Pandharpur

"Pandharpur... has been called the spiritual capital of Maharashtra and is where the deity of the Supreme Being is worshiped in His form named Vithobha, Panduranga, or Sri Vitthala. This place is called Bhu-Vaikuntha, the manifestation of the spiritual world on earth. The town is located along the Bhima River, which is considered as sacred as the Ganges and locally known as the Chandrabhaga."

"Anyone who visits Pandharpur will find a spiritual atmosphere very much like Vrindavana or Nathdwara. The whole town is centered around serving Krishna. Everyone helps out, regardless of anyone’s background. Being in such an environment can have a lasting affect on one’s consciousness and can provide deep realizations of the power of such all-inclusive devotional service."

"The Emperor, summoning Muhammad Khalil and Khidmat Rai, the darogha of hatchet-men... ordered them to demolish the temple of Pandharpur, and to take the butchers of the camp there and slaughter cows in the temple... It was done."

"After desecrating Tuljapur, the Bijapur general, Afzal Khan marched to Pandharpur with a cavalry of 10,000, and destroyed all the images he could find. The temple priests had, however, learnt of the sacrilege at Tuljapur, and removed the image of Vithoba before Afzal Khan’s arrival. According to the nineteenth century Sivadigvijaya bakher, the head priest of Pandharpur sent a missive to Shivaji, It is your fond ambition to establish the Hindu faith; but the king of the Yavanas has sent a general to punish you. He has oppressed in various manners the Hindus, Brahmanas and cows of Tuljapur and Pandharpur. If you can protect us from his tyranny, then alone will Hinduism prosper...Otherwise...what shall we do in that case but commit suicide and throw upon you the sin thereof? But if this message fires you with rightful wrath, and you exert your valour and punish the Yavanas, a quarter of what virtue we have acquired in the past and may win in future by our religious performances will be yours; but for our sins we alone shall suffer."

"Renowned anthropologist and sociologist, Iravati Karve presented an insightful account of her pilgrimage to Pandharpur, “... |was getting to know my Maharashtra anew every day. I found a new definition of Maharashtra: the land whose people go to Pandharpur for pilgrimage. When the palanquin started from Pune, there were people from Pune, Junnar, Moglai, Satara, etc. Every day people were joining the pilgrimage from Khandesh, Sholapur, Nasik, and Berar. As we neared Pandharpur, the pilgrimage was becoming bigger and bigger. All were Marathi-speaking —- coming from different castes, but singing the same songs, the same verses of the Varkari cult, speaking to each other, helping each other, singing songs to each other. The only Maharashtrian area not represented was Konkan, the District of the Maharashtrian seacoast. When I enquired about this, I was told that the Ashadh month’s pilgrimage was for the plateau people; the month of Kartik would bring out the whole of Konkan. Ashadh was their time for work in the fields, so naturally, they could not leave... I witnessed how the language and culture of Maharashtrahad spread among all its social layers. The fine poetry of five centuries was recited daily. The poetry embodied a religion and a philosophy. People speaking many dialects sang the same verses and thus learnt a standard language. Their learning was achieved in a massive dose but without pain or compulsion ...”."