| Temples & Legends Of
Maharastra |
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| Temples & Legends Of
India |
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PANDHARPUR - VITTHAL |
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| Leaving the
Bhima and the Pundalik temple behind one comes up the Mahadwara ghats to enter into the
town. The street that leads from the ghats to the eastern gate of the Vitthal temple is
flanked on either side by shops offering for sale various substances like flowers, bukka,
kumkum, sweets etc. used for offering to the deity. There are also some general stores and
gold-smith shops on the street. The shopkeepers often are quite solicitous about the
visitors' require- ments and many of them act as agents of the temple priests giving
advice, even unwanted, on how to conduct the right' kind of vidhis at the temple and
kshetra. Then comes the enclosure within which stands the great god. The whole stands on a
high plinth and is surrounded by towering walls pierced by eight gates. The area occupied
is considerable being 350 feet east-west and 170 feet north south. Of the eight gates
there are three each in the northern and eastern walls and one each in the southern and
western walls. The chief entrance to the courtyard is through the eastern gate. This gate
is known as the Namdev gate, after Namdev the famous saints. This thirteenth century
poet philosopher belonged to the Shimpi community and was a friend of Jynaneshvar.
The gate is reached by a flight of twelve steps. The entire first or lowest step and the
frontface of the step above it or plated with brass and on the brass platedface of the
second step are carved fourteen small standing figures supposedly members of Namdev's
family. The first figure is that of Namdev, holding a tambourine in his hand and
performing a kirtan. |
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