Chokhāmelā
A figure from the books
#Chokhamela
Chokhāmelā · d. 1338
In the books · 1 chapter
Who this is
Bhakti poetry in Marathi — the abhaṅga singers of the Varkari tradition of Viṭṭhal; by caste a Mahar, which is the whole subject of his life and work.
“The temple never let him in while he lived. When the wall fell on him, tradition says his bones went on murmuring the god's name — so they were gathered and buried at the foot of the temple steps, where they lie today: every pilgrim who enters Pandharpur's shrine walks over Chokhāmelā first.”
The big idea, in the book's words:
“Pollution can touch only the body; it cannot reach the soul. He made that argument nightly, in song, from the temple step he was never once allowed to cross — and turned the doorstep itself into a stage.”
From the book
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