PANDHARPUR

is the sixth landing (25’ X 14’) unfinished and unimportant, with only four or five ruined steps. It is said to have been built about 1790. Close to the south of the sixth and about 300 feet south of the Kumbhar landing is the Mahadwar or Great Gate landing (132’ X 36’), the most important of all. It is nearly opposite the chief gate of the temple of Vithoba and is used by all who go to the river to bathe, to fetch water or to visit Pundlik’s temple. Many pilgrims prefer the Mahadwar to the Uddhav steps as a starting point for their holy round. After visiting Pundlik’s temple they come direct to these steps, enter the river, and turn south. To the north and south of the Mahadwar landing, almost abutting on it, are the temples of Ramchandra the work of the famous temple-building princess Ahilyabai Holkar (1735 - 1795), and of Dwarkadhish or Murlidhar built by Bayjabai Shinde. This landing was built in 1785 by Chinto Nagesh Badve, a priest of Vithoba’s temple. About 300 feet to the south of the Mahadwar landing is the Kasar landing (111’ X 35’). It was built about 1798 by one Ramrao Javlekar Kulkarni and is chiefly used by the people of the neighbourhood in drawing water. To the south is a large enclosure with the tomb of an old Pandharpur Pandit known as Padhya. About 300 feet south of the Kasar landing is the Chandrabhaga landing (54’ X 42’) built jointly about 1810 by Bajirao Peshwa and a holy man from chopda in Jalgaon. It is much used being the landing by which pilgrims enter the town from the bed of the river during their holy round. On the south is the temple of Chandrabhaga which pilgrims have to keep on their right when they make the holy round. A strong mesonry parapet wall leads about 600 feet to the tenth or Vipra Datta’s landing (45’ X 36’) so called from a temple of Datta near it on the north-west. The landing was built about 1820 by Chintamanrao or Appasaheb Patwardhan of Sangli. It is close to the circuit road. as it’s landing has to be crossed by pilgrims. A small shrine of Mahadeo outside Datta’s temple at it’s south-east corner is included in the circuit. To the south of Datta’s landing at the extreme south end of the town is the last landing (37’ X 20’). It is unfinished and was built about 1770 by one Gopal Naik Jambhekar.

Vithoba’s temple : Vithoba’s temple, the chief temple in pandharpur, is near the central part of the town which is considered holy and is called Pandharikshetra or the Holy Spot of Pandhari. It has a greatest length from east to west of 350 feet and a greatest breadth from north to south of 170 feet. A paved passage with a greatest breadth of twenty-five feet runs round the temple encolsure. The temple is entered by six gates, two on the north, one on the west, one on the south, and two on the east. Three more gates have been constructed, two on the north and one the south. Besides these the chief entrance is the east of front gate, called the Namdeo gate after Namdeo the great thirteenth century devotee of Vithoba. On the river side the Namdeo gate faces the Mahadwar ghat or flight of steps which gets the name Mahadwar because it faces the chief doorway of the temple. In the middle of the road leading from the Mahadwar steps to the temple, at the end of a lane, is a large arched gateway called the Mahadwar gate. The Namdeo gate is reached by twelve steps. The entire first or lowest step and the front face of the step above it are plated with brass, and on the brass-plated face of the second step are carved fourteen small standing figures of Namdeo’s family. Namdeo comes first with a tambourine or tambura in his hand as if performing a kirtan or service of sermon and song, and the women are clapping their hands in accompaniment. An inscription on the first step records that this brass-plating is about a hundred years old and is the work of a man from Dhar in central India. Close to the right of the first step is a brass bust of Namdeo in Maratha dress. According to the local belief Namdeo, who was an inhabitant of Pandharpur, has his tomb or samadhi on this spot. Padukas or foot-prints of Vithoba are also worshiped in a tailor’s house which is said to be Namdeo’s house and which contains a tomb which also claims to be Namdeo’s tomb. This house has been renovated and multy-storeyed building is erected. Opposite Namdeo’s bust, to the right of the lane in a deep recess, is a stone about 2’6’’ high and 1’6’’ broad. This stone is worshipped as the abode of Chokhamela, an enthusiastic devotee of Vithoba, who is said to have flourished about 1278 (Shake 1200). The stone is dressed in Maratha fashion and is worshipped by all.

The samadhi of Chokhamela was renovated by Malojirao Mudhojirao alias Nanasaheb Naik NImbalkar of Phaltan in Satara district on 23rd November 1954. The stone is now at the centre of a plinth of about 10’ X 10’ X 2’ paved with white marbles. At the back of the stone there is a brass prabhaval of about 2’6’’ X 2’ engraved with peacocks and leaves. An umbrella like construction in cement-concrete at the back provides shade over the stone. The samadhi is electrified. The scheduled caste people who were not allowed to enter the temple before the enactment of the Temple Entry Act, 1947, of the then Bombay State, The Untouchability Offences Act, 1956, of the Central Government, and the Public Entry Authorisation Act, 1956, of the Maharashtra State, used to pay their respects to Vithoba from near this stone.

