan...
(the cosmic serpent). His sleep begins on Shayani Ekadashi (literally the 'sleeping 11th') and he finally awakens from his slumber, four months later, on Prabodhini Ekadashi. The celebrations in Ashadha and Kartik continue until the full-moon in those months, concluding with torchlight processions. Inscriptions dating to the 11th century mention the Ekadashi pilgrimages to Pandharpur. On Shayani Ekadashi and Prabodini Ekadashi, the
chief minister or a minister of Maharashtra state performs ritual components of worship on behalf of the
Government of MaharashtraMaharashtra, a state in India has had a separate state government since it came into existence as a separate state on May 1, 1960. Like other states of India, the government is led by the Chief Minister...
. This form of worship is known as
sarkari-mahapuja.
Apart from the four Ekadashis, a fair is held on Dussera night at Pandharpur, when devotees dance on a large slab (
ranga-shila) before Vithoba, accompanied with torchlight processions. Other observances at the Pandharpur temple include:
Ranga-PanchamiHoli, also called the Festival of Colors, is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Srilanka, and countries with large Hindu diaspora populations, such as Suriname, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, the UK, USA, Mauritius, and Fiji...
, when
gulal (red powder) is sprinkled on the god's feet; and Krishna Janmashtami, Krishna's birthday, when devotees dance and sing in front of Vithoba for nine days. Other sacred days include Wednesdays, Saturdays and all other Ekadashis, all of which are considered holy in Vaishnavism.
Devotional works
Devotional works dedicated to Vithoba can be categorised into the Varkari tradition, the Brahmin tradition and what Raeside calls a "third tradition", that includes both Varkari and Brahmin elements. The Varkari texts are written in Marathi, the Brahmin texts in Sanskrit, and the "third tradition" are Marathi texts written by Brahmins.
The Varkari texts are:
Bhaktalilamrita and
Bhaktavijaya by
MahipatiMahipati was an author who wrote in Marāthi biographies of the prominent Hindu saints who had lived between the 13th and the 17th centuries in Mahārāshtra, India....
,
Pundalika-Mahatmya by
BahinabaiBahinabai or Bahina or Bahini is a Varkari female-saint from Maharashtra, India. She is considered as a disciple of another Varkari poet-saint Tukaram. Born in a brahmin family, Bahinabai was married to a widower at a tender age and spent most of her childhood wandering around Maharashtra along...
, and a long
abhanga by
NamdevNām dev was a prominent religious poet from the Marathwada region of Maharashtra state, India in the Hindu tradition, and was one the earliest writers in the Marathi language. He also wrote some hymns in the Hindi and the Punjabi languages...
. All these texts describe the legend of Pundalik. The Brahmin texts include: two versions of
Panduranga-Mahatmya from the
Skanda PuranaSkanda Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, is the largest Purana and is devoted mainly to the life and deed of Kartikeya , a son of Shiva and Parvati. It also contains a number of legends about Shiva, and the holy places associated with him...
(consisting of 900 verses);
Panduranga-Mahatmya from the
Padma PuranaPadma Purana , one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, is divided into five parts, believed to be composed between 800-1000 C.E. In the first part sage Pulastya explains to Bhishma about religion and the essence of the religion. The second part describes in detail Prithvi...
(consisting of 1,200 verses);
Bhima-Mahatmya, also from the Padma Purana; and a third devotional work, yet again called
Panduranga-Mahatmya, which is found in the
Vishnu PuranaThe Vishnu Purana is a religious Hindu text and one of eighteen Puranas. It is considered one of the most important Puranas and has been given the name Puranaratna...
. The "third tradition" is found in two works:
Panduranga-Mahatmya by the Brahmin Sridhara (consisting of 750 verses), and another work of the same name written by Prahlada Maharaj (consisting of 181 verses).
