Jai Jai Vithala....
If you have been to Pandharpur, then surely you too would have stood in long, never ending queues, be it day or night for a quick, rushed darshan of Lord Vithoba. Now, hopefully, things will change and the queues will get smaller and more manageable with online bookings of time slot for darshan. Just like Tirupati!
The online booking facility, which began last year on an experimental basis, has now been made available as a regular service from the auspicious Ekadashi day i.e. June 19th. For availing your preferred time slot, you have to access the temple website and enroll yourself by putting in your name and photograph. Once you have chosen your preferred time slot, devotees can arrive in the temple just an hour before their darshan timing.
With devotees arriving in from not just Maharashtra but also Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the temple’s website too will be flooded with a throng of devotees. Lord Balaji and Pandharpur Vithoba are essentially the same and it is wonderful to know that they now follow the same online process. Of course, Balaji is much richer and very organized. Surely, Pandharpur will get there soon!