Chokamela

(d. 1338 C.E.) Poet and saint in the
Varkari Panth, a religious community
centered around the worship of the
Hindu god Vithoba at his temple at
Pandharpur in the modern state of
Maharashtra. Chokamela was born an
untouchable Mahar, and he is the only
untouchable among the Varkari saints.
Despite Chokamela’s deep devotion to
Vithoba, his low social status prohibited
him from ever entering the god’s temple,
since his very presence would have rendered it impure. The hagiographical
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Chokamela
literature tells many tales where Vithoba
comes outside to meet him. Chokamela’s
memorial shrine is at the steps of the
temple, the same steps that marked
his boundary during his life. It seems
that Chokamela accepted the restrictions that came with his social status,
but some of his poetry expresses
social protest. For further information
see G. A. Deleury, The Cult of Vithoba,
1960; and Eleanor Zelliot, “Chokamela
and Eknath: Two Bhakti Modes of
Legitimacy for