Chokhamela was a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India in the 14th century. He belonged to the Mahar

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

, present day, which is considered one of the

untouchable Untouchable or The Untouchable may refer to: People * Untouchability, the practice of socially ostracizing a minority group of very low social status ** A word for the Dalits or Scheduled Caste of India, a group that experiences untouchability * ...

castes in India. He was born at Mehuna Raja, a village in

Deulgaon Raja Deulgaon Raja is a city and a municipal council in Buldhana district in the state of Maharashtra, India. Deulgaon Raja is located at border of Vidarbha and Marathwada.Deulgaon Raja is also called as ''Pratitirupati'' by Maharashtrian people. De ...

Taluka of Buldhana district. He lived at Mangalvedha in

. He wrote many Abhangas. One of his famous Abhangas is 'Abir Gulal Udhlit Rang". He was one of the first low-cast poets in India. Chokhamela lived with his wife Soyarabai and son Karmamela in Mangalvedha. Chokhamela's task was to guard and work in farms of upper-caste people. His family also followed varkari sect. * Soyarabai - Wife * Nirmala - Sister and her husband Banka (who is brother of Soyarabai) * Karmamela - Son Chokhamela was initiated into

bhakti ''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...

(spirituality) by the poet-saint Namdev (1270-1350 CE). Once when he visited Pandharpur, he listened to Sant Namdev's kirtan. Already a devotee of Vitthal ( Vithoba), Chokha was moved by Namdev's teachings. Later, he moved to

Pandharpur Pandharpur (Pronunciation: əɳɖʱəɾpuːɾ is a well known pilgrimage town, on the banks of Candrabhagā River, near Solapur city in Solapur District, Maharashtra, India. Its administrative area is one of eleven tehsils in the District, ...

. The traditional story is that the upper castes here did not allow him to enter the temple, nor did they allow him to stand in the door of the temple, so he instead built a hut on the other side of the river

Chandrabhaga Chandrabhaga may refer to: Rivers * Chenab River in Punjab, India * Bhima River near Pandharpur, Maharashtra, India * Chandrabhaga River (Purna River) in Maharashtra, India Other uses * Chandrabhaga Dam (Nagpur), Maharashtra, India * Chandrabhaga ...

. While working on construction of a wall in Mangalvedha, near Pandharpur, the wall fell down, crushing some workers. Chokha was one of them. His tomb is in front of the Vitthal temple, Pandharpur, where it can be seen to this day. According to a legend the bones of the dead Chokhamela were still chanting ''Vitthal , Vitthal'', apparently yearning to visit the Vitthal temple. The bones were buried at the footsteps of the Vitthal temple. In early 20th century, the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar attempted to visit the temple, but was stopped at the burial site of Chokhamela and denied entry beyond that point for being a Mahar.

Books

*''On the Threshold: Songs of Chokhamela'', translated from the Marathi by Rohini Mokashi-Punekar. * B. R. Ambedkar dedicated his book ''The Untouchables: Who are They and Why They Became Untouchables'' to the memory of Chokhamela, Nandanar and Ravidas. *''One Hundred Poems of Chokha Mela'', translated from Marathi by Chandrakant Kaluram Mhatre. *''The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History'' by

Manu S. Pillai Manu S. Pillai (born 1990) is an Indian writer and popular historian.Known for his works on the Travancore monarchy and the history of Princely India, he is most famous for his debut book, The Ivory Throne, which is about Rani Sethu Lakshmi ...

References

External links

Chokhamela (PDF) by Punekar

Chokhamela and Eknath: Two Bhakti Modes of Legitimacy for Modern Change - Zelliot

Chokhamela: The Pioneer of Untouchable movement in Maharashtra - Prof. Nimavat

Sant Chokhamela
information in Marathi {{authority control Medieval Hindu religious leaders Warkari Dalit saints Dalit Hindu saints 14th-century Indian scholars Scholars from Maharashtra Vaishnava saints Marathi Hindu saints