Tukaram
c. 1608 – c. 1650
Tukaram (c. 1608 - c. 1650) was a Marathi sant poet of the Bhakti movement in Maharashtra, India, and a devotee of the god Vithoba (Vitthal) of Pandharpur. His devotional poems, known as abhangas, collected in the Tukaram Gatha, remain among the most beloved works of Marathi literature. He belonged to the Varkari tradition, which emphasized personal devotion over ritual and caste distinctions.
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Life events
Tukaram was born into a family of grain sellers and petty traders in the village of Dehu on the Indrayani River; scholars place his birth around 1598 or 1608.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgTukaram's parents died while he was still young, leaving him to manage the family's trading and money-lending business.
The great famine that struck the Deccan around 1630 killed Tukaram's first wife and a son and ruined his business, deepening his turn toward religious life.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAfter his losses, Tukaram abandoned trade, spent long periods in solitary contemplation in the hills near Dehu, and devoted himself to the worship of Vithoba.
Tukaram composed thousands of abhangas in vernacular Marathi, expressing intense personal devotion and criticizing empty ritualism and caste pride.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAccording to Varkari tradition, orthodox critics forced Tukaram to throw his poems into the Indrayani River, but the manuscripts were miraculously restored after thirteen days.
Tukaram's kirtans (devotional singing gatherings) drew followers from all castes, and he became one of the most influential sants of the Bhakti movement in Maharashtra.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgTukaram died around 1649 or 1650; Varkari tradition holds that he ascended bodily to Vaikuntha, while the circumstances of his death remain a matter of legend.
Source: en.wikipedia.org