Lord Vittal and Rukmini

Our beloved lord Vishnu, is now consecrated in our temple at East Ham, in form of Vitthal accompanied by Rukmini. Vitthal, also lovingly known as Vithoba or Pandurang, originates from Pandharpur in Maharashtra, India.

As per the legend, lord Vishnu was very impressed by the service of Pundalika towards his parents and decided to visit him. When lord Vishnu visited Pundalika he was serving his parents and told Vishnu to wait and threw a brick towards him and requested him to stand on the brick until he finishes serving his parents. Lord Vishnu waited on the brick in arms-akimbo posture, which can be seen in Vitthal’s idol. The Idol of Vitthal is always accompanied  by idol of Rukmini, goddess Lakshmi.

Vitthal is also well known as lord of Varkaris, community of working men and women who chanted his name and hymns while doing their day to day duties. Every year the varkaris do pilgrimage to Pandharpur by walking there and chanting “Jai Hari Vitthal”. This is also commonly called Wari or Dindi.

The mythological relevance and importance of Pandharinath or Vitthal is not God of only Varkari culture in Maharashtra but, the lord Vitthal  is God of many ‘Vaishnava’ from places like Karnataka, Andra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Utter Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh etc, Vitthal is not confined only to the Marathi culture. Many saints around the country have mentioned the importance of devotion of this God Vitthal. The ancient tradition of Shri Vitthala’s worship could be traced back to the Hindu philosophical scripture like Upanishad. There is story of King Janshruti in 4th chapter of Chandogya Upanishad.

Other than Pandharpur, temples of great historical and spiritual relevance are present at places like at ‘Hampi’ in Karnataka,  at ‘Chilakalapudi’ in Andhra Pradesh and at ‘Govindapura’ in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.

Fobeautiful  darshan of Vitthal and Rukmini please visit

Shirdi Sai Baba Temple – East Ham

298 High Street North

London E12 6SA

Jai Hari Vitthal