Goans celebrating Ashadhi Ekadashi today

The Goans, irrespective of their caste, tribe and status, today will be celebrating the Ashadhi Ekadashi by visiting either the temples of Shree Vithal in Pandharpur of Maharashtra or in Goa.

Every year, since the hoary past, the Goans visit the temple of Shree Vithal in Pandharpur of Solapur district of Maharashtra or temples that are situated in the vicinity in Goa.

On the eleventh day of the bright fortnight of the fourth month Ashadha of the lunar calendar, every year in Goa , devotees visits in the procession by chanting the hymns composed by the saints Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Tukaram and others to Shri Vithal temple.

The stone inscription of 1284 A.D.from Vithal temple of Pandharpur records the donation received from Lad families of Goa.

It indicates that the worship of Shri Vithal is in vogue from the later period of the Kadamba dynasty in Goa. As per the tradition, the temple of Shri Vithal was constructed on the bank of the Valvonti river in Karapur of Bicholim in 1392. Before, the construction of the temple, the devotees from Goa, were visiting Pandharpur for the Ashadhi Ekadashi and as per the folk belief, it was the intense devotion of one of the devotees, Vataba Dulba Rane Morlekar, responsible for the establishment of the temple in Goa.

In the book 'A India Portugueza' (1886) A. Lopes Mendes mentions about the temple of Vitthal, "Vithol Pagoda-deu.-In front of Mr. Raugy Ranes is the great pagoda of the god Vithol, Vithoba, on Panduranga. This Hindu temple will have two centuries of existence. it is situated on the right bank and the knight of Torlinoy-volvota, in the center of the old gentilic fortress, in the neighborhood Vitholapur, from the village of Carapur."

Gajara Raje from the house of Rane Sardesai family of Karapur, married to the Scindia's of Gwalior, helped in the construction of the present temple.

In Canacona, on the bank of the river Talpona there is Gokarna Partagali Jivottama Math established by Madhvacharya in the 13th century A. D. In this Math idols of Shri Veer Vitthal and lord Shri Ram are the main deities. 

In Goa, right from Canacona to Pernem, the century old temples of Shri Vithal, attracts the devotees in processions, where varied performances of devotional songs are organised highlighting the moral values and social equality.

Sukant Avakhale, from Virdi of Sankhali, from Pandharpur, said, "Two years, due to the pandemic COVID-19, we could not visit the temple. This year, many groups of devotees traveling almost the distance of more than 350 kms on foot are participating in the festival. In order to take part in this celebration, I along with other devotees are in Pandharpur.

Throughout Goa, the temples from Ponda, Sanguem, Marcel, Kumbharjua, Akhada, and other areas have been engrossed in the festival with the bhajans, kirtane and in various cultural performances.

Rajendra Phadte from Akhada island told, "Since last ten years, we after taking the blessings of Shri Vithal in the temple of Marcel comes in procession, singing the devotional songs to the temple of Pandurang in Akhada on the feet through Khandola and St.Estev."

There are evidences in Goa that indicates the name Vitthal, Vithoba, Pandurang given in the family for more than seven hundred years. The spiritual leader from South India Madhvacharya propagated the cult of Vishnu worship, Vaishnavism, many centuries before the Portuguese conquest of Goa.