In addition to the above, there are many
abhangas, the short Marathi devotional poems of the Varkaris, and many
stutis (songs of praise) and
stotras (hymns), some of them originating from the Haridasa tradition. The best known of these is "Pandurangastaka" or "Pandurangastrotra", attributed to
Adi ShankaraAdi Shankara ; , also known as ' and ', was an Indian philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta, a sub-school of Vedanta. His teachings are based on the unity of the soul and Brahman, in which Brahman is viewed as without attributes...
charya, although this attribution is questioned. A text called "Tirthavali-Gatha", attributed to Namdev or Dnyaneshwar but possibly a collection of writings of many poet-saints, also centers on the propagation of Varkari faith and Vithoba worship. Other devotional works include
aratis like "Yuge atthavisa vitevari ubha" by Namdev and "Yei O Vitthala maje mauli re". These
aratis sing of Vithoba, who wears yellow garments and is served by
GarudaThe Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology....
(
mountVâhana or a Hindu vehicle, sometimes called a mount, is an animal, mythical entity or chimera closely associated with a particular deity in Hindu mythology...
of Vishnu) and
HanumanHanuman , known also as Anjaneya or Maruti , is one of the most popular concepts of devotees of God in Hinduism and one of the most important personalities in the Indian epic, the Ramayana...
(the monkey god, devotee of
RamaRama or Ramachandra is the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a legendary king of Ayodhya in ancient India...
—an avatar of Vishnu). Finally, the Telugu poet
Tenali RamakrishnaGarlapati Tenali Ramakrishna , popularly known as Tenali Rama and Vikata Kavi, was a court-poet of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century CE...
(16th century) refers to Vithoba, as Panduranga, in his poem
Panduranga-Mahatmyamu: "(O
ParvatiParvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is also regarded as a representation of Shakti, albeit the gentle aspect of that goddess because she is a mother goddess. Parvati is considered by some schools of Hinduism as the supreme Divine Mother or Lordess and all other goddesses are referred to as her...
), accepting the services of Pundarika and Kshetrapala (Kala-
bhairavaBhairava ,), sometimes known as Bhairo or Bhairon or Bhairadya, is the fierce manifestation of Shiva associated with annihilation...
), becoming the wish fulfilling tree by assuming a subtle body for the sake of devotees, fulfilling their wishes, the deity Panduranga resides in that temple."
Temples
There are many Vithoba temples in Maharashtra, and some in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. However, the main centre of worship is Vithoba's temple in Pandharpur. The temple's date of establishment is disputed, though it is clear that it was standing at the time of Dnyaneshwar in the 13th century. Along with Vithoba and his consorts—Rukmini, Satyabhama and Radha—other Vaishnava deities are worshipped. These include:
VenkateshwaraSri Venkateshwara , also known as Venkatachalapathy, Srinivasa and Balaji, is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu in India. Venkateshwara means the Lord who destroys the sins of the people...
, a form of Vishnu; Mahalakshmi, a form of Vishnu's consort
LakshmiLakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity, light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm...
; Garuda and Hanuman (see previous section). Shaiva deities are also worshipped, such as:
GaneshaGanesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh and also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most widely worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
, the elephant-headed god of wisdom and beginnings;
KhandobaKhandoba, also known as Khanderao, Khanderaya, Malhari Martand and Mallu Khan, is a regional Hindu deity, worshipped as Mārtanda Bhairava, a form of Shiva, mainly in the Deccan plateau of India...
, a form of Shiva; and
AnnapurnaAnnapurna is a series of peaks in the Himalayas, a -long massif of which the highest point, Annapurna I, stands at 8091m, making it the 10th-highest summit in the world and one of the 14 "eight-thousanders". It is located east of a great gorge cut through the Himalayas by the Kali Gandaki River,...
, a form of Shiva's consort
ParvatiParvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is also regarded as a representation of Shakti, albeit the gentle aspect of that goddess because she is a mother goddess. Parvati is considered by some schools of Hinduism as the supreme Divine Mother or Lordess and all other goddesses are referred to as her...
