Chokhamela

Chokhamela (Marathi :चोखामेळा) was a Hindu saint in Maharashtra, India in the 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 famous 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-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.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 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 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, 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. 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.