The steps lead to a porch, in the back wall of which the Namdeo gate opens on the temple. In the gateway are two pillars and two pilasters guarded by side railings of stone. The workmanship of the railing and of the pillars appears to belong to the time of the Devgiri Yadavas, that is, to about the twelfth century. The side walls of the gateway are of the same time and are carved like the wall of a temple of the twelfth century. Part of the south wall is well preserved. The faces of several of the figures in the porch and walls have been wilfully disfigured, probably by Musalmans. The old work of the gate a drum-house or nagarkhana. Other brick work further hides the original stone masonry. The Namdeo gate posts are modern. Over the door post a Sanskrit inscription in Devnagari characters of eleven lines each of twenty three letters, bears date Shaka 1540 (A.D. 1680) and records the making of the gate by Rukhmaji Anant Pingal who employed Krishna, the son of Murari, as his agent. The Namdeo gate opens on a narrow passage with a roof resting on four arches and with three rooms on each side, the middle room on each side having an inner room. These rooms are occupied by devotees of Vithoba. On the left, between the third and fourth arches, is a recess with an image of Ganapati about four feet from the ground. Four steps lead down from the passage to a large paved quadrangle about 120’ X 60’. The quadrangle was divided into two parts, an east half partly tiled and partly open, and a west half called the sabhamandap covered with a tiled roof. The sabhamandap was said to have been built by the Badves. The roof over part of the east half was said to have been built for the kirtans or song services of Ganduji Bava in the time Bajirao the last Peshwa (1796-1818). In this part on the left on an altar is a nim tree and on the right is a lamp-pillar ibout thirty feet high. Near the lamp-pillar is a large stone jar or ranjan now filled with water. It is locally called the jar or ranjan of Bodhlya Bava, a devotee of Vithoba of Dhamangaon village in Pune, whose tomb or samadhi is in a shrine or closet close to the jar. This ranjan is so like the toll-jar or ranjan on the Deccan side of the Nana pass in Thana district and other stone Devgiri Yadav (1170-1318) toll-jars that it seems likely to have been used to gather a pilgrim tax or some other levy. An entirely new sabhamandap of 120’ X 60’ was constructed about 65 years ago. Its tiled roof is supported by two rows, one each of six wooden pillars. Each pillar is about 30’ high. The lamp-pillar near the samadhi of Bodhlya Bava has been demolished and the stone jar or ranjan has been shifted and fixed in the plinth just behind the temple of Maruti in the sabhamandap. The ranjan is not filled with water. Before entering the sabhamandap on the right, tap water is made available. The nim tree along with the altar on the left has also been removed. In the quandrangle are two more lamp-pillars about thirty feet high, one in the middle the other to the left. The left lamp-pillar is said to have been built by one of the Holkars. Behind the middle pillar on a quandrangle altar was a vrindavan or basil stand. Now, this vrindavan, built in marbles, is on the left as we enter the sabhamandap. From the roof of the old wooden sabhamandap was hanging a central wooden chandelier with chain and brackets all carved out of one piece of wood. The chandelier is no more now and no one knows what happened with it. The sabhamandap begins with four pillared chhatri or shade over an altar and within the chhatri in the middle a small stone shrine with a figure of Garud. On another altar close to the left was a tree which died and has been removed. Further within the hall, a little to the right of the centre is a small square flat-roofed shrine with an image of Maruti. The hall is now used for song services and devotional dances. The floors of the quadrangle and of the temple are crowded with the names of pilgrims who have them carved under the belief that the touch of devotee’s feet will purify their names. The surface of the stone pavement has now become so smooth due to constant wear that the names carved on it could hardly be read out. Several round holes in the floor and on the steps are marks of vows to present the god with money. The practice, which is now rarely followed, is to hammer the silver coin deep enough into the floor to make a hole. This hammering turns the coin into a cup. Some holes remain with cup-shaped coins in them but from most the coins have disappeared. On each side of the quadrangle runs a cloister or veranda with an inner and an outer row of arches, eleven on the left and eight on the right. The inner arches have been filled and made into doorways, each leading to a small room where a devotee used to live. The cloisters seem to be the work of more than one builder. Many of them have no record, but in front of part of the right cloister, between the third and fourth outer arches and on the fourth outer arch, are two inscriptions giving the names of builders. The inscriptions seem to show that the right cloister and probably also the left cloister were built about 1738. The first three of the right cloister rooms were built by two sons of a man named Shiv and the next four were made in the same year by Trimbakrao Pethe, better known as Trimbakrao mama, a distiguished general under the fourth Peshwa Madhavrao (1761-1772). Both inscriptions show that the temple was then called Pandurang Nilo, that is, the nilaya (Sk.) or residence of Pandurang, a name of Vithoba which occurs in several old songs or abhangs. Six porch-covered steps lead from the quadrangle up to a narrow mandap or hall (50’ X 10’). In the quadrangle to the left of the porch the large unused bell hangs from a massive beam of wood. The bell is removed and kept in a room on the left. The bell is of Indian make about 2’6’’ in height and about the same in diameter at the base. The hall or mandap rests on two rows each of six pillars and ten pilasters, two in each side wall and six in the back wall. The ceiling is formed of large blocks of dressed stone resting on the pillars and pilasters in the cut-corner style. Over two of the middle pillars is an old block 7’6’’ long, 1’2’’ broad and 9’’ thick. It is part either of a pilaster or of a door post of the old temple and on it’s three faces has a Sanskrit inscription in Devnagari characters dated Shaka 1159 (A.D. 1237). The beginning and the end of the inscription are hidden by part of the pillar capital. The letters are very shallow and as the slab forms part of the roof amd is in the dark the whole of the inscription can hardly be read without taking out the stone. What can be made out shows that the inscription belongs to a king named Someshwar who called himself of the Yadav Dynasty. HIs attributes are almost the same as those of the Devgiri Yadavs. He does not appear to be a petty Yadav chief as he called himself the Beloved of the Earth, Prithvi-Vallabha, the great king of kings, Maharajadhiraja, and Sarvarajachudamani that is the crown jewel of all kings, all attributes worthy of a great king. In the accepted list of the Devgiri Yadav kings the date Shaka 1159 (A.D. 1237) falls in the reign of Singhana II (1209-1247). The probable explanation of this apparent disagreement may be that Someshwar is another name of Singhana or of his son Jaitugi II who reigned in his father’s life-time. The inscription goes on to state that Someshwar conquered the ruler of the country round and encamped at Pandarige on the bank of the Bhimarathi or Bhima. At that time (1237) Pandharpur was therefore apparently called Pandarige, a name which appears to be of Kanarese origin as many Kanarese place names end in ge. In the inscription Pandarige is called Mahagrama or a great village and the god is twice called Viththal, the form of his name which is still current. Vithoba appears to have then also been worshipped, and the story of the boon to Pundlik which is still current, seems to have then also been in vogue with the only difference that Pundlika is here called a sage or muni. This proves that in the thirteenth century Viththal was already a god of long standing. The inscription mentions a gift to the god out of the yearly presents from the people of Hiriyagaranja village probably, as H and P interchange in Kanarese, the modern Pulunj about fifteen miles east of Pandharpur where a well engraved inscription of the Yadav king Singhana II has been found.

In the back wall of the hall or mandap are three gates, of which the middle gateway and gates have been elaborately and cleverly plated with brass and ornamented. The door-frame and the doors of the middle gate are plated with silver and hence called chandicha darwaja. On one post is a figure of Vishnu’s attendant Jaya and on the other post of Vijaya, each with a small fly-wheask bearer. On the threshold are carved a fame-face or kirti-mukh and a chakra or discus, and on the outstanding front of the lintel is an image of Ganpati. The door post and two front pilasters are plane but handsome. A brass chhatra or shade carved in leaf pattern projects from the lintel over the pilasters. Above the chhatra is lotus tracery in panels and above the lotus tracery is some carving in the kangra or boss pattern. In the kangra carving two inscriptions record that the carving was the work of two Tambats who were employed by some one whose name is not given. Probably each of the Tambats completed one side. In the porch in front of the hall or mandap is a bell of European make 1’4’’ in diameter at the base and 1’8’’ high. The bell is removed and kept in a room. It bears the following inscription :-

