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Kanhopatra
Kanhopatra (or Kanhupatra) was a 15th-century Marathi saint-poet, venerated by the Varkari sect of Hinduism. Little is known about Kanhopatra. According to most traditional accounts, Kanhopatra was a courtesan and dancer. These accounts typically concentrate on her death when she chose to surrender to the Hindu god Vithoba—the patron god of the Varkaris—rather than becoming a concubine of the Badshah (king) of Bidar. She died in the central shrine of Vithoba in Pandharpur. She is the only person whose samadhi (mausoleum) is within the precincts of the temple. Kanhopatra wrote Marathi '' ovi'' and '' abhanga'' poetry telling of her devotion to Vithoba and her struggle to balance her piety with her profession. In her poetry, she implores Vithoba to be her saviour and release her from the clutches of her profession. About thirty of her ''abhangas'' have survived, and continue to be sung today. She is the only female Varkari saint to have attained sainthood based solely on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vithoba
Vithoba (IAST: ''Viṭhobā''), also known as Vitthala (IAST: ''Viṭṭhala''), and Panduranga (IAST: ''Pāṇḍuraṅga''), is a Hindu deity predominantly worshipped in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. He is a form of the Hindu deity Vishnu in his avatar: Krishna. Vithoba is often depicted as a dark young boy, standing arms akimbo on a brick, sometimes accompanied by his consort Rakhumai. Vithoba is the focus of an essentially monotheistic, non-ritualistic bhakti-driven Varkari faith in Maharashtra and the Haridasa sect established in Dvaita Vedanta in Karnataka. Vithoba Temple, Pandharpur is his main temple. Vithoba legends revolve around his devotee Pundalik who is credited for bringing the deity to Pandharpur, and around Vithoba's role as a saviour to the poet-saints of the Varkari faith. The Varkari poet-saints are known for their unique genre of devotional lyric, the abhang, dedicated to Vithoba and composed in Marathi. Other devotional literature dedi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mangalvedha
Mangalwedha is a town in the Solapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the birthplace of Shri Jayatirtha, also called Teekacharya, one of the prominent saints of the Dvaita school of Vedanta. Geography The city of Mangalwedha is situated 55 km west of the district headquarters at Solapur and 25 km southeast of Pandharpur city. Mangalwedha shares boundaries with Pandharpur, Sangola, Mohol, Jath, and Bijapur in Karnataka. History Mangalwedha is also known as the "Land of Saints" as Saint Jayatirtha, Saint Damaji, Saint Kanhopatra, Saint Chokhamela, saint Gopabai are said to have come from Mangalwedha during the 14th century. Mangalwedha is also known as Jwariche Kothar. The major crops that are grown in and around Mangalwedha include Jowar, Bajra, groundnut, Sugarcane, and sweetcorn. Mangalwedha's Jowar and Bajra have received geographical indications (GI) tags. In the 14th century, Mangalwedha was ruled by the Bidar Sultanate followed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Courtesan
A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together. Prior to the Renaissance, courtesans served to convey information to visiting dignitaries, when servants could not be trusted. In Renaissance Europe, courtiers played an extremely important role in upper-class society. As it was customary during this time for royal couples to lead separate lives—commonly marrying simply to preserve bloodlines and to secure political alliances—men and women would often seek gratification and companionship from people living at court. In fact, the verb 'to court' originally meant "to be or reside at court", and later came to mean "to behave as a courtier" and then ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vithoba Temple, Pandharpur
The Vithoba Temple, officially known as Shri Vitthal-Rukmini Mandir (, ), is a Hindu temple in Pandharpur, in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the main centre of worship for Vithoba, a form of the god Vishnu or Krishna, and his consort Rukmini, Rakhumai. It is one of the 108 Abhimana Kshethram of Vaishnavism, Vaishnavate tradition. The temple was built by King Vishnuvardhana of Hoysala Empire, Hoysala Empire between 1108 and 1152 CE upon being convinced by the historical figure Pundalik. Also, there is an inscription in the temple, of a Hoysala King Vira Someshwara dating back to 1237 CE, which grants the temple a village for its upkeep. It is the most visited temple in Maharashtra. The Warkaris start marching from their homes to the temple of Pandharpur in groups called Dindi (procession) to reach on Shayani Ekadashi, Aashadhi Ekadashi and Ekadashi, Kartiki Ekadashi. A dip in the holy river Bhima River, Chandrabhaga, on whose banks Pandharpur resides, is believed to have p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Express Group
