| Temples & Legends Of
Maharastra |
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| Temples & Legends Of
India |
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PANDHARPUR - VITTHAL |
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| The whole town
of Pandharpur is clustered with temples big and small, and the parts of the town that
house the principal shrines still do maintain much of their medieval aspect. The streets
are extremely narrow, not more than nine to ten feet in width, although paved with stone.
These lanes are flanked on either side by towering houses, many of them three storeyed
mansions built on the typical Maratha style. They present a dead surface to the street for
the first fifteen feet or so that are built in stone. The upper parts are in brick, have
windows and a balcany or two These stand close together and practically hang over the
streets making them dark and gloomy. The parts of the town developed in recent years
display all aspects of modernity- broad streets and well-spaced houses. But the older part
dominates the picture. Custom demands that the darshan of the deity is to be preceded by a
visit to Pundalik and by a dip in the Chandra- bhaga.The river has a fairly broad bed
here. On either side are vast stretches of sandy banks that are overrun in the floods. On
the banks and inside the water are several temple structures. The vast gravelly- stretches
are used for camping by the varkaris who flock here in their thousands. To make the
approach to the waters easier several ghats or flights of steps have been constructed by
charitable Persons. Most of these were built during the latter half of the eighteenth
century, and many are of substantial size, two stretching for more than a hundred feet
along the river. However, they do not form a continuous stretch as at some other kshetras,
being interspersed with buildings and temples. Building of ghats was a public utility that
had assumed the status of a ‘punya karma', and was practised all over Maharashtra
during the Peshwa period. Pandharpur received its share of such attention and
although some of the ghats are not in use now, their utility to the people was immense in
the bygone days. |
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