Important places to visit in Pandharpur

The main attraction of Pandharpur is Shri Vitthal Rukmini Mandir.  In addition to the main temple, there are many places to visit in Pandharpur but I have mentioned only a few important places to visit in the following section.

Namdeva Chi Payari

This is the first step of the Shri Vitthal Rukmini Mandir in Pandharpur. 

A story of Namdeva Chi Payari (step of Namdev) is related to great saint Shri Namdev. Right from childhood, Namdev was an ardent devotee of Vithoba. One day his mother asks him to complete the ritual of “naivedya” (any food made in the house is first offered to God and then consumed by family) 

Namdev faithfully does “naivedya” and waits for God to appear and take the offering. But he is disheartened as god doesn’t appear to eat the naivedya. He keeps praying and requests God to come in person and accept the offering. With no answer, the child starts banging his head at the feet of God. Seeing this utmost devotion and innocence of a child, God appears, eats the offering and blesses Namdev.

Namdev asks for being present in the “first step” at the temple so that he could innumerable devotees will touch him before having the “darshan” of Shri Vitthal.  So, this first step is called “Namdev Chi Payari”. It is also believed that Tukaram, a 17th-century devotee of Krishna spent his last days in the temple.

Pundalik Temple at Pandharpur
To read the story of Bhakta Pundalik and how Vitthal came to Pandharpur please visit at
Vitthal and Pundalik Story

So in the memory of Shri Pundalik, there is temple called Pundalik Temple near Chandrabagha river.

Kaikadi Maharaj Mandir

This temple is located near Vitthal temple (2 km). Interesting for children as it has statues of stories from Ramayan and Mahabharat. Not suitable for physically handicapped or old people because it has a lot of stairs and you need minimum 2 hours to complete the track.

Watch this video to get complete idea about this place.

 

Vishnupad Temple

Vishnupad Temple is located at Pandharpur. The Vishnupada means the Lord’s feet. The Vishnupada temple is located on the banks of the Chandrabhaga River. It is an old and open temple wherein you will find the feet of the lord on the stones.  

The Visnupada Temple is nearly a kilometer from the Pundalik Temple and is visited by several devotees every year. Vishnupad Temple is just 4 km away from Pandharpur railway station, so you can easily reach to the temple. To get the best rates with Auto, you need to bargain.

There are two ways to reach this temple -one is through road and other is through the water. Some people prefer to reach this temple through water by using a boat.

The attractive thing in the temple is different statues of Lord Vishnu made of stone depicted in various poses. The temple homes three rocks with footprints of Lord Krishna and of a cow embedded in them.

There are two types of footprints of Lord Krishna; one stone carries the print of both feet on standing position and the other carries the standing position of the left foot with right foot crossed and resting on the toes. You can see footprints of a cow at each corner of these squares. 

As Vishnupad Temple is located in the middle of the river, the footsteps get partially submerged in water, when the water level rises during the monsoon. Sometimes, the whole temple is under water during heavy rains.

The main festival conducted in Vishnupad Temple is in the month of Margashirsha.

On the first day of Margashirsha the sandals of Vitthal are taken to Vishnupad Temple and the last day of the same month the chariot of Lord Vitthal is brought to this temple in a grand procession.

Vishnupad temple is also famous for another ritual ‘Shraddha’ in which the pilgrims perform funeral rites for their departed relatives and remember their ancestor.