VENTVRAFES 1634

and a little below

LDV A DOSEAOS ANTIS IMD SACRAMENTO

According to a Marathi inscription in the right wall, this hall or mandap was built in the bright half of Magha (February-March) in Shaka 1543 (A.D. 1621) Durmati Samvatsar by Mankoji Narayan and Appaji, inhabitants of Ped, sons of Bhanuri Hasoba Nayak son of Kukoba Nayak and Hasoba’s wife Gangai. To the left of the middle gateway in the backwall of the mandap is a large niche with an image of Ganesh daubed with red lead. To the right of the gateway is a black stone four-armed image of Sarasvati about 2’6’’ high sitting on a lotus. The upper right hand holds a lotus and the lower holding a garland rests on the right knee, the upper left holds an axe and the lower left a long rectangular block apparently a manuscript. The side gateways rae plane and have iron grating in the doors. The middle gateway leads to what is called the solakhamb or sixteen-pillared hall or mandap. This is a large hall (41’6’’ X 45’6’’) apparently later than the last hall and said to have been built about 200 years ago by a Daudkar (inhabitant of Daud) Shenvi. The hall has four rows of four pillars and four pilasters in each wall. The workmanship of the pillars is an imitation of the old Devgiri Yadav pillars in the Namdeo gate porch. In a square part in the middle of the pillars is a sculpture with scenes from Krishna’s life, the Machchha and Kachchha or fish and tortoise, the first and second, incarnations of Vishnu, three fish with one face in the Musalman style, and some ducks. Over each group of four pillars is a dome in the cut corner style, eight of which, at the suggestions of the Sanitary Commissioner, were opened for light and air. In the front wall of the hall are three gates, the middle gate old and the side gates were then opened at the suggestion of the Sanitary Commissioner. The north wall has three more gates and the south wall two. The first door on the south leads to a veranda which goes right up to the Tarti darwaja where an image of the saint Kanho Patra is installed in a small shrine over which a tree called tarti is grown. In the east or back wall of the south part of the veranda are four rooms with images. In the last room is an image of Ganapati with its trunk on the right. The part of the veranda which goes towards the west has two rows of pillars five in each row. At the west-end of this veranda, in a deep recess, there is a room having an image of Guptling or ling of Mahadeo. This Mahadeo and the room as well are not visible from outside. The veranda then takes a rectangular turn and ends at the Paschim darwaja. In this small portion of the veranda there are two rooms having images, in one there is an image of Khandoba and his wife Mhalsa. The whole work, veranda rooms and pillars, is strong and of fine masonry. An inscription on one of the rooms records that the work was done in Shaka 1771 (A.D. 1849) by Menabai, the wife of Anandrao Pawar of Dhar in central India. Menabai also built the wooden mandap to the south of Lakshmi’s temple and supplied a boat in the Bhima. The mandap has been demolished and instead a new hall is built in cement-concrete.

Facing the north gates of the solakhamb mandap is a detached veranda with seven rooms in its back wall. The veranda roof is supported on two rows each of six plain pillars. Going from left to right, in a niche facing east is an image of Ganapati, the rooms have a ling of Kashivishvanath, images of Ram and Lakshman, a small Kalbhairav riding a dog plated with brass, a small ling called Rameshwar on a high shalunkha, ekmukhi Dattatraya in black stone, and Narsoba. The last room is empty. In the niche facing west are images of Garud and Hanuman. These rooms are said to be the work of a Badva named Kanababa. Near the east end of the narrow passage between these rooms and the solakhamb hall, in a recess, is a large inscribed slab 4’10’’ long by 2’9’’ broad. It is locally called chauryanshi or eighty four and the Badves used to tell pilgrims to rub their backs against it to escape the eighty-four millions of births destined for every unrubbed human soul. A modern image of Devi has been fixed on the slab and the recess has been fitted with a modern door. The true origin of the name chauryanshi is that the slab is dated Shaka 1194 and as the third figure looks like 8, the Badves read it eighty-four or chauryanshi and connected it with the story of the eighty-four million births. The inscription is now protected by an iron grating. In the first line of the inscription a salutation is offered to Viththal or Vithoba and then, after the date Shaka 1194 (A.D. 1272), follows a description an parallel columns of numerous gifts offered monthly to the temple by several devotees. The gifts mentioned belong to various times, and give in short the names of the devotee and his gift. As none are written in full they are hard to make out. The first inscription runs Shripati Danna ki data ga deya danda o phule 100 van which probably means the gift by one Shripati Danna of one gadiano (a month) yielding daily 100 flowers to be offered to the god. The same column contains the following in Marathi :- Shaku 1198 Dhata samvatsaru Magh Shudi 2 Buddhe yadavi Kala Hemadi panditi Dhamana datta ga deya danda recording on Wednesday the bright second of Magha (february-March) Shaka 1198 (A.D. 1276) Dhata samvatsar in the Yadavi period by pandit Hemadi, the gift of Dhamana gadyana. This pandit Hemadi no doubt is the minister Hemadri of the great Devgiri Yadav Ramchandra (A.D. 1271-1310) from whose piety and bounty all the early Hindu temples of the North Bombay Deccan and Khandesh are locally known as Hemadpanti. The next gift, which is dated Shaka 1199 (A.D. 1277) Ishwar samvatsar, gives the name of the king as Ramchandradevray.

Of the sixteen pillars in the solakhamb hall the base and capital of the second in the second row are plated with gold (now brass) and its shaft which is plated with silver bears a small figure of Vishnu’s vahan Garud. Pilgrims embrace the pillar and make money offerings to it. It is said to stand in the place of an old Garud pillar which stood in front of Vishnu’s shrine before the solakhamb hall was built. The solakhamb hall is paved with white marbles. Near garudkhamb is a rangsheela. The second and third pillars in the second and third rows of pillars in the solakhamb hall have a dome on which from inside are carved the images of the incarnations of god. In the back wall of the mandap a door leads to a smaller hall called the four-pillared or chaukhamb. This door was widened about 100 years ago to make the passage for pilgrims easier. It is plated with silver on the right before we enter into the chaukhamb hall and foot-prints or paduka’s in the name of the great poet-saint Tukaram are placed on a stone plinth 2’X2’X3’. Adjacent to this was a samadhi of Bhanudas, a great devotee of Vithoba. Now the padukas have been shifted from its original place and are kept in front of the image of Vyas Narayan. With this chaukhamb begins the original temple. The solakhamb between this chaukhamb and the mandap is modern. The original temple included the usual hall, ante-chamber, and shrine or garbhagar. The chaukhamb has two gates, one on the south called hatti darwaja because there are two old stone elephants near the steps and one leading to the solakhamb. Though, as it is now joined with the solakhamb, no steps remain on the east, the east gate like the south gate must originally have had steps with elephants. The chaukhamb is 22’2’’ broad by 19’10’’ long and has four central pillars which give it its name. In the centre is a rangsheela carved out of white marbles. The floor is paved with white marbles. In the walls are four pilasters. The roof is in the cut-stone dome style and has been pierced in six places for air. The north wall has no gate, and a deep recess faces the south gate. Near the north-east corner of the hall a second recess is used as the god’s bed chamber or shejghar and is furnished with a silver couch with bed cloths and some of the raiment. In front of the south gate over the steps is a modern roof. Between the two pillars of the chaukhamb on the ante-chamber side is a wooden bar about eight inches thick to prevent over-crowding. Also, to avoid the rush of the crowd from entering into the shrine for darshan of god the barricades are arranged right from the narrow mandap outside the solakhamb mandap till the image of god. From the four pillared hall a later arch plated with silver resting on two later pillars carved in the Moghal style leads into the ante-chamber which is about nine feet square, and, except some empty niches in the side wall, is plain. A hole and two air shafts have been made in the roof to give more air. From the ante-chamber a small door (3’X3’) plated with silver leads down to the shrine or garbhagar a small room about eight feet square with nothing of architectural interest except a quarter pilaster to each corner. In the middle is a wooden bar about eight inches thick to prevent overcrowding. Attached to the back wall is a square altar three feet high with a silver shade, and under the shade on a base fixed in an altar a standing unsupported image of Vithoba, variously called Pandurang, Pandhari, Viththal, Viththalnath and Vithoba.