. The
samadhiSamadhi is a Hindu and Buddhist technical term that usually denotes higher levels of concentrated meditation, or dhyana, in Yogic schools.In Hinduism, it is the eighth and final limb of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali...
s (memorials) of saints like Namdev,
ChokhamelaChokhamela was a saint in Maharashtra, India in the 14th century. He belonged to the Mahar caste considered untouchable in India in that era. He was born at Mehuna raja, a village in Deulgaon Raja Taluka of Buldhana district. He lived at Mangalvedhe in Maharashtra. He wrote many Abhangas...
and
JanabaiJanābāi was a Marāthi religious poetess in the Hindu tradition in India, who was born likely in the seventh or the eighth decade of the 13th century. According to folklore, she died in 1350....
, and of devotees such as Pundalik and
KanhopatraKanhopatra or Kanhupatra was a 15th century Maharashtrian poetess and saint, venerated by the Varkari sect of Hinduism....
, are in and around the temple. Other significant temples in Maharashtra are located: at Dehu, the birthplace of Tukaram, which attracts visitors at all
ekadashiEkadashi or Agyaars is the eleventh lunar day of the shukla or krishna paksha of every lunar month in the Hindu calendar . In Hinduism and Jainism, it is considered a spiritually beneficial day...
s of the year; at Kole (
Satara districtSatara District is a district of Maharashtra state in western India with an area of 10,480 km² and a population of 2,808,994 of which 14.17% were urban . Satara is the capital of the district and other major towns include Wai, Karad, Koregaon, Koyananagar, Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani...
), in memory of Ghadge Bova, which has a fair on the fifth day of the bright fortnight (waxing moon) in
MaghaMaagha is a month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Maagh is the eleventh month of the year, beginning in January and ending in February....
month; at
KolhapurKolhapur is a city situated in the south west corner of Maharashtra, India. The population of Kolhapur city was 4,93,167, as per the 2001 census. Kolhapaur also serves as the headquarters of the Kolhapur District. As is the case in most of the Maharashtra cities, the main language spoken here is...
and Rajapur, which host fairs on Shayani Ekadashi and Prabodini Ekadashi; and finally at the Birla Mandir in
ShahadShahad is a town in Thāne district in Maharashtra state in India. It is located 60 km from Mumbai.The term "Shahad" is derived from Urdu word "Shah Had" "Shah" related to Mughals and "Had" means Border, it means Border of Shah's. Kalyan was developed under Mughal empire. In Kalyan you can find...
.
Vithoba was introduced to South India during the Vijayanagara and Maratha rule. In South India he is generally known as Vitthala. The Hampi temple (mentioned above) is a
World Heritage siteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
and the most important of Vitthala's temples outside Maharashtra. Constructed in the 15th century, the temple is believed to have housed the central image from Pandharpur, which the Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya took "to enhance his own status" or to save the image from plunder by
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
invaders. It was later returned to Pandharpur by Bhanudas (1448–1513), great-grandfather of poet-saint Eknath. Today, the temple stands without a central image, though between 1516 to 1565, most important transactions, which would have been carried out previously in the presence of the original state deity
VirupakshaVirupaksha Temple is located in Hampi 350 km from Bangalore, in the state of Karnataka in southern India.Hampi sits on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in the ruins of the ancient city of Vijayanagar, capital of the Vijayanagara empire. Virupaksha Temple is the main center of pilgrimage at...
(a form of Shiva), were issued in presence of the central image of Vitthala. Three of
MadhvacharyaShri Madhvacharya was the chief proponent of Tattvavāda , popularly known as Dvaita or dualistic school of Hindu philosophy. It is one of the three most influential Vedanta philosophies. Madhva was one of the important philosophers during the Bhakti movement. He was a pioneer in many ways, going...
's
eight mathas (monasteries)The Ashta Mathas of Udupi are a group of eight mathas or monasteries established by Sri Madhvacharya the preceptor of the Dvaita school of Hindu thought. For each of the eight mathas, Sri Madhvacharya also appointed one of his direct disciples to be the first Swamiji...
in Karnataka—
ShirurShirur or Shiroor is a village in Udupi district in the Indian state of Karnataka. The national highway number 17 connecting Panvel to Eranakulam passes through this village....
