Paithan is a city and holy location (tirtha) in Maharashtra, some 175 miles east of Bombay, on the Godavari River.
Despite its diminished importance in contemporary times, it
has a long history as a commercial center and served as a vital stopover on the
central Indian trade route from southern India to Ujjain.
Paithan has been known as the residence of Eknath, a
prominent person in the Varkari Panth, a religious community focused on the
worship of the Hindu deity Vithoba at his temple at Pandharpur, Maharashtra,
since the sixteenth century.
The main features of Varkari religious practice are two
pilgrimages in which all participants converge at Pandharpur on the same day.
Eknath still makes a symbolic trip to Pandharpur twice a
year, with a palanquin (palkhi) carrying his sandals at the head of the procession.
