Pandharpur

What an abhanga is, Pandharpur and the saints who sang of it, and thirty-two abhangas arranged by saint, with the best known linked in the story.

The Pandharpur Wari is an 800-year walking pilgrimage in which hundreds of thousands of Warkaris carry the Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram palkhis on foot to Lord Vitthal.

The Warkari Sampradaya fuses non-dual Advaita with passionate Bhakti, teaching that daily work is worship and love dissolves caste.

On the Chandrabhaga's banks, Vitthal stands on a brick tossed by Bhakta Pundalik, granting every pilgrim, regardless of caste, the rare grace of touching his feet directly.

The evening aarti of Vitthal at Pandharpur, traditionally ascribed to Sant Namdev, sung across Maharashtra to the Lord on the brick beside Rakhumai.

A Kakad Aarti to Vitthal that gently wakes the Lord at dawn, signed “Vishnudas Nama” in the standard Warkari kakad collections; sung in Pandharpur and across Maharashtra.

The daily liturgy of the Warkari tradition: 28 abhangas by Sant Dnyaneshwar harmonizing Upanishadic non-dualism with devotion to Lord Vitthal.

Sant Dnyaneshwar's Roop Pahata Lochani: the joy of beholding Vitthal's form, the fruit of many past good deeds and the home of every happiness.

Sant Eknath's Majhe Maher Pandhari: Pandharpur as a daughter's beloved maternal home, with Vitthal and Rakhumai as parents and Pundalik as brother.

Sant Gora Kumbhar's abhanga: the formless Absolute is met in the company of the Lord in form, the saint passes beyond all attributes, and he greets Namdev in wordless bliss.

Sant Janabai's abhanga: with the rope of love she binds the thief of Pandharpur, locks Vitthal in the prison of her heart and will never let Him go.

Sant Janabai's tender plea to Vithoba as mother: come to Pandharpur's rivers and dance in my courtyard, for my joy lies in your virtues.

Sant Sena's pilgrim anthem: the joy of the road to Pandharpur, with no pilgrimage in the three worlds to compare.

Sant Tukaram's hymn of longing for God: like the chakor for the moon and a child for its mother, his soul waits for Vitthal.

Sant Tukaram prays for smallness: the ant tastes sugar while the great elephant bears the goad, so humility is the happier gift.

Sant Tukaram's invocation of Lord Vitthal standing on the brick at Pandharpur, hands on hips, in a Tulsi garland and yellow silk.