Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c12.s3.1

c12.s3.1

Before leaving the Sholāpur District we may notice the celebrated temple of Vithobā at Pandharpur, on the banks of the Bhīmā. Though of little interest from an architectural point of view, this Vaishnava shrine is of vast importance in the eyes of the people of this side of India. Four times a year, congregate in thousands, arriving with their pilgrim staves and banners, and the tinkling of bells, by train, bullock cart, on foot or pony-back, weary and footsore. Some even come upon all fours, measuring their length in dots and dashes along the whole journey, among whom not a few artfully mark out the forward limit of each stretch with a short cane or stick thus gaining a foot or more upon each length. On arrival at Pandharpur they at once fall willing victims to the wily priests, who discover their family names in their respective lists, and appropriate them accordingly. These constitute themselves their spiritual and mundane ministrants for the period of their stay in the town, which is generally limited by the amount of ready cash the devotee possesses, or rather the amount he can be induced to part with. Having bathed in the river and shaved off his moustache, if he possesses one, the pilgrim is taken to make his first call upon Vithobā and Rakhamāī Devī, and the minor deities who patiently await him in the many smaller shrines surrounding the main one. Here he obtains absolution, and various other favours and privileges, according to the weight of his purse, for Vithobā is a respector of persons. The open-handed pilgrim he receives in his best clothes and jewels, and the more of the latter are piled on the more that open hand contains.