Vithoba is a short form of Viththalbava, that is, Father or Dear Viththal. The Yadav inscriptions make it probable that the oldest of these names is Viththal; Viththal does not appear to be a Sanskrit name, nor, though several attempts have been made, can the word be correctly traced to any Sanskrit root. The name is probably Kanarese. Pandurang is a Sanskritised form of Pandaraga, that is, belonging to, or of Pandarge, the old name of Pandharpur. The form Pandhari appears also to come from the old name of the village. The form Viththalnath or Lord Viththal is used by the people of Gujarat who generally add nath to the names of gods as in Shrinath, Vrishabhanath and Dwarkanath. The chhatri or shade was made in 1873, when also the altar was built, somewhat further forward than before to prevent pilgrims embracing the god. Formerly pilgrims both embraced the god and touched his feet. Now the feet are touched and they are polished smooth by the constant rubbing. The saffron-bathing or keshar-snana of the god by pilgrims, which was usual formerly, was stopped since 1873, but has been restarted now. In 1873, also, a silver back or pithika with a five-hooded cobra in the middle, three peacocks and fancy tigers on each side, and a fame-face or kirti-mukh at the top, was removed. It is now kept in its original place at the back of the god. The changes in 1873 were due to injuries received by the god. Two Gosavi mendicants while embracing the image gave it a push and the image fell and broke its legs between the knees and the ankles. The local belief was that the mendicants broke the image with a stone, because the God did not eat a fruit which they had offered. But this is less likely than the story that the image was thrown over accidentally. According to one story during these days a new image was installed, but examination shows that the present image is the old image patched at the break by iron or copper rods from within. Besides being mended, the image has also been strengthened by a support from behind upto the knees. The image is about three feet nine inches high and together with its base seems to be cut out of one block of sandstone. The base is about one foot square and its height cannot be fixed as much of it has been built into the altar, leaving a slice about 1 1/2 inches thick which is locally believed to be a brick to suit the Pundlik story of Vithoba waiting on a brick.The image is standing with its arms akimbo and hands resting on the hips, the left hand holding a conch and the right hand a chakra or discus. On the image are carved, but so slightly as to be hardly noticeable except on close examination, a waist-cloth, and round the waist a kambarband or waist band, the end of which hangs on the right thigh. The ornaments carved on the image consist of a necklace and in the long ears ear-rings which touch the shoulders. On the head is a long round-topped cap. A small hollow hemisphere, called chhatri (umbrella-shape) of about a foot in diameter with small globes fixed seperately with chains so as to hang down around the circle, all made in gold is kept hanging over the head of the image. The general workmanship of the image is earlier than the mediaeval Rajput style of the Anhilvad Chaulukyas (943-1240), the Devgiri Yadavs (1175-1318), or the Ajmer Chohans (685-1193). The dress and ornaments of the image belong to a little later than the Guptas, probably not later than the fifth or sixth century after Christ. As far as is known no other existing Vaishnav temple in India has an image of Vishnu like the Pandharpur image, but there are two similar images of the third century after Christ in the Udayagiri Brahmanical caves near Bhilsa. The images are in two of the four cells to the left of a large image of Vishnu reclining on his serpent couch. Like the Pandharpur image these are both standing figures with arms akimbo and hands resting on the hips and a conch and discus in the hands. This type of image represented Vishnu only in his form of Hari.

Later investigations however shoe that there is no similarity between the Pandharpur image and Udayagiri images. The Udayagiri images have four arms whereas the Pandharpur image has only two, which is true enough. But one thing must be noted : The two arms of the Udayagiri images which are not akimbo are holding the chakra and the club. It is therefore very likely that what the two arms in akimbo are holding are the sea-conch and the lotus, although it is difficult to be definite on account of the state of the images. The Pandharpur Vithoba also holds the sea-conch and the lotus but the two rear hands are absent.

“But although some of the characteristics are similar in both images, it must be said that the style and the detail of the ornamentation are absolutely different. The two statues cannot belong to the same school of art ...................”

“This image is not a work of art. It is not the work of an artist who could belong to one school of sculpture or the other. It has been done by a local craftsman according to local tradition...... The fact that it is certainly not of the Hemadpanti style shows that the image might have been carved long before the Hemadpanti temple was built at Pandharpur in the thirteenth century. The statue might have been carved when Pandharpur was only a tiny village, with a small shrine.”

The ornaments and jewels of Vithoba are exquisitely designed, and display workmanship of a very high order. The ornaments which have been donated to the Lord by princes and rich devotees are quite numerous. The Badves who are in charge of the same claim that it takes about three hours if all the ornaments are to be worn on the image. The most exquisite and beautiful of the ornaments of Vithoba are described below. The Lafja, a neck ornament, is made in gold studded with jewels and gems including diamonds, emeralds, rubies and a number of pearls of different sizes. It is reported to have been donated by Dattajirao Shinde, and is estimated to be worth Rs. 15 lakhs. The Shirpech, an aigrette of jewels worn in the turban, is also a very beautiful ornament made in gold studded with diamonds, rubies, pearls and jewels. The benevolent princess, Ahilyabai Holkar, presented this precious ornament to Vithoba. A very rich and valuable pearl necklace called Motyancha Kantha has been donated to Vithoba by Peshwa Bajirao II. This ornament is made of the most valuable pearls with a pendant studded with emeralds, diamonds and jewels, and is estimated to be worth about Rs. 5 lakhs. There are six Kirits (crowns or diadems), two of which are in pure gold, besides a Pagdi known as Shindeshahi Pagdi of pure gold, weighing about 165 tolas. A gold Pitamber weighing about 200 tolas is another ornament which attracts attention.

Besides, there are numerous ornaments of gold, pearls, jewels and precious stones as under:- Kaustumbh Mani of diamonds and emeralds, Hiryanchi Kundale, Motyancha Tura, Bhikbalya, Putlyanchi mal, Moharanchi Mal, Tulashichi Mal, Tode, Kade, Kalagi, Painjan, Danda Petya, Matsya Kundale and a number of others.

The image is decorated with some of the ornaments, as it takes about three hours to adore the image with all the ornaments, on selected festive occasions such a Navaratri, Dasara, Diwali, Rathasaptami, Gudhipadava, Kojagiri Paurnima, Narali Paurnima, Prakshal Puja, Ganeshchaturthi, Independence day an Republican day.

Mr. G.H. Khare’s description of the image of Vithoba is reproduced below :-

“The image is standing. It has on the head a ‘topi’ which on account of its height and its mouldings has some likeness with the head-gear of the Parsis. We can call it a ‘mukuta’, but of the simplest kind. The pujaris call it a Shivalinga and the mouldings shinkyachi dori, but they do not look like a tinket.

The face itself is rather short but looks elongated due to the height of the topi. The cheeks are handsomely round. From the ears fish-shaped pendants hang down. Those are so long that they rest on the shoulders and seem to be a shoulder ornament. Round the neck, the necklace called Kaustumbha is carved. On the left and right breast there are respectively a hole on the first and a ring on the other : the hole is called shrivatsalanchhana and the ring shriniketana. Round the arms a little above the elbows are a double ring and a bracelet of pearls.

