LORD PANDURANGA VITHAL OF PANDHARPUR

Before the temple entry Act for Harijans was passed, all the forbidden communities were offering prayers at this niche only. And beyond this point, they were not allowed.

Crossing the Namdev gate, we enter a roofed passage with Nagarkhana on it. It has three rooms on either side, housing images a like Ganeshe etc. This is called Mukti Mandap. Ascending half a dozen steps again, we enter a spacious quadrangle with aisles used for cooking. It contains two samadhis of great saints besides the images of Hanuman and Garuda. Next comes the big mandap with well decorated gates. One either side of the middle gate lie the Dwarapalakas Jaya-Vijaya. There are images-one of Ganesh and the other is that of Saraswati, holding the lotus, akshamala, parsu and book in hands. The central gate opens into Solakhamba mantap - a big hall with 16 pillars. The ceiling is beautified with scenes from the scriptures, like Krishnalila etc. There are a number of cells containing the images of Kasi Viswanath, Kalabhaviar, Rama-lakshman, Dattatreya etc. There is a holy pillar called Garuda stambha here and pilgrims embrace it after making money offerings. Next to it lies Choukamba with elephant gate leading to the garbha griha. The archamurthi lies on a four feet high pedestal. The exterior of garbha griha is decorated with Maratha motifs of niches and minarets with stucco figures in the niches. The images of Narasimha, Radhakrishna, Vishnu adorn the niches in the walls and they are grand.

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