The Vithoba shrine at Pandharpur is first recorded in an inscription of 1189 (a small shrine 'set up that year for the first time'; Pandharpur article, read).
The town itself first appears in an inscription of December 1237 (as Pandarage on the Bhimarathi); the stone temple of the 1270s and the wari pilgrimages of the saints (Dnyaneshwar and after) are all later. In 1200 it is a small, new shrine settlement on the Bhima on the Yadava side of the Silahara and Hoysala lines, not the great pilgrim city of the campaign board.
Who holds it
- Title
- Lord or keeper of Pandharpur
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- low
A Yadava officer; no name known.
Lord in 1200
A Yadava officer; no name known.
Overlord
Yadava crown
How things stand that morning
A new shrine; the great days are later.
Where the sources disagree
- Board 'pandharpur-vithoba' treats Pandharpur as the established pilgrim centre; the Pandharpur article (read) puts the first shrine in 1189 and the first mention of the town in 1237. Drawn as a young shrine.
Evidence: The Pandharpur article (read) gives the 1189 inscription and the 1237 first mention of the town.
Primary sources for Yadava kingdom (Devagiri)
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Corpus of Inscriptions in the Telingana Districts, Various (Kakatiya chancery and temple scribes), edited by P. Sreenivasachar (inscriptions of the 10th to 15th centuries; edited 1940 to 1942). The Kakatiyas of Orugallu (Warangal) are known for 1200 almost entirely from inscriptions, and this Hyderabad Archaeological Series corpus is the main printed collection. Read online
- Epigraphia Carnatica: inscriptions of the Mysore country, Various (Hoysala chancery and temple scribes), edited by B. Lewis Rice and R. Narasimhachar (inscriptions of the 4th to 19th centuries; the series ran from 1886 to 1905, revised from 1972). The Hoysala kingdom of Veera Ballala II (reigning 1173 to 1220) is documented almost wholly by the inscriptions in this series, arranged by district and taluk with full English translations. Read online
- Inscriptions of the Silaharas, Various (Silahara chanceries), edited by V. V. Mirashi (inscriptions of the 9th to 13th centuries; edited 1977). Collects the records of the three Silahara houses: North Konkan (Thana), South Konkan, and Kolhapur.
- Sanskrit and Old Canarese Inscriptions relating to the Yadava Kings of Devagiri, Various (Yadava chancery), edited by J. F. Fleet (inscriptions of the 12th and 13th centuries; edited 1876). The first collected edition of the Yadava (Seuna) records, with texts and translations, from the Indian Antiquary. Read online
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia: Pandharpur (read this session)
- Wikipedia: Vithoba (read this session)
- OMNIA board notes for this place (a lead only, checked against the sources above)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.