Sant Banka (

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

: संत बंका) also known as Wanka was a poet in 14th century

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. He was husband to Nirmala and brother-in-law to Chokhamela. Born in Mehenpuri, Banka was a member of 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 ...

. In most of his

abhang Abhanga () is a form of devotional poetry sung in praise of the Hindu god Vitthal, also known as Vithoba. The word "abhang" comes from ''a'' for "non-" and ''bhang'' for "ending" or "interrupting", in other words, a flawless, continuous process, in ...

s he praised Vitthal in happiness and peace. Infrequently, he described his lower caste birth. As a

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 ...

poet saint from the Mahar caste, Banka raised a voice against untouchability which is very relevant to current Dalit literature.

References

{{authority control Warkari 14th-century Indian poets Marathi-language poets Dalit literature Hindu poets Poets from Maharashtra