UpdateBot at 13:11, 7 May 2022

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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
|name= Sant Chokhamela
|image= Sant Chokhamela.jpg
|caption = Statue of Sant Chokhamela at his [[Samadhi]] in [[Pandharpur]]
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
|birth_place= पौष शु.२ १२७३ Mehuna Raja, [[Deulgaon Raja]] Taluka, [[Buldhana district]].
|death_date= वैशाख कृ.५ १३३८
|death_place=
|philosophy=
|honors= ''[[Sant (religion)|Sant]]'' (संत) in Marathi, meaning "Saint"
|literary_works =
|footnotes=
}}
[[File:Pandharpur Vithoba temple.jpg|thumb|The chief gate of [[Vithoba temple, Pandharpur]]. The small blue temple in front of the gate is saint Chokhamela's memorial (samadhi).]]

'''Chokhamela''' was a [[saint]] in [[Maharashtra]], [[India]] in the 14th century. He belonged to the [[Mahar]] [[caste]],{{request quote|date=May 2021}} present day, it's considered one of the [[Untouchability|untouchable]] castes in India. He was born at Mehuna Raja, a village in [[Deulgaon Raja]] Taluka of [[Buldhana district]]. He lived at [[Mangalvedha]] in [[Maharashtra]]. He wrote many [[Abhanga]]s. One of his famous Abhangas is 'Abir Gulal Udhlit Rang".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://amrithavarshini.proboards.com/thread/940/abeer-gulaal-abhang-sant-chokhamela|title=Abeer Gulaal - Abhang by Sant Chokhamela | Amritha Varshini}}</ref> 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.<ref name=ZelliotA>
{{cite book
|last=Zelliot|first=Eleanor
|authorlink=Eleanor Zelliot
|chapter=Chokhamela, His Family and the Marathi Tradition
|title=From Stigma to Assertion: Untouchability, Identity and Politics in Early and Modern India
|editor1-first=Mik'''ael|editor1-last=Aktor
|editor2-first=Robert|editor2-last=Deliège
|year=2008
|publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press
|location=Copenhagen
|isbn=978-8763507752
|pages=76–85
}}</ref>

* [[Sant Soyarabai|Soyarabai]] - Wife<ref name=ZelliotB>
{{cite book
|chapter=A Historical Introduction to the Warakari Movement
|title=Living Through the Blitz
|first=Tom
|last=Harrisson
|isbn=9780002160094
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|year=1976
|page=[https://archive.org/details/livingthroughbli0000harr_f9s9/page/40 40]
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/livingthroughbli0000harr_f9s9/page/40
}}</ref>
* [[Sant Nirmala|Nirmala]] - Sister and her husband [[Sant Banka|Banka]] (who is brother of Soyarabai)<ref name=ZelliotA/>{{rp|84}}<ref name=ZelliotB/>
* [[Karmamela]] - Son<ref name=ZelliotB/>

He was initiated into bhakti spirituality by the poet-saint [[Namdev]] (1270-1350). 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]]. The traditional story is that the upper castes here did not allow him to enter the temple,<ref name=prasad>{{cite book|title=Dalit Literature|first=Amar Nath|last=Prasad|pages=10–12|isbn=978-81-7625-817-3|year=2007}}</ref> 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 [[Bhima River|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]].<ref name=lele>{{cite book
|title=Tradition and Modernity in Bhakti movements
|first=Eleanor|last=Zelliot
|chapter=Chokhamela and Eknath: Two Bhakti Modes of Legitimacy for Modern Change
|editor-first=Jayant|editor-last=Lele
|pages=136–142
|year=1981
|publisher=Brill
|location=Leiden
|isbn=9004063706
}}</ref>

==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. {{ISBN|978-93-5212-597-5}}
*''The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History'' by [[Manu S. Pillai]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070701040109/http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/cms/punekar.pdf Chokhamela (PDF) by Punekar]
* [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=kLs3AAAAIAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA136&dq=Chokhamela&ots=ctHKQ-KA92&sig=ad4SJ7oDbYj3vINGtnF2qeNOSeI Chokhamela and Eknath: Two Bhakti Modes of Legitimacy for Modern Change - Zelliot]
* [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=cW8SR26tnVYC&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=Chokhamela&ots=0kwAfDVfqR&sig=xkiyaf03n7QsSgWRhnPDe0D5haE Chokhamela: The Pioneer of Untouchable movement in Maharashtra - Prof. Nimavat]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180726040906/https://marathiinfopedia.co.in/2018/05/23/sant-chokhamela-maharaj/ Sant Chokhamela] information in Marathi

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Medieval Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:Warkari]]
[[Category:Dalit saints]]
[[Category:Dalit Hindu saints]]
[[Category:14th-century Indian scholars]]
[[Category:Scholars from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Vaishnava saints]]
[[Category:Marathi Hindu saints]]

Chokhamela - Revision history

UpdateBot at 13:11, 7 May 2022