Vithoba, also known as Vitthala ,vithu mauli and Panduranga, is a Hindu deity predominantly worshipped in the Indian state of Maharashtra. He is generally considered as a manifestation of the bhagwan Vishnu or his avatar, Sree Krishna. Vithoba is often depicted as a dark young boy, standing arms akimbo on a brick, sometimes accompanied by his main consort Rakhumai.
Vithoba is the focus of an essentially monotheistic, non-ritualistic bhakti-driven Varkari faith of Maharashtra and the Haridasa faith of Karnataka. Vithoba Temple, Pandharpur is his main temple. Vithoba legends revolve around his devotee Pundalik who is credited for bringing the deity to Pandharpur, and around Vithoba's role as a saviour to the poet-saints of the Varkari faith. The Varkari poet-saints are known for their unique genre of devotional lyric, the abhang, dedicated to Vithoba and composed in Marathi. Other devotional literature dedicated to Vithoba includes the Kannada hymns of the Haridasa and the Marathi versions of the generic aarti songs associated with rituals of offering light to the deity. The most important festivals of Vithoba are held on Devshayani Ekadashi in the month of Ashadha, and Prabodhini Ekadashi in the month of Kartik.
The historiography of Vithoba and his cult is an area of continuing debate, even regarding his name. Various Indologists have proposed a prehistory for Vithoba worship where he was previously: a hero stone, a pastoral deity, a manifestation of Shiva, a Jain saint, or even all of these at various times for various devotees. Though the origins of both his cult and his main temple are likewise debated, there is clear evidence that they already existed by the 13th century.
Vithoba (Marathi: विठोबा, IAST: Viṭhobā) is known by many names, including: Vitthala, Panduranga, Pandharinath, Hari and Narayan.
There are several theories about the origins and meanings of these names. Varkari tradition suggests that the name Vitthala (also spelled as Vitthal, Viththal, Vittala and Vithal; Marathi: विठ्ठल, Viṭṭhala; Kannada: ವಿಠ್ಠಲ, Telugu: విఠ్ఠల and Tamil: விட்டல்; Viṭhala) is composed of two Sanskrit-Marathi words: viṭ, which means 'brick'; and thal, which may have originated from the Sanskrit sthala, meaning 'standing'. Thus, Vitthala would mean 'one standing on a brick'. William Crooke, orientalist, supported this explanation. The prescribed iconography of Vithoba stipulates that he be shown standing arms-akimbo upon a brick, which is associated with the legend of the devotee Pundalik.
However, the Varkari poet-saint Tukaram proposed a different etymology—that Vitthala is composed of the words vittha (ignorance) and la (one who accepts), thus meaning 'one who accepts innocent people who are devoid of knowledge'. Historian Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar offers yet another possibility—that Vitthu (Viṭhu) is a Kannada corruption of the name Vishnu adopted in Marathi. The suffixes -la and -ba (meaning 'father' in Marathi) were appended for reverence, producing the names Vitthala and Vithoba. This corruption of Vishnu to Vitthu could have been due to the tendency of Marathi and Kannada people to pronounce the Sanskrit ṣṇ (/ʃn/) as ṭṭh (/ʈʈʰ/), attested since the 8th century.
According to research scholar M. S. Mate of the Deccan College, Pundalik—who is assumed to be a historical figure—was instrumental in persuading the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana alias Bittidev to build the Pandharpur temple dedicated to Vishnu. The deity was subsequently named as Vitthala, a derivative of Bittidev, by the builder-king. Other variants of the name include Viṭhurāyā (King Vitthala), and Viṭhāī (Mother Vitthala). The people of Gujarat add the suffix -nath (Lord) to Vitthala, which yields the name Vitthal-nath. The additional honorific suffix -ji may be added, giving the name Vitthalnathji. This name is generally used in the Pushtimarg sect.
Panduranga (Marathi: पांडुरंग, Kannada: ಪಾಂಡುರಂಗ, Telugu: పాండురంగ; all IAST: Paṇḍuraṇga), also spelt as Pandurang and Pandaranga, is another popular epithet for Vithoba, which means 'the white god' in Sanskrit. The Jain author-saint Hemachandra (1089–1172 AD) notes it is also used as an epithet for the god Rudra-Shiva. Even though Vithoba is depicted with dark complexion, he is called a "white god". Bhandarkar explains this paradox, proposing that Panduranga may be an epithet for the form of Shiva worshipped in Pandharpur, and whose temple still stands. Later, with the increasing popularity of Vithoba's cult, this was also transferred to Vithoba.[10] Another theory suggests that Vithoba may initially have been a Shaiva god (related to Shiva), only later identified with Vishnu, thus explaining the usage of Panduranga for Vithoba. Crooke, however, proposed that Panduranga is a Sanskritised form of Pandaraga (belonging to Pandarga), referring to the old name of Pandharpur. Pandharpur).
Finally, Vithoba is also addressed by the names of Vishnu like Hari and Narayana, in the Vaishnava sect
