Pandharpur Vitthala
The Vithoba Temple, also known as Shri Vitthal-Rukmini Mandir and also it is simply called by the devotees as Pandharpur Temple or as Pandarpur Panduranga Temple, is a Krishna temple situated in Maharashtra. Lord Vithoba, is a form of Lord Krishna, and his consort is Ma Rukmini who is popularly called as Rakhumai. The temple was built by King Vishnuvardhana of Hoysala Empire during 12th Century AD. It is one of the most popular temples in Maharashtra. The Warkaris who lives in the Maharashtra State, used to eagerly start from their homes in order to proceed to the temple of Pandharpur by forming groups, and they also used to take a dip in the holy river Chandrabhaga, before visiting the sanctum of Lord Vithobaji. As per the request of his staunch devotee Pundalik Krishna decided to stay at the present place of the Pandharpur Temple along with his consort Ma Rukmini.
Panduranga is a form of Lord Krishna, and he is famously worshipped in the Pandharpur Temple at Maharashtra. The devotees of Panduranga had attained the lotus feet of Panduranga due to their staunch devotion, and by reading their life history details, we could also cultivate bhakti on Lord Panduranga.
At this Kaliyuga, most of us suffers from some unknown mental and physical diseases, and due to that, some of them even commit suicides. In order to put a full stop for that activity, we must have to develop strong bondage and bhakti on Lord Krishna, who is in the form of Lord Panduranga, and he is eagerly waiting for us at his Pandharpur Temple in order to have our darshan also! Sins committed by us gives lot of troubles to us in the form of diseases. It is very difficult to get rid from our diseases, though we may spend lot of money towards hospitalisation expenses. Among the diseases, mental diseases are the worst ones, since they cannot be healed easily. Most of us forget about the Divine doctor, Lord Krishna, and about his “SRI KRISHNA MAHAPRASADAM”.
In the Vittal Rukmini Temple at Pandharpur, daily free food is offered to the devotees. By participating in that noble activity, and by consuming the Sri Vittal Mahaprasadam, all of our diseases would vanish within a few seconds!
Hence let us keep thinking about Lord Krishna, about his wonderful Leelas, about his childhood plays, about his divine beauty and about his mercy!
SRI PANDURANGA SUPRABHATAM