The 800-Year Warkari Pilgrimage
Advaita Bhakti
Vitthal-Rukmini Mandir
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 “Tuka mhane” and so ascribed to Sant Tukaram; 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 meets the Lord in form, the sense of body falls away, and Vitthal fills all.
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.
A barber-saint's abhanga: Sena, servant of Vithoba, uses the mirror and scissors of his trade to speak of self-knowledge and shedding ego.
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.