,
PejavaraPejavara is a village located in the Mangalore taluk of Dakshina Kannada, formerly known as South Canara or South Kanara, district of Karnataka, India. It houses one of the eight ashta mathas established by Shri Madhwacharya, the Dvaita philosopher. It also houses a branch of the krishnapura matha,...
and
PuttigeThere are two places named as Puttige in Karnataka. One of them is in the Udupi district and the other happens to be near Mudabidare in Dakshina Kannada district....
—have Vitthala as their presiding deity. A
Vitthaleshwara temple stands at
MulbagalMulbagal is a town and Taluk headquarters of Mulbagal Taluk in the Kolar district in the state of Karnataka, India. It lies just off the National Highway 4.-Etymology:...
, Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu, Vitthala shrines are found in
SrirangamSrirangam , also known as Thiruvarangam, is an island and a zone in the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India. Srirangam is bounded by the Kaveri River on one side, and the Kaveri distributary Kollidam on the other side...
, Vittalapuram in
Tirunelveli districtTirunelveli District is a district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The city of Tirunelveli is the district headquarters...
, and
ThennangurThennangur is a village located in Tiruvanamalai district of Tamil Nadu. The village is the site of a uniquely designed Hindu temple and is also regarded as the birthplace of the Hindu goddess Meenakshi.-Location:...
, and sculptures are also found in Kanchi.
Vitthal is worshipped as
Vitthalnath at the
NathdwaraNathdwara is a city in Rajasthan state of western India. It is located in the Aravalli hills, on the banks of the Banas River in Rajsamand District, just north of Udaipur. This holy town is famous for its temple of Krishna which houses the Shrinathji, a 12th century "infant" incarnation idol of...
in
GujaratGujarat is the westernmost state in India. It is home to the Gujarati speaking people of India. The state encompasses major sites of the Indus Valley Civilization such as Lothal and Dholavira. Gujarat played an important role in the economic history of India throughout the history of India...
.
Legend
Legends regarding Vithoba usually focus on his devotee Pundalik or on Vithoba's role as a savior to the poet-saints of the Varkari faith. As discussed in the devotional works section above, the Pundalik legend appears in the Sanskrit scriptures
Skanda PuranaSkanda Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, is the largest Purana and is devoted mainly to the life and deed of Kartikeya , a son of Shiva and Parvati. It also contains a number of legends about Shiva, and the holy places associated with him...
and
Padma PuranaPadma Purana , one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text, is divided into five parts, believed to be composed between 800-1000 C.E. In the first part sage Pulastya explains to Bhishma about religion and the essence of the religion. The second part describes in detail Prithvi...
. It is also documented in Marathi texts:
Panduranga-Mahatmya by a Brahmin called Sridhara; another work of the same name written by Prahlada Maharaj; and also in the
abhangas of various poet-saints.
There are three versions of the Pundalik legend, two of which are attested as textual variants of the Skanda Purana (1.34–67). According to the first, the ascetic Pundarika (Pundalik) is described as a devotee of god Vishnu and dedicated to the service of his parents. The god
GopalaGopala Literally, Sanskrit for "Cow herder"/GOPAL, Child form of KRISNA, the Cowherd Boy who enchanted the Cowherd Maidens with the sound of his flute, attracting even Madan, Cupid. Historically one of the earliest forms of worship in Krishnaism. It is believed to be a key element of the early...
-Krishna, a form of Vishnu, comes from
GovardhanaGovardhan is a hill located near the town of Vrindavan in India, considered as sacred by a number of traditions within Hinduism.It is especially important to those traditions which worship Krishna or Vishnu as the Supreme God such as Vaishnavism and Gaudiya Vaishnavism, which are popular around...
as a cowherd, accompanied by his grazing cows, to meet Pundarika. Krishna is described as in
digambar form, wearing
makara-kundala, the
srivatsa mark (described above), a head-dress of peacock feathers, resting his hands on his hips and keeping his cow-stick between his thighs. Pundarika asks Krishna to remain in this form on the banks of the river Bhima. He believes that Krishna's presence will make the site a
tirtha and a kshetraCoupled with the concept of the power of the Mantra, in Hinduism, there is the concept of the holiness of a place. A holy place or a place of pilgrimage has two technical equivalents in Hindu tradition, namely, Tirtha and Kshetra.-Tirtha:...
