Bahinabai Chaudhari (24 August 1880 – 3 December 1951) was a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language Marathi (; ''Marāṭhī'', ) is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Mahara ...

language poet from

Jalgaon district Jalgaon (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʒəɭɡaːʋ is a district in the northern part of Maharashtra, India. The headquarters is the city of Jalgaon. It is bordered by the state of Madhya Pradesh to the north and by the districts of Buldhana to ...

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created at the time of India's Independence, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Presidency (roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Maharashtra, excluding Sou ...

, India. She became a noted poet posthumously.

Early life

Bahinabai was born in a Mahajan family at Asode in

Khandesh Khandesh is a geographic region in Central India, which includes parts of the northwestern portion of Maharashtra as well as Burhanpur District of Madhya Pradesh. The use of Khandeshi Language (a.k.a. the Ahirani Language) is prevalent in t ...

region of the present-day

on the 24 August 1880, on the day of

Naga Panchami Naga Panchami is a day of traditional worship of Nag (or Naja or Naga) or snakes (which are associated with the mythical Nāga beings) observed by Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists throughout India, Nepal, and other countries where Hindu, Jain, and ...

. Her mother's name was Bhimai, and her father's name was Ukhaji Mahajan. She had three brothers - Ghama, Gana, and Ghana, and three sisters - Ahilya, Sita, and Tulsa. At the age of 13, in 1893, she was married to Nathuji Khanderao Chaudhari of Jalgaon. Following her husband's death in 1910, she led a very difficult life because of the economic, social, cultural, and emotional circumstances arising out of widowhood. She had a daughter named Kashi and two sons, Madhusudan and Sopandev (1907-1982).

Poetic compositions

Bahinabai composed her songs verbally in ''ovi'' (ओवी) metre in a mixture of two dialects: Khandeshi and Levaganboli. Her son Sopandev, who became a well-known poet, transcribed them. According to one account, Sopandev read the story of Savitri and Satyavan to his mother from his textbook, and by the next morning, she had composed a song of the tale. Impressed by her talent, he began writing down of her songs in a notebook. Her poetry is characterized as reflective and abstract with iconic and realist imagery. It captures the essence of her life, reflects the culture of village and farming life, and presents her wisdom.

Posthumous publication

After his mother's death on 3 December 1951, Sopandev found the notebook and shared one of her poems with Prahlād Keshav (Acharya) Atre's attention. Atre recounts calling the first of Bahinabai's poems he heard "pure gold" in his introduction to the collection published under the title ''Bahinabainchi gani'' (Bahinabai's Songs) in 1952 by Suchitra Prakashan.

Legacy

North Maharashtra University Kavayitri Bahinabai Chaudhari North Maharashtra University is a university situated in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. Formerly North Maharashtra University was established on 15 August 1990 after separating it from the parent University of Pune. In 200 ...

was renamed the ''Kavayitri Bahinabai Chaudhari North Maharashtra University'' in her honour. *

Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU) is a state, open university, located in Nashik, Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion ...

has recommended ''Bahinabainchi Gani'' as a part of their curriculum since June 2012. * Balbharati includes her poems in school textbooks of Marathi language in Maharashtra state board schools.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudhari, Bahinabai 1880 births 1951 deaths Marathi-language writers Marathi-language poets Hindu poets 20th-century Indian poets Indian women poets Poets from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian women writers