Vithoba

Vithoba is the focus of an essentially monotheistic, non-ritualistic bhakti-driven[1][2] Varkari faith in Maharashtra and the Haridasa sect established in Dvaita Vedanta in Karnataka.

Other devotional literature dedicated to Vithoba includes the Kannada hymns of the Haridasa and the Marathi versions of the generic aarti songs associated with rituals of offering light to the deity.

[6] This corruption of Vishnu to Vitthu could have been due to the tendency of Marathi and Kannada people to pronounce the Sanskrit ṣṇ (/ʃn/) as ṭṭh (/ʈʈʰ/), attested since the 8th century.

[7] According to research scholar M. S. Mate of the Deccan College, Pundalik—who is assumed to be a historical figure—was instrumental in persuading the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana alias Bittidev to build the Pandharpur temple dedicated to Vishnu.

Panduranga (Marathi: पांडुरंग, Kannada: ಪಾಂಡುರಂಗ, Telugu: పాండురంగ; all IAST: Pāṇḍuraṅga), also spelt as Pandurang and Pandaranga, is another popular epithet for Vithoba, which means 'the white god' in Sanskrit.

[13] According to Richard Maxwell Eaton, author of A Social History of the Deccan,[11] Vithoba was first worshiped as the pastoral god Krishna as early as the 6th century.

[11] Christian Lee Novetzke of the University of Washington suggests that Vithoba's 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 Mahanubhava sect, the town was transformed into a Vaishnava center of pilgrimage.

While Vishnu and Shiva were bound in rigid ritualistic worship and Brahmin (priestly) control, Vithoba, "the God of the subaltern, became increasingly human."

[25] A stone inscription dated 1237, found on an overhead beam of the present Vithoba temple, mentions that the Hoysala king Someshvara donated a village for the expense of the bhoga (food offering) for "Vitthala".

[9][26] 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.

[33] 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.

[33] 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.

[9] 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.

He wears a necklace of tulasi-beads, embedded with the legendary kaustubha gem, and makara-kundala (fish-shaped earrings) that the poet-saint Tukaram relates to the iconography of Vishnu.

Pandharpur's Vithoba holds a shankha (conch) in his left hand and a chakra (discus) or lotus flower in his right, all of which are symbols traditionally associated with Vishnu.

[49] 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 loincloth, supported by a kambarband (waist belt), traced by thin, light carvings.

[4][9] Other images and pictures depict Vithoba clothed, usually with pitambara – a yellow dhoti and various gold ornaments—the manner in which he is attired by the priests in the daily rites.

[50] 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.

Public performance of this musical devotion led to the spread of the Vithoba faith, which accepted women, Shudras and outcaste "untouchables", something forbidden in classical brahminical Hinduism.

However, after the decline of the Vijayanagara empire, 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.

[62] Not only women, like Janabai, but also a wide variety of people from different castes and backgrounds wrote abhangas in praise of Vithoba: Visoba Khechara (who was an orthodox Shaiva and teacher of Namdev), Sena the barber, Narhari the goldsmith, Savata the gardener, Gora the potter, Kanhopatra the dancing girl, Chokhamela the "untouchable" Mahar, and even the Muslim Sheikh Muhammad (1560–1650).

[63][64] 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 caste.

The ritual worship by the priests is restricted to five days each around the Ashadha (June–July) and Kartik (October–November) Ekadashis, when a large number of Varkaris participate in the yatras.

[9] 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.

[84][85] 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.

[81] 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.

[19][86] Other devotional works include aratis like "Yuge atthavisa vitevari ubha" by Namdev and "Yei O Vitthala majhe mauli re".

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.

[104] Mahipati, 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.

A stone icon of an arms-akimbo man standing on a brick and wearing a dhoti, angarkha (shirt), uparna (cloth across the chest) and a crown.
A statue of the Vithoba icon of Pandharpur adorned with jewellery and clothes.
Pundalik's temple at Pandharpur
The shikhara of the Vithoba's chief temple at Pandharpur
An arms-akimbo Vishnu from Udaygiri Caves.
A silver door with ten panels in two columns. The panels depict from top left clockwise a lion-faced man, a man with a bow and axe, a man with a bow, a man playing a flute, a man on a horse, a man with one of his feet on the head of a kneeling man, an arms-akimbo man, a boar-faced man, a man whose body below the waist is a tortoise and a man whose body below the waist is a fish.
Vithoba (left, 4th from top) replaces Buddha in a depiction of the Dashavatara —ten avatars (of Vishnu)—on the door of Sree Balaji Temple, Goa .
This bronze image from a home shrine inherits the traditional attributes of Vithoba's Pandharpur image like the conical headgear, the fish shaped earrings, the gem stubbed necklace, and the brick. This image shows Vithoba's right hand making a blessing gesture and his left hand holding a shankha.
Vithoba (left) with his consort Rakhumai at the Sion Vitthal temple, Mumbai , decorated with jewellery during the Hindu festival of Diwali
A modern painting of Vithoba, adorned with fine clothes and jewelry, with a Varkari (left).
A Varkari journeys from Alandi to Pandharpur. He carries a tambura (lute) with saffron flag attached, and cymbals tied to strings in his hands.
The Vitthala temple in Hampi , Karnataka, was built by Krishnadevaraya , whose guru Vyasatirtha was a key Haridasa figure.
Dnyaneshwar's palkhi (palanquin), holding the footwear of the saint, is carried with honour in a silver bullock cart from Alandi to Pandharpur.
A four-armed Vithoba, a 19th-century painting from Tiruchchirappalli , Tamil Nadu. Here, Vithoba is depicted as an arms-akimbo Vishnu.
An elaborate, carved entrance to a Hindu temple whose canopy is visible at the top of the image. The entrance section is polygonal with arches and there is a stone staircase leading into the grey/cream coloured structure. Several pilgrims are seen in the foreground, as is a stall.
The chief gate of Vithoba's Pandharpur temple. The first step of the temple is regarded as saint Namdev 's memorial and the small blue temple in front of the gate is saint Chokhamela 's memorial.
Thennangur temple, Tamil Nadu
Image of a gopuram of a Pandharpur temple near Vithoba's central temple. The leftmost panel depicts Tukaram , the central panel depicts Vithoba (standing dark figure, left) waiting on the brick as Pundalik (centre) serves his parents, the right panel depicts Dnyaneshwar .