Indian Express Limited (IEL) is an Indian news media publishing company. It publishes several widely circulated dailies, including ''The Indian Express'' and ''The Financial Express'' in English, the '' Loksatta'' in Marathi and the ''Jansatta'' in Hindi. The company's newspapers are published from over a dozen cities daily, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Pune, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Kochi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Nagpur, Vadodara and Chennai. Its weekly entertainment magazine '' Screen'', covering the Indian film industry, also has a popular following. On 2 November 2006, the Indian Express Group signed a print syndication deal with ''The Economist'', which included allowing the Indian Express Group to publish surveys, some reports, and various other content published in ''The Economist'' magazine. Publications The following brands and concerns are owned by the Group: * ''The Indian Express'' – a national daily (English) * ''The Sunday Express'' – a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Damaji
Damaji, also known as Damaji Pant (Damajipant - '' Pant'' indicates ministership or high scholarship), Sant Damaji and Bhakta Damaji, was a 15th-century Marathi saint ('' sant'') or '' bhakta'' ("devotee"), venerated by the Varkari sect of Hinduism. He was the ''Kamavisdar'' (main revenue official) of Mangalvedha under the Bahamani king of Bidar. He is described as a devotee of the god Vithoba - the patron deity of the Varkari sect. He distributed grain from the royal granaries to the people in famine. Vithoba is said to have come as an outcaste with a bag of gold to pay for the grain and rescue Damaji. The famine of 1460 is known as Damaji Pant's famine in the Deccan region in honour of Damaji's generosity in the famine. Life Damaji's chief hagiographical account is found in the '' Bhaktavijaya'' by Mahipati (1715 - 1790). Damaji was the revenue official of the Muslim king (sultan/ badshah) of Bidar (see Bahmani Sultanate). He is described as "generous, wise and brave". He li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chokhamela
Chokhamela was a saint from Maharashtra, India in the 13th–14th century. He belonged to the Mahar caste, which was considered that time one of the low 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 Abhangas. One of his known Abhangas is 'Abir Gulal Udhlit Rang". Social activist Arvind Prabhakar Kayande Started Celebrating "Chokhamela Festival" in Deulgaon Raja. He was one of the first low-caste poets in India. Life and Family 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 (spirituality) by the poet-saint Namdev (1270-1350 CE). Once when he visited Pandharpur, he listened to San ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ovi (poetry)
Ovee (, literally "strung together"), also spelled or , is a poetic metre used in Marathi poems for "rhythmic prose", generally used in narrative poems. A poem using this metre is also called an ovee. Ovee is among the "oldest Marathi song genres still performed today". It has been in use since the 13th century in written poetry; however, oral traditions of women's ovee pre-date the literary ovee. While literary ovee is used by the Varkari saints in bhakti (devotional) literature, women's ovee is passed via the oral tradition through generations of women, who sing them while working or for pleasure. Forms and origins Two forms of ovee are popular today: the (literary) ovee and the women's ovee. The literary ovee is sung without (rhythm) by a in a , a devotional call-and-response chanting form. This is generally used for of saints like Dnyaneshwar, Eknath and Namdev. The women's ovee is sung with , when the women gather for work or pleasure. The ovee metre originated in lit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda () (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Vivekananda was a major figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world, and is credited with raising interfaith awareness and elevating Hinduism to the status of a major world religion. Born into an aristocratic Bengali Kayastha family in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Vivekananda showed an early inclination towards religion and spirituality. At the age of 18, he met Ramakrishna and became his devoted disciple, and later took up the vows of a '' sannyasin'' (renunciate). Following Ramakrishna’s death, Vivekananda travelled extensively across the Indian subcontinent as a wandering monk, gaining first-hand knowledge of the often harsh living conditions endured by the Indian masses under then British India, he sought a way to alleviate their suffering by establ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
