Vaishnava · Solapur, Maharashtra

Shri Vitthal Rukmini Temple, Pandharpur

Vitthal (Panduranga) standing on a brick, with Rukmini

GeneralMarriage

The temple in short

Deity: Vitthal (Panduranga) standing on a brick, with Rukmini
Where: Solapur, Maharashtra · 17.68N 75.32E
Usual hours: 5 am – 1 pm, 4 pm – 9 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?
Grahas: Guru Sukran
Visited for: The Lord who has waited on a brick for his devotee, and the end of the Ashadi Ekadasi wari from Alandi and Dehu. Ekadasi is its day.

Kept for Jupiter and Venus, 2 of the nine grahas a temple can be visited for.

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The sthala purana

Tradition, as it is told at the temple

The sthala purana has it that Pundalik, a man entirely taken up with the care of his parents, was serving them when Vitthal came to his door. He is said to have thrown out a brick for the Lord to stand on and asked him to wait until he had finished.

Vitthal is said to have waited, and to be waiting still. He stands on that brick with his hands on his hips, which is the posture of someone who has been kept standing, and it is the whole theology of the place in one image.

What is recorded

Documented history

Pandharpur is the centre of the Varkari tradition, and the abhangas of Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath and Tukaram are addressed to this deity. The temple carries inscriptions going back several centuries.

The wari is the observance the town is known for: palkhis carrying the sandals of Dnyaneshwar from Alandi and Tukaram from Dehu are walked to Pandharpur for Ashadhi Ekadashi, a journey of about 250 km taken over three weeks by hundreds of thousands of people.

Unlike most large temples, Pandharpur allows padasparsh darshan, in which a devotee may touch the feet of the deity. The queue for it is long and separate.

What there is to see

Description

Vitthal stands on the brick, hands on hips, and Rukmini has a separate shrine of her own behind him.

The Namdev Payari, the step at the entrance where Namdev asked to be buried so that devotees would step over him, is the first thing touched on the way in.

The Chandrabhaga river runs below with a wide sandy bank, and Pundalik’s own small temple stands out in the river bed. During the wari the sand is covered with people for a mile.

The temple year

The days it is fullest

Ashadhi Ekadashi is the great yatra, and the town holds many times its own population for it.

Kartiki, Maghi and Chaitri Ekadashi bring the other three yatras of the year. Ekadashi every fortnight is busy.

Getting there, and what else it is called

Also called: Vitthal Rukmini Mandir, Panduranga Kshetra, Bhu-Vaikuntha
Reaching it: Pandharpur is in Solapur district, about 75 km from Solapur and 200 km from Pune. It has its own railway station, and buses run from Solapur and Pune.

Where it is

Shri Vitthal Rukmini Temple, Pandharpur, Solapur, Maharashtra. The dot is the town, to about a kilometre — the gazetteer does not hold the gopuram's own coordinates.

Others within reach

Nearest first, by straight-line distance

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Parihaaram is traditional practice, offered for devotion and peace of mind; it is not a guaranteed cure of any condition. Temple hours change with festivals and the season, so check before travelling.