8" Lord Vitthal and Goddess Rukmini On Pedestal In Brass

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In the lap of Maharashtra, where Bhakti (devotion) achieved its youth, according to a reference in the Uttar Kaanda of the Padma Purana, Sri Krishna’s incarnation as Vitthal and his wife Rukmini, showered with the childlike affection of their devotees, turn into Vithoba (father Vitthal) and Rakhumai (mother Rukmini). The divinely attired brass Vitthal and Rukmini idols here are a flawless representation of the form in which the heavenly couple is worshipped by their devotees in temples across Maharashtra and southwestern India. 

Looking at the brass Vitthal and Rukmini idols, we are immediately struck by the distinctive posture of the two. In the pages of the sacred Skanda Purana and Padma Purana, we find the story behind this form and posture of Vithoba and Rakhumai, a story that deifies not just the god, but also the devotee. According to this, there lived a devotee of Lord Vishnu named Pundalik, who was devoted to the service of his aging parents. One day, as Pundalik was involved in his household chores, he was visited by Krishna himself, who, walking from Vrindavan, reached the door of his devotee’s house. Seeing Pundalik busy with serving his parents, Krishna stood at the entrance of his house, on a brick which Pundalik threw toward his feet as a pedestal for his celestial guest. With his hands on his waist (a posture for waiting), the ocean of affection Krishna, waited for Pundalik to finish his duties towards his parents. Upon completing his task, Pundalik reached his Lord apologetically; who then calmed his mind by praising his dutifulness towards his parents, serving whom is equivalent to serving the divine. Overwhelmed by the compassion of Krishna, Pundalik prayed to him to stay at the spot, with his Shakti Rukmini, and look after the region of Pandharpur as the powerful guardians of the Tirtha (religious place). Fulfilling the wish of his devotees, Krishna and Rukmini as Vitthal and Rakhumai are enshrined in the temple town of Pandharpur today, in the form that is presented in these brass icons of the duo.

Lord Vitthal and Rukmini’s platform of bricks is transformed into upturned lotus pedestals, on which the two brass murtis with striking ethnic faces, draped in traditional attire, stand. Vitthal, who is the sole receiver of the devotional Abhanga (Marathi hymns) of Sant Tukaram, Namdev, and Jyaneshywar is the zenith of a devotee’s imagination of a personal connection with the divine element. Vithoba and Rakhumai, like a father, shelter the devotees, while standing on their feet like a mother- always ready to run and embrace her child in need.