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?Pandharpur Maharashtra • India
Pandharpur
Coordinates: 17°40′N 75°20′E / 17.67, 75.33
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Area • Elevation	• 458 m (1,503 ft)
District(s)	Solapur
Population	91,381 (2001)

Coordinates: 17°40′N 75°20′E / 17.67, 75.33

Pandharpur is a city and a municipal council in Solapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Pandharpur is located at 17.67° N 75.33° E^[1]. It has an average elevation of 458 metres (1502 feet).

As of 2001 India censusCensus of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns. (Provisional). Census Commission of India. Retrieved on 2007-09-03., Pandharpur had a population of 91,381. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Pandharpur has an average literacy rate of 71%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 64%. In Pandharpur, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Vithoba of Pandharpur

Pandharpur is one of the most respected pilgrimage sites in Maharashtra. It is located on the banks of the Bhima river, which is also known as Chandrabhaga (fondly referred as it appears like a half-moon, actual Chandrabhaga river is now called Chenab and is in J&K). Pandharpur hosts the famous Vithoba temple, on the banks of the river. Vithoba is considered to be Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu; Vitthala is said to have been derived from the word Vishnu in Kannada. Vithoba's consort is Rakhumai or Rukmini.

The worship of Vishnu - Vitthala at Pandharpur is derived mainly from the puranas and has been augmented by the contribution of the great Vaishnava saints of Maharashtra and Karnataka from the 13th through the 17th centuries: Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Sant Eknath, Tukaram, Purandara Dasa, Vijaya Dasa, Gopala Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa.

This temple, covering a vast area, has a total of six gates. The eastern entrance to this temple is known as the Namdev gate. The sanctum enshrines a standing image of Vithoba also known as Panduranga, Pandhari or Vitthala.

Pandharpur hosts four "Yatras" in a year - of which "Aashadhi Yatra" attracts most (around 0.5 to 0.7 million) pilgrims to Pandharpur. Pilgrims take holy bath in river Bhima and usually stand in queues 3km long in order to take "Darshana" of Lord Vitthala. The second most important yatra is Kartiki.

Most of the devotional songs sung by great singer like Bhimsen Joshi, Lata Mangeshkar and others are at the centre of Lord Vithoba.

Pandharpur is also the birth place of famous painter M.F. Hussain.

1. ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Pandharpur

• G.A.Deleury, The cult of Vithoba (Pune: Deccan College, 1960)
• M.S.Mate, Temples and legends of Maharashtra (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1988), pp188-220
• D.B.Mokashi, Palkhi: a pilgrimage to Pandharpur (translated from the Marathi)(Albany, NY: State University of New York Press; Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1990)