Pandharpur

Pandharpur (Pronunciation: [pəɳɖʱəɾpuːɾ]), also Pandaripuram is a popular pilgrimage town, on the banks of Chandrabhagā River, near Solapur city in Solapur District, Maharashtra, India. Its administrative area is one of eleven tehsils in the District, and it is an electoral constituency of the state legislative assembly (vidhan sabha). The Vithoba temple attracts about a million Hindu pilgrims during the major yātrā (pilgrimage) in Ashadha (June–July). Kasegaon is the largest village in pandharpur talukas.A small temple of Śri Vitthala-Rukmini is also located, which is as old as the main Vitthala-Rukmini Mandir, in Isbavi area of Pandharpur known as Wakhari Va Korti Devalayas and also known as Visava Mandir. The Bhakti Saint, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, is said to have spent 7 days in the city at the Vithobha Temple. It is said that the deity Vithoba has been worshipped by many saints of Maharashtra. Sant Dnyaneshwar, Sant Tukārām, Sant Nāmdev, Sant Eknāth, Sant Nivruttināth, Sant Muktābai, Sant Chokhāmel̥ā, Sant Savatā Māli, Sant Narhari Sonār, Sant Gorā Kumbhār, Sant Meerā Bai and Sant Gajānan Mahāraj are a few of those prominent saints.

==History== The oldest mention of Pandharpur is from 516 CE from the Rashtrakuta era copper plate inscription. Yadava Kings in the 11th and 12th centuries gave numerous donations to the temple as evident from the inscriptions.