Tukaram was a 17th-century Marathi poet, Hindu saint, and ardent follower of Lord Shri Vitthal, also known in Maharashtra as Tuka, Tuko Baraya, and Tukoba. In Maharashtra, India, he was a Saint of the Varkari sampradaya (Marathi-Vaishnav tradition). Tukaram’s poetry is often regarded as the pinnacle of the Bhagawat tradition that began with Namdev.
Tukaram (1608-1650)
- Tukaram was born in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Tukaram Bolhoba Ambile was his full name.
- The year of Saint Tukaram’s birth and death has been the subject of investigation and debate among twentieth-century researchers.
- His parents were followers of Vithoba, a manifestation of the Hindu deity Vishnu (Vaishnavas). Tukaram’s parents both died while he was a teenager.
- His master was Saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu of the Bhakti movement.
- A 17th-century poet-saint who lived with Maratha ruler Shivaji Maharaj and saints such as Eknath and Ramdas.
- His poetry was dedicated to Vithoba or Vitthala, an avatar of Vishnu, the Hindu God.
- He is most known for his Marathi Abangas (dohas), which are a rich inheritance of Gatha – devotional poetry, and he was also crucial for laying the groundwork for Maratha nationalism.
- He emphasized community-based worship through spiritual melodies known as Kirtans. He promoted the virtues of piety, forgiveness, and inner tranquility.
- He was a vocal critic of caste and gender injustice.
- Tukaram opposed mechanical rites, rituals, sacrifices, and vows, favoring a direct type of bhakti instead.
- While being held in Yerwada Central Jail by the British colonial government for his nonviolent movement in the early twentieth century, Mahatma Gandhi read and translated Tukaram’s poetry, as well as Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and poems by other Bhakti movement poet-saints.