This volume is a translation of R. C. Dhere's Śrīviṭṭhal: Ek Mahāsamanvay [Lord Viṭṭhal: A great confluence]. Originally published in Marathi in 1984, it is the most comprehensive study to date of the history of the Hindu deity Viṭṭhal, also known as Viṭhobā, whose worship is centered in the pilgrimage city of Pandharpur in southern Maharashtra. The preeminent scholar of the religious traditions of this region, Dhere is widely published in Marathi. In addition to numerous other awards, in 1987 he received the Sahitya Akademi Award, India's most prestigious literary prize, for this book. The translator, Anne Feldhaus, is herself a highly regarded scholar of Maharashtrian Hinduism. In addition to her lucid translation, Feldhaus provides an introduction, a glossary, notes, a detailed index, and numerous photographs that speak of her own extensive research travels in the region.
The major argument here is that Viṭṭhal was originally a pastoralist folk deity,...