The left hand holding a sea-conch is resting on the hips. The right hand open and the thumb turned towards the ground support the stalk of a lotus, and rests on the right hip. The end of this short stalk hangs down upon the thigh. There is a mekhala (a three stringed belt) round his hips : the loose ends of this belt hang down below the penis and the testes which are clearly visible. The moulding a stone between the two legs is called the stick, ‘kathi’. There is no trace of garment around the loins, nevertheless some think that there is such a garment and in that case the ‘kathi’ could be the fold of the robe which would extend upto the feet. The feet rest on a parallelepiped called the ‘thirty bricks’. Under the bricks there is an inverted lotus. There is no ‘prabhaval’ (a silver plate) behind the image, but after the breaking of the image at the hands of a shaiva gosavi the right leg was restored and a strong support built to strengthen it.”

The solakhamb and chaukhamb halls, the ante-chamber and the gabhara are paved with white marbles. all the premises including the temples of Vithoba, Rakhumai and other small temples within the enclosure wall are electrified. The thresholds in the chaukhamb hall and gabhara of the Vithoba’s temple have been removed to facilitate the movements of the pilgrims.

On the outside of the shrine are images of Narsinh, Radhakrishna, and Sheshshayi whose workmanship shows that the present temple is not earlier than the sixteenth century. These images have been wilfully disfigured especially about the face, which shows that this temple also must have suffered probably from Musalmans. The temple spire or shikhar which is about sixty feet high is in the modern Maratha style and was built about 1830 by a chief of Bhor. The plinth on which the chaukhamb and shrine are based has got a lotus-like shape. A small stone fell from a corner about 20’ high above the gomukh due to the great Koyana earthquake in 1967.

A hall called Gajendra hall has been constructed in cement-concrete in 1964 by demolishing the old wooden mandap in front of the hatti darwaja. On its ceiling from inside in two different circles are carved the figures of Raskreeda and Dashavtar.

The Bedve’s Committee has also constructed a smaller hall in cement-concrete in 1970 in front of the temple of goddess Lakshmi.

Worship : The staff of priests and attendants in the great temple of Vithoba includes Badvas, pujaris or ministrants, benaris or hymnists, paricharaks or bathmen, haridas or singers, dingres or barbers, danges or mace-bearers, and divtes or lightmen. All are Deshasth Brahmans, but all do not follow the same Veda. Except the Badvas the rest are called sevadharis or the servants of the god and have hereditary rights of personal service. The pujaris or ministrants take the chief part in the worship of the god. They remove and put on ornaments, flowers, garlands and sandal paste, and wave lights in front of the god, and are present at all services and light-wavings. The benari or hymnist directs the worship and repeats hymns or mantras at different stages; he is present at the morning and night services but seldom appears at the evening light-waving. The paricharak or bathman brings in a large silver dish of water with which the ministrant washes the god. He also brings the lamp for waving at the evening and night services. The evening lamp called dhuparti or incense lamp contains thin cotton wicks in bundles soaked in clarified butter, camphor, frankincense sticks, and holy ashes for the sticks to stand in. The night light or shejarti holds only butter-soaked wicks and camphor. The bathman is laso expected to hand the lighted torch at the early morning service known as the kakadarti or wick-waving. The haridas, or slave of Hari, sings a few verses generally five from which he gets his name of panchpadi. The verses are generally in honour of the god and are sung at the morning, evening and night services. At the morning and evening services the haridas stands outside the ante-chamber with cymbals and sings, and, after waving the evening light round the god, accompanies the bathman and the maceman round the temple, visiting the smaller deities and singing while the others wave the lights. During the night service he stands in the sixteen-pillared chamber on the slab known as the stage slab or rangshila and sings to accompaniment of music. The dingre or barber at the early morning service holds a mirror in front of the god after he has been dressed and before the light has been waved. The dingre also spreads a strip of cloth or paulghadi on the way to the bed-chamber at the time of the night worship. The divte or torch-bearer holds a lighted torch or mashal when the last night ceremony is over. He stands with a lighted brass or siver torch to the left of the ante-chamber after the dingre has spread the cloth on the floor up to the bed-stead of the god. He goes with the god’s litter when his sandals are carried in the torchlight procession thrice a year on the full moon of Ashadha (June-July) and Kartika (October-November) and on Dasara night (September-October). The dange or mace-bearer stands with his silver or gold plated mace outside the ante-chamber at the morning, evening and night services. He accompanies the palanquin at the three-yearly torchlight processions. After the evening light-waving before Vithoba and the minor gods the mace-bearer goes out and serves holy ashes to pilgrims outside of the temple in the west part of the town, while the paricharak or bathman goes out and serves ashes and the holy-waved light among pilgrims in the east of the town.

Service : The ordinary service of the god takes place five times every day and night. The service is of two kinds, puja oe worship in the early morning and arti or light-waving which is performed four times in the twenty-four hours. The temple work is done by the priests in turn. The Badvas as the chief priests were regarded as the managers and trustees of the temple. As they are the most numerous body, almost equal to the whole of the other priests and ministrants, they get the chief share of the offerings. Except during the three principal fairs when the month’s proceeds are farmed, every night at twelve they put to auction and sell the right to the next day’s offerings. Each of the four sections whose turn it is to officiate. Except in the case of paupers and disreputable persons who have to give security the right to the offerings is generally given to the highest bidder. The offering contractor or day-man or farming day-priest called divaskar comes to the temple at about three in the morning, bathed and dressed in a silk waist-cloth, carrying the key of the door of the four-pillared chamber. Before he opens the door the benari or hymnist as well as the pujari or ministrant and the paricharak or bathman are all present, bathed and dressed in silk. The day-man and the ministrant stand with folded hands and the day-man humbly begs the deity to awake. The day-man opens the door, and, removing the eatables which were placed overnight in the bed-chamber, locks the bed-chamber and offers the god butter and sugarcandy. The other priests or sevadharis, who according to their number serve by daily or monthly turns, all come in except the haridas or singer who stands in the four-pillared chamber. No unbathed pilgrim is allowed to enter the god-room. Then comes the kakadarti or waving the torch a white muslin roll three or four inches long. It is dipped in clarified butter, and is brought by a Badva and paid for by one of the pilgrims. It is handed to the paricharak or bathman who gives it to the ministrant while all present sing aloud. The ministrant slowly waves the torch in front of Vithoba from the head to the feet. Numbers come daily to see the god’s face by the light of the torch as this is lucky, especially on the Hindu new year’s day in March-April and on Dasara in September-October, when hundreds of people come. when the singing and waving are over, the day-priest hands the ministrant a silver cup with some fresh butter or loni and sugarcandy which the ministrant offers to the god and puts in his mouth. The ministrant again waves lighted wicks and camphor round the god but without singing. The ministrant takes off the last night’s garlands and washes the feet of the god first with milk and then with water. Lighted frankincense sticks are waved in front of the god, fruit or naivedya is offered, and once more lights are waved and songs are sung. The benari or hymnist recites some Vedik hymns and all the priests throw flowers on the god and shout Jay Jay. The service proper or puja now begins. The paricharak or bathman brings water in a silver dish and the ministrants unrobes the god, pours milk, then curds, then clarified butter, then honey and then sugar, one after the other over the god, the hymnist reciting hymns and verses. While the god is naked a cloth is drawn across the door so that no outsider may see. While the clarified butter is being poured over the god a lump of butter and sugarcandy is put in his mouth. After the god has been rubbed with sugar he is washed all over with water. Before he was broken by the Shaiv enthusiast in 1873 the god was washed in warm water. Since the left leg was cemented cold water mixed with saffron has been used instead of hot. Besides the bath a stream of water is poured over Vithoba’s head from a conch shell while the hymnists and others recite verses from the Purushasukta, a famous Vedik hymn. After his bath Vithoba is wiped dry and dressed in new clothes provided by the Badvas, the face is wiped and is made to shine with scented oil. A turban is bound round the god’s head, sandal paste is rubbed on his brow, and flower garlands are thrown round his neck. The barber or dingre then holds a mirror in front of the god. The god’s feet are washed and rubbed with sandal, burning frankincense sticks are waved, and sweets are offered. Then comes the second lightwaving. In this waving called ekarti either a metal instrument is used at the upper end of which is a bowl with a lip on one side where thin cotton wicks soaked in clarified butter are laid and lighted and behind it a flat part where camphor is kept and lighted; or another metal incense burner called dhuparti, in which holy ashes from an agnihotri or fire-keeping Brahman support incense sticks. While the priests and pilgrims sing songs the ministrant holds a flat piece of wood on which the second burner is set, waves it, and then takes the first burner and waves it. The incense burner or dhuparti is handed to the dange or mace-bearer, and the lighted lamp or ekarti to the bath-man who holds a bell in his left hand. Then along with the songster or haridas, the mace-bearer and the bath-man go round waving the incense and the light round all the smaller deities. This ends the three morning services, the two light-wavings and the worship or puja. The bath-men, singers and barber now leave and the Badva and ministrant stay changing their silk waist-cloths for linen ones. After the morning services, about three in the afternoon and a little earlier on holidays, comes the dressing or poshakh. The ministrant removes the old sandal mark, washes the face, and rubs fresh sandal-paste on the brow of the idol. He takes away the old clothes and puts on new ones applying scented oil to the face with an offering of food. On holidays costly ornaments are put on and the dress, the turban or crown, the waist-cloth and the shoulder-cloth, are all of thin plates of gold. After the god is dressed pilgrims come to take darshan or see him. The visitors keep coming till evening when a fresh dhuparti or incense-waving is held. The bath-man brings a ready filled incense burner and waving lamp and the Badva brings a copper dish with flowers, flower garlands, nosegays, sandal powder, rice, and a silver plate with food. The ministrant washes the feet of the idol with water brought by the Badva in a pot, The old sandal paste is removed, and fresh paste with rice and sandal oil is applied. Flower garlands are thrown around the neck and nosegays are stuck in the corners between the hips and hands. Then with songs, generally sung by the ministrants, burning frankincense and camphor lamps are waved, food is offered, hymns are repeated by all the priests present, and flowers are thrown over the god. The incense and light are carried and waved round the minor deities as in the morning. The bath-man takes the wick-lamp or ekarti and ashes in a cloth and goes round the east of the town putting ashes on pilgrims brows and showing them the lamp. The mace-bearer takes the ashes and serves them in the north and west of the town. The pilgrims give presents and this like other sources of revenue is farmed every year. On ordinary days oil-sellers pour a little oil in the lamp, some give a betelnut, some an almond, while on the elevenths or ekadashis almost every one to whom the light is shown gives a copper. The last daily ceremony is the sleep-lightwaving or shejarti about ten and on holidays at twelve. Almost all the officiating priests attend this waving. The barber or dingre sprinkles a little water on the floor between the throne and the bed-chamber door and sweeps it; the Badva comes, opens the bed-chamber door, arranges the bed clothes, lights a lamp, and sets near the bed a cup of boiled sweet milk, some sweets, and a spittoon. He also brings water to wash the god’s feet. The barber, after sweeping the path, draws figures in white and coloured powders on the floor, and, from the throne to the bed-chamber, spreads an eighteen-inch broadcloth covered with a cow’s and Krishna’s footprints. The mace-bearer, barber, and hymnist stand in the ante-chamber, the hymnist offers a Sanskrit prayer and the ministrant washes the god’s feet. Before the ministrant undresses the god the hymnist from the ante-chamber waves a wick light or ekarti brought by the bath-man. The ministrant undresses the god, rubs sandal paste and rice on his brow, puts on freshly washed clothes and folds a fresh turban, throws garlands round his neck ands puts a nosegay in his hands, with songs waves the wick-lamp and the incense stick, and offers sweets. Hymns and verses are rectified and flowers are thrown on the god. Except the two Badvas all the priests leave the room. The Badvas wave five lights one after another round the god singing songs. The day-priest or farmer washes the chamber, locks the door of the four-pillared chamber, and retires. Thus end the day’s services and the one-day farm of the day-man. No ornaments are kept in the temple. All are in charge of Badvas who are responsible for them.

The god’s special days are Wednesday and Saturday, unless they happen to be no-moon or twelfth days or the ominous conjunctions vyatipat or vaidhruti. On these days after the early morning disrobing and before the five-nectar bath, the god is washed with scented oil, sweet scenred powder or argaja, and milk. Another special day is the eleventh or ekadashi on which all Vithoba’s devotees fast. On lunar elevenths the daily service is as usual except that the night sweets have been cooked without water and that a wake is kept all night by the god who does not go to his bed-room, and till four in the morning the day farmer and the ministrant watch at the door of the four-pillared room. During the two large June-July and October-November fairs except the proper worship or puja in the mornings all these daily services are stopped and the bed-chamber remains closed. The god is supposed to be fatigued, and on the wash-worship or prakshal-puja day, which falls about ten days after these great fair days, most elaborate anointing and sugar-rubbing are required to soothe the weary god. The articles of food used by pilgrims on fast days are sweets, milk, groundnuts and mashed dates. Some eat nothing at all, while others take bread, rice and vegetables, which are baked before being mixed with water.

History of the image and temple : The oldest thing in the temple is the image which resembles, as has been said, some Udayagiri sculptures near Bhilsa of the fourth century, while from the dress with the waistband hanging on the thigh, the necklace and ear-rings it seems certainly earlier than the mediaeval Rajput images of about the ninth century. The dome-like head-dress in particular resembles that of images in the Badami caves (6th and 7th centuries), but is of a simpler and apparently earlier character. The earliest inscription in the temple which bears date Shaka 1159 (A.D. 1237) shows that the image was then held in great reverence, and makes mention of a Yadav king who had subdued the country round Pandharpur paying reverence to the god as to a god of great and universal renown. The inscription alludes to the famous story of Pundlik, which serves to show that the fame of the image was even then of long standing.

The earliest architectural work in the temple is the Namdeo gate which appears from its style, sculptures and pillars to be contemporary with the above inscription or perhaps a little earlier. It resembles in its style the Hemadpanti remains of the Devgiri Yadav period. Under the Devgiri Yadavs a large and splendid temple may have been built here instead of some old small temple or repairs may have been broken down by the Musalmans as several of the figures in the old sculptures are wilfully disfigured and from the fragments that remain the work appears too strong to have suffered from the effects of time alone. This period of destruction would appear to be just after the capture of Devgiri by Muhammad Tughlik (1325-1351). The original form of the gate cannot be made out as much new work has been mixed up with the old. It looks much like the gate of the Adhai Dinka Jhumpda mosque at Ajmer which has been made from a Hindu temple.

According to local information the image was removed to various places at different times to save it from Musalman sacrilege. One story which is recorded in a famous abhang of Bhanudas, a devotee, appears to be historical. It is of the time of the great Vijaynagar king Ram Raja (1542-1565) and says that the king took the image to Vijaynagar amd built for it a temple and that from Vijaynagar the god was brought by Bhanudas in a casket to Pandharpur. The present temple appears to have been built about the beginning og the seventeenth century probably when, under Shahaji, the Marathas rose to power in the Deccan. But the image does not appear to have remained undisturbed during the next century of Bijapur and Moghal supremacy. One Pralhad Bava whose date od death is locally given as the dark twelfth of Magha Shaka 1640 (A.D.1718) is held in great local veneration as having often saved the image during his life-time. The exact dates are not preserved but it is probable that, during the five years (1695-1700) his camp was at Brahmapuri sixteen miles south-east of Pandharpur, Aurangzeb must often have teied to injure and desecrate the temple, when Pralhad Bava may have removed the image. The architectural appearance of the present temple and several inscriptions in it show that it was probably built about 1610, the time of Maratha rise. At this time the temple must have consisted of the Namdeo gate, a long courtyard, the chaukhamb, ante-chamber and shrine. In 1621 the mandap was added in front and under the Peshwas to avoid the trouble and confusion of ascent and descent the solakhamb chamber was made and the courtyard joined with the mandap. Since then additions have been made from time to time in the shape of cloisters and rooms.

Temple Committee : The temple committee was established by the Chhatrapati of Satara, and by the Peshwas, with a yearly grant of Rs. 3,080 for keeping horses in connection with the chariot of the god Vithoba, the establishment of the musicians and other servents, feeding Brahmans of whom seven out-siders or strangers were fed daily. The committee also used to provide oil for lamps in the idol chambers of god and goddess and other parts of the temple inhabited by ascetics and for daily and holiday services of the god and goddess. Besides garden land of about 15 acres which was then assessed at Rs. 18 was given by the Peshwas. After the fall of the Peshwas and the annexation of Satara in 1839 the British rulers continued the system under the Mamlatdar, the members being the life-members with no responsibility attached to their actions and no control over them. The amount of grant was increased to Rs. 10,000 in 1962 by the government of Maharashtra.

Litigations : The temples of Vithoba and Rakhumai since long have become the source of income to the Badves, Sevadharis and Utpats. This has given rise to litigations amongst these classes over the rights claimed by them. Often they became acute when for example Badves used to establish their claim over the entire property. These litigations go back to the beginning of the 16 th century and were continued till 1968.

“Broadly the grievances and complaints can be devided into two categories : (1) those with which the public are directly concerned, viz., relating to the darshan of the deity and yajaman puja performed by or at the instance of the devotees; (2) the management of the temple which includes within its preview the dealings of Badves and their relations with the Devasthan Committee; the relations inter se between Badves and Sevadharis, action of the Badves and Utpats in relation to endowments; management and custody od the ornaments of Vithoba by Badves and those of Rakhumai by Utpats and lack of attention towards developement of the surroundings of the temple.”

“In case of pujas, capable as they are, of yielding more income to Badves in practice, get precendence over darshan in that they are not restricted to forenoon and take place any time and this has given rise to complaints from a large number.”

Nadkarni Cimmission : The devotees have also acute grievances in respect of pujas of Vithoba and Rakhumai. These grievances which are in existence since long as also the mismanagement of the temple led the Government of Maharashtra to appoint a one-man commission consisting of Shri B.D. Nadkarni, a retired district judge, under the Bombay Public Trusts Act of 1950, by its notification No. 27518-P dated 21st October 1968.

The Commission submitted its report to the Government on 31st January 1970. Government of Maharashtra, on the basis of this report, passed an Act, viz., Pandharpur Temple Act, 1973 (Maharashtra Act IX of 1974). The Badve Committee however chalanged the Act and has gone in appeal in the High Court against Government decision.

Rakhumai’s temple : Behind Vithoba’s temple in the north-west corner of the enclosure facing east, is a temple of Vithoba’s wife Rakhumai, that is, Rakhumai or mother Rakhuma, the same as Rukmini the wife of Krishna. The image is held next in importance to Vithoba. Rakhumai’s temple has now a shrine, an ante-chamber, a hall, and a wooden outer hall or sabhamandap. It originally consisted of a shrine and ante-chamber, whose work is later than the sixteenth century work in Vithoba’s temple. The hall and wooden outer hall or sabhamandap are modern additions, the hall being the work of Chandulal, a famous minister of the Nizam. The wooden sabhamandap is about forty feet square and forty feet high, and has a lamp-pillar to the north of it. The wooden sabhamandap has been demolished and the work of new 18-pillared sabhamandap of about 40’ x 24’ was undertaken in 1965. The red stone in which the entire hall is being built is brought from Gokak in Karnatak state. The black stone which is rarely used is brought from Takli village about 5 km. from Pandharpur. Near the lamp-pillar tap-water is made available. On the first floor of the mandap, in a spacious hall, a picture gallery will be arranged where big pictures in oil paint depicting the incidents of the Rukhmini-swayamvar will be kept. A contract for such pictures has already been given to Shri Kalyan Shetty of Sangli and Rakhumai Mandap Renovation Committee has already received some pictures from him.

The door adjacent to this sabhamandap on the north is being constructed. The old wooden door-frame and doors have been removed and instead a new door-frame of 7’10’’ X 4’3’’ in red stone is erected. The drum-house or nagarkhana over it has also been demolished and a new one is being built. Outside the door on the north the construction of porch of 12’ X 15’ with a large arch of 19’ all in red stone is in progress. The door on the north, in the corner at the back of Rakhumai’s temple, has recently been renovated. Four steps covered by a porch lead up from the outer hall to the main hall which rests on six pillars and eight pilasters. A door (6’X3’) plated with silver in its back wall leads to the ante-chamber with four pilasters and four quarter pillars in the corners. In its right or north wall is a recess used as the bed-chamber of the goddess. The devotees or pilgrims are not allowed to go directly in the gabhara through the doors in the main hall and ante-chamber to avoid overcrowding. For this the renovation committee, with the help of an expert architect and mason, carved out two door-like passages, one in the back-wall of the main hall just in the right corner near the bed-chamber of the goddess and the other in the right-hand corner in the back-wall of the ante-chamber. Thus the pilgrims can now enter into the ante-chamber through the passage just near the bed-chamber and then along the slightly curved wall through the second passage into the gabhara. Both the thresholds, one between the main hall and the ante-chamber, and the other between the ante-chamber and the gabhara are still maintained in good condition. A door plated with silver in the back wall of the ante-chamber leads to the shrine. This is about eleven feet square, and in its back wall, on a four feet high silver-plated altar, has an image of Rakhumai about three feet high with a silver-plated back or pithika of the same style and ornaments as that which Vithoba had before he was broken in 1873.

A small hollow hemisphere, called chhatri (umbrella-shaped) of about a foot in diameter with small globes fixed separately with chains so as to hang down around the circle, all made in gold is kept hanging over the head of the image. The image of Rakhumai which is generally dressed like a Maratha woman, is modern in the Karnatak style and much later than Vithoba’s image. The image is standing with its arms akimbo and hands resting on the hips. In front of the altar is a wooden bar plated with silver to keep pilgrims from crowding. Close to the south of Rakhumai’s temple are three small rooms with a front veranda resting on two rows each of eight pillars. The first room has an image of Satyabhama and the second of Rahi or Radhika. The images and the rooms are both very modern. In the veranda was a navagraha slab with figures of the nine planets. It is an old stone of the Devgiri Yadav period and seems to have been brought from some old temple. This stone has been shifted and kept at the back of Vithoba’s temple (i.e. in Badve’s premises) in a veranda outside the temple of Ganapati. This has naturally made a way out on the south in the main hall. The door in the ante-chamber on the south has been removed and fixed where formerly the stone of navagraha was kept. This has also in turn made comfortable wide space in the ante-chamber on the south through which devotees can go out easily to the small temples of Satyabhama and Radhika. The main hall, the ante-chamber and the gabhara or Rakhumai’s temple are paved with marbles. Closeby are two other rooms in a veranda built about 1850. The second room has two doors and contains images of Surya and Ganesh. Closeby, beyond a lane, are two small image rooms built by Badva named Manba Raghunath. Further on are two snake-stones or nagobas. The spire on this shrine resembles in shape the idol of Shri Viththal and was built by the wife of ex-chief of ex-Bhor state in 1830 A.D.

Unlike other goddesses who are generally installed by the side of the main deity, the image of the goddess Rukhmini is in its own shrine. The image about three feet tall stands on a silver-plated platform about four feet in height. It is carved in a black well-polished stone.

Service of Rakhumai : The goddess Rakhumai has only one set of priests known as Utpats. These priests have all the rights of personal service. They are Deshasth Rigvedi Brahmans. The Utpats are devided into four sections, viz., Barbhais, Khedkars, Damuanna and Undegaonkar who inter-marry but are considered to belong to different family-stocks. No women singers, dancers or prostitutes, and no ascetic monks are connected with the temple. Musicians and others paid by the temple committee are stationed in the drum-room or nagarkhana on the upper floor of the chief doorway of the temple. Except the shoe-maker all the servants live in the loft above the main doorway known as Namdeo’s gate.

Ordinary service of the goddess takes place five times every day. The service is of two kinds, puja or worship in the morning at about eight called padyapuja followed by mahapuja and arti or light-waving which is performed four times in the 24 hours. Kakadarti takes place at about four in the morning when the priests pray to goddess to wake up. It is followed by padyapuja and mahapuja. At the time of mahapuja abhishek is done and pavaman shrisukta is recited. The goddess is dressed like a Maratha woman. After this sahashranama of the goddess is recited and kumkum or red powder is placed on her forehead. Mahanaivedya is offered at about 12 in the noon. It is prepared in a room at the back of the temple. It contains five sweets - puncha pakwanna. At about four in the noon goddess is disrobed and a new dress is put on. Naivedya of ladu is offered. In the evening at 7 O’clock dhuparti is waved. At this time curd and rice are served. The day’s service ends with shejarti at about eleven in the night when ladu, shira, pohe and doodh are served to the goddess. The monthly expenditure on this service (Nityopachar and Rajopachar) comes to about Rs. 12,000.

The ornaments of the goddess consist of Kolhapuri Saz, Chinch Peti, Navaratna har, necklace of pearls, mugut (crown) of gold, sari of gold, and many others. Estimated value of these treasures is said to be around Rs. 3 lakhs.

Among the naimitik services, i.e., occasional services of the goddess are included the festivities such as Ram Navami, Gouri-Ganapati, Radha Ashtami, Navratra, Vijaya Dashami, Narak Chaturdashi, Magha Dipotsav and Holi.

On Navratra Panchami the goddess is decked in flowers while on Ashtami goddess is dressed in white robes and white ornaments.

Lakshmi temple : A little to the south of the original part of Vithoba’s temple is a temple of Lakshmi in four parts, a shrine, an ante-chamber, a mandap and a porch. The shrine, which is about eight feet broad by six feet deep, has on an altar along its back wall a white marble image of Lakshmi about two feet high with a brass back or pithika in the same style as Rakhumai’s back. The ante -chamber is 8’6’’ broad by 7’ deep and has in front of it a square hall resting on four pillars, and now partitioned into two rooms. The left room has an image of Annapurna and the right room is empty. The porch in front is small and has five steps leading to it. The temple of Lakshmi was built about 1830 by Kavde merchants of Gursala.

To the south of Lakshmi’s temple is a veranda with six arches in the Moghal style and three rooms. The first left arch has been closed with a wooden lattice to make an image-room. Between the veranda amd Lakshmi’s room is a wooden hall or mandap with a tiled roof about forty feet high. This wooden hall and the veranda are said to be the work of Bajirao, the last Peshwa (1796-1818). The wooden mandap called Bajiravachi Padsali on the right of goddess Lakshmi has been demolished and a new hall of the same size slightly higher and restoring its old name has been constructed in cement-concrete in 1973. On the inner side of its beam on the west are carved figures of Gauli and Gaulani with cows and in the centre the figure of the lord Krishna. The festivities connected with the life of the Lord Krishna are celebrated in this hall. about fifteen feet south-east of Lakshmi’s temple is a small modern shrine of Vishnu called Vyankoba. It has a spire like a Musalman dome with four minarets. Near the shrine is Vyankoba’s gate. The minarets have been removed about five years ago.

Pundlik’s temple : about 500 yards east of Vithoba’s temple in the bed of the Bhima is Pundlik’s temple, one of the most favourite places of worship in Pandharpur. The temple (63’ X 65’) is built entirely of masonry on a wide plinth 2’ high and has a brick and mortar spire covered with cement. The temple has two parts, an audience hall oe sabhamandap and a shrine. The hall is of solid masonry with a one foot high plinth. It is twenty five feet from north to south, seventeen feet from east to west, and twelve feet high. The flat heavy roof rests on two stone pillars and four pilasters. The two pillars support an arch and form a doorway leading into the audience hall. There are two other doors one in the north, the other in the south wall of the hall, and two niches in the west wall to the north and south of a door leading from the hall to the shrine. The north niche has a smooth quartz ling in a black case or shalunkha. The south niche is empty. The door (4’ X 2’) in the west wall leads into the shrine whose floor is nearly seven inches lower than the hall floor. The shrine, which is eight feet suare and nine feet high, is of solid and heavy masonry eight-sided and without window. It is surrounded by a brick and mortar spire in five tiers and sixty feet high. The spire is simple and wheather-worn. The topmost tier, which is surrounded by a brass pinnacle, supports a number of smaller globes, each tipped by a small brass pinnacle. In the second tier are empty niches with lattice work. The three lower tiers are adorned with designs of creepers and flowers.

In the inside of the shrine are niches, one with a box for the daily temple receipts and another with the god’s clothes and other property; the third is empty. In the shrine is stone ling set in a case or shalunkha (4’ X 2’3’’ X 1’) without a pedestal. The shalunkha and ling are covered with a close-fitting brass cover and on the ling is set a hollow bust of the god. The bust of the god wears ear ornaments and a cown, and is surrounded by the coils of a five-headed cobra. On either side of the case or shalunkha three feet high brass figures of