sri saikalpa

Shri Premal Vithal Mandir

History

Photos

Timing

Pandit

Contact

Events

Address

History of the temple

In the fourth canto of Sai Satcharita, we often come across the mention of the holy place of Pandharpur, Shri Vitthal and Rakhumai. While writing about Pandharpur and Vitthal- Rakhumai, late Annasaheb

Photos

Dabholkar alias Hemadpant writes, "In Pandharpur there is special importance to the darshan of Shri Vitthal Rakhumai and in Shirdi, Shri Sai Baba also gives you darshan in the form of Shri Vitthal."In that same canto, a little later, Shri Sai Baba Himself says to Dasganu Maharaj, "Shri Jakurnath is at Dankapuri - Similarly Shri Vittal is at Pandharpur; but it is not necessary for you to go so long in order to see that Dwarkanagari of Kanchod". These words of Shri Baba show very clearly that He had full belief that Shri Vitthal was also present at Shirdi.The great reverence that Shri Sai Baba had for Shri Vitthal of Pandharpur, can be seen very clearly from the experience of one Sai devotee Shri Bhagwantrao Kshirsagar. Shri Vitthal was the family God of Shri Bhagwantrao. His father was a devotee of Shri Vitthal] and in his house the worship of Shri Vitthal was being carried out regularly with sincere devotion. After the death of his father, this legacy came to Shri Bhagwantrao, who did not continue it for some reason or the other. Hence when Shri Bhagwantrao came to Shirdi for the darshan of Shri Sai Baba, He made a specific mention about this fact to Shri Bhagwantrao and said that all gods were alike. He told Bhagwantrao that he should not have run to Shirdi, neglecting his own religious duties. In order to convince Shri Bhagwantrao about the oneness of all Gods, Shri Sai Baba also appeared before Bhagwantrao in the form of Shri Vitthal of Pandharpur.The mention of all the above facts is made here in order to show the affinity of Shri Sai Baba to Shri Vitthal of Pandharpur. One Sai Mandir at Phanaswadi, in the Girgaum area of the Bombay city, was formerly a temple of Vitthal and it was known as "Shri Premal Vitthal Mandir". In this temple the idols of Vitthal and Rakhumai were installed by Shri Gajanan Vinayak Pradhan, as the temple itself was constructed by him as his own private property. However, Shri Vasantshastri alias Aba Panshikar completely changed the Mandir and gave it the present form.Shri Prabhakar Panshikar, is a famous actor on the Marathi stage and Shri Aba Panshikar, his brother, performs Keertans in the Vitthal Mandir regularly. Shri Bhole Guruji, who is a Sai devotee, used to attend Shri Panshikar's keertaiis as he was staying very near the above Mandir, in the Mugbhat area of Girgaum. Shri Bhole Guruji requested Shri Panshikar to start praying to Shri Sai Baba. Shri Panshikar was not aware of the greatness of the saint of Shirdi upto that time and on being initiated by Shri Bhole Guruji, he gladly became a devotee of Shri Sai Baba. He very soon became a staunch and sincere devotee of Shri Baba and very soon thought of changing the Vitthal Mandir into a Sai temple. It is because of the zeal and efforts of Shri Aba Panshikar that the Premal Vitthal Mandir is now converted into a Sai Mandir and is now known by that name.In this temple, we see the idol of Shri Sai Baba in plaster, which is about four and a half feet high. This idol is seated on an altar. It will be seen from the photograph of the temple published along with this article that the original idols of Shri Vitthal and Rakhumai installed in the temple have still been retained in the temple as Shri Sai Baba had reverence for that God as stated at the beginning of this article. The beautiful idol of Shri Sai Baba in plaster was made by one sculptor Shri G. V. Patkar. Though the temple was originally constructed as a private temple, still it was later on thrown open to everyone for worship and at present anybody can go and offer flowers or garlands to Shri Sai Baba or Shri Vitthal - Rakhumai.In the rear side of this temple, there is a banyan tree about hundred years old. Around this tree we can also find the idols of Shri Datta, Hanuman and Pindi of Shri Shankar. In addition to that, there are the Padukas of Shri Sai Baba in silver in this area. These Padukas were installed at the holy hands of Shri Palekarshastri on the 26th of October 1952.The practice of getting prepared the silver Padukas of Shri Sai Baba and to give them to different people or institutions dedicated to Sai worship was started by this temple. So far, the Sai Padukas got prepared by this Mandir have been installed at five different places. It may be noted here that the Padukas installed at the Sai temple of Smt. Ajibai Wanarse at London, were got prepared by this mandir."Service to humanity and service to the dumb mutes is the service to God" this was the motto of Shri Sai Baba and the management of this temple has borne in mind this fact. They have therefore coupled a social duty with this religious institution. On the first floor of this temple, arrangements have been made for the free accommodation of poor and deserving students, who have no arrangements to stay in Bombay. A great number of students have taken advantage of this facility and because of the religious atmosphere of the temple, these students are grooved in Sai devotion from the young age of their life.Aarti, worship etc. are carried out at this temple every day as per those performed at Shirdi. Ramnavami, Gurupournima and Vijayadashmi are the great festivals observed at this temple on the same lines as is done at Shirdi. This temple has started one more practice. On every Monday in the month of Shrawan and on the Maha Shivaratri day, the offering of fruits is made to Shri Sai Baba and they are later on distributed to the devotees by way of prasad. Shri Pandurang Mahadeo Warang is a staunch Sai devotee, who manages the daily affairs of the temple with great care. He is only thirty one years of age at present, but for the last twentytwo years he is staying in the temple premises and is attending to the work of this temple. The management wants to expand the activities of the temple and arrange some further programs on a large scale; but due to shortage of space they feel sorry that it is not possible for them. Shri Warang always says that all his difficulties are readily solved by Shri Sai Baba. This shows his great faith in Shri Sai Baba and his devotion to Him.Girgaum is a very crowded locality of Bombay city. The area round about Lalbaug and Parel which is known as the "Mill area" is perhaps another equally crowded area in Bombay. The people in the "Mill area" are so very busy in their struggle for existence, that they have hardly any time to think about God or religion. The people in the Girgaum area are mostly white collared people. They have regular hours of their office work. Similarly religious practices are imbibed in them from their childhood. Hence they find the need of a place for worship where they can get mental peace. The people who were formerly the devotees of Vitthal have started visiting this temple for the worship of that God; but after seeing the idol of Shri Sai Baha in the temple and having come to know His greatness, they automatically become His devotees. Thus this temple has a good place of worship for the devotees staying in Girgaum area of the Bombay city and is therefore frequented by a number of devotees every day.

Temples( 209 )

INDIA

ABROAD

History of the temple

Photos