Lord Vitthala!

Lord Vitthala

Who is Lord Vitthala?

This question may come in minds of those people who are not very well aware about the sant and varkari tradition of the Indian State of Maharashtra. Let me come straight to the point, Lord Vitthal is another form of Lord Krishna like jagganath, Banke Bihari, etc.

The Specialty of Lord Vitthala's temple in Maharashtra?

The temple of Lord Vitthala is in Pandharpur in Maharashtra and as per the devotees and the great saints the idol in the temple is Swayambhu meaning self incarnated. 

The History of the Swayambhu idol!

During the end of dwapar yuga, there lived a man called Pundalik. He wanted to attain moksha and had decided to leave for kashi so that he could become free from the continuous cycle of birth and death (moksha*) and while going to Kashi from Pandharpur he decided to rest at Maharishi Kutkut's Ashram. He asked Maharishi Kutkut the way to Kashi to which the great sage replied that he didn't know the route as he had never been to Kashi. Hearing this Pundalik started making fun of  Mahirishi Kutkut, saying that "a holy man like you should have visited Kashi much before in order to attain moksha". To which the sage didn't reply. Then Pundalik went on to sleep in the sage's Ashram and in midnight all of as sudden he got up hearing some noise and as was astonished to see the three women sprinkling water in Maharishi Kutkut's Ashram. The three women were none other than the personified form of the three sacred rivers namely Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. Pundalik was really astonished almost biting his nails and thinking how a person who has never visited Kashi in his lifetime be in good books of the Supreme Soul and how can he be so blessed that the three sacred rivers are sprinkling water in his Asharam? Pundalik narrated his state of mind to the three women to which they replied that "Devotion and Spirituality doesn't lie in visiting holy places and just doing rituals it rather means serving other people and elders and parents with utmost care, though Maharishi Kutkut has never been to Kashi he has always whole heartedly served his parents." They also added that hose who perform their karma with utmost dedication can also attain mukti(moksha). Hearing this Pundalik's eyes opened and he rushed back home where he had left his old parents alone in order to go to Kashi. Thereafter Pundalik always served his parents with utmost dedication and hence the Supreme Soul as it was  present on Earth during that time in human form of lord Krishna decided to go give darshan to Pundalik. When lord Krishna reached Outside Pundalik's  house he made aware Pundalik aware of his presence via verbal communication to which Pundalik replied by throwing a brick and asked the lord to wait on the brick until he completes his duties towards his parents. Lord waited for his devotee on the brick keeping his hands on his waist. When Pundalik came out after fulfilling his duties towards his parents he saw lord waiting for him and even lord was happy to see his sincere devotion towards his parents and asked Pundalik "What shall I give you,dear?", to which  Pundalik replied " Oh Lord! You waited for me, what more could I ask for now?" But as Lord insisted; Pundalik, asked Lord to stay on Earth forever and help this world prosper and hence he waited on this Earth forever in the form of the idol in the temple of Pandharpur. Brick translates to Vith in Marathi and since the lord was waiting on a brick (vith), he was given the name 'Vitthala'.

Preservation of Temple and the Great Saint and Varkari Legacy!

The temple of Pandharpur, being a holy place for the Indians it has been a favourite target for Foreign Invaders and hence in order to protect from one such invasion once the emperor of the Vijaynagar Empire had taken the idol to his state in order to protect the idol from being insulted and once when everything was clear the idol was restored in the main temple in Pandharpur. The temple and it's surroundings were the epicenters of Bhakti Movement in Maharashtra, Many Saints right from Sant Dnyaneshwar to Sant Tukaram took birth nearby this holy land and making it even more sacred and also started the Varkari tradition which continues even today in which lakhs of people go to Pandharpur every year on the event of Kartiki and Ashadhi Ekadashi all the way from their houses they go to the temple walking and thus maintaining devotion even in the times of kaliyuga.

IIबोला  पुंडलिक  वरदे  हरी  विठ्ठल  श्री  ज्ञानदेव  तुकाराम पंढरीनाथ  माहाराज  की  जय II

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