. The location is identified with modern-day Pandharpur, which is situated on the banks of the Bhima. The description of Krishna resembles the characteristics of the Pandharpur image of Vithoba.
The second version of the legend depicts Vithoba appearing before Pundalik as the five-year-old
Bala KrishnaBala Krishna sometimes translated to "Divine Child Krishna", is historically one of the early forms of worship in Krishnaism and an element of the history of Krishna worship in antiquity...
(infant Krishna). This version is found in manuscripts of both Puranas, Prahlada Maharaj, and the poet-saints, notably Tukaram. The remaining version of the Pundalik legend appears in Sridhara and as a variant in the Padma Purana. Pundalik, a Brahmin madly in love with his wife, neglected his aged parents as a result. Later, on meeting sage Kukkuta, Pundalik underwent a transformation and devoted his life to the service of his aged parents. Meanwhile, Radha, the milkmaid-lover of Krishna, came to
DwarkaDwarka , also spelled Dvarka, Dwaraka, and Dvaraka, is a city and a municipality located in the Jamnagar district of Gujarat state in India. Dwarka , also known as Dwarawati in Sanskrit literature is rated as one of the seven most ancient cities in the country...
, the kingdom of Krishna, and sat on his lap. Radha did not honour Rukmini, the chief queen of Krishna, nor did Krishna hold Radha accountable for the offence. Offended, Rukmini left Krishna and went to the forest of Dandivana near Pandharpur. Saddened by Rukmini's departure, Krishna searched for his queen and finally found her resting in Dandivana, near Pundalik's house. After some coaxing, Rukmini was pacified. Then Krishna visited Pundalik and found him serving his parents. Pundalik threw a brick outside for Krishna to rest on. Krishna stood on the brick and waited for Pundalik. After completing his services, Pundalik asked that his Lord, in Vithoba form, remain on the brick with Rukmini, in Rakhumai form, and bless His devotees forever.
Other legends describe Vithoba coming to the rescue of his devotees in the form of a commoner, an outcast
MaharThe Mahars are an important social group within the Indian state of Maharashtra state and surrounding states. A grouping of related endogamous castes, the Mahar are the largest scheduled caste group in Maharashtra. In the early 1980s, the Mahar community was estimated to make up about 9% of the...
"untouchable" or a Brahmin beggar.
MahipatiMahipati was an author who wrote in Marāthi biographies of the prominent Hindu saints who had lived between the 13th and the 17th centuries in Mahārāshtra, India....
, in his work
Pandurangastrotra, narrates how Vithoba helped female saints like Janabai in their daily chores, such as sweeping the house and pounding the rice. He narrates how Vithoba came to the aid of Sena the barber. The king of
BidarBidar is a city and taluka in Karnataka state, India. It is the administrative seat of Bidar District. Bidar is also known as Karnatakda kerita.Bidar city is known for its unique Bidri handicraft products...
had ordered Sena to be arrested for not coming to the palace despite royal orders. As Sena was engrossed in his prayers to Vithoba, Vithoba went to the palace in the form of Sena to serve the king, and Sena was saved. Another tale deals with a saint, Damaji, the keeper of the royal grain store, who distributed grain to the people in famine. Vithoba came as an outcast with a bag of gold to pay for the grain. Yet another story narrates how Vithoba resurrected the child of Gora Kumbara (potter), who had been trampled into the clay by Gora while singing the name of Vithoba.
Outside the Varkari sect, the founder of Hindu sect
PushtimargPushtimarg is a sect of the Hindu religion, founded by Shrimad Vallabhacharya Shri Vallabhacharya is one of the five main Acharyas of the Hindu Religion...
- Vallabhacharya (1479 – 1531) is believed to have visited Pandharpur at least twice and was ordered to marry by Vithoba (Vitthalnath).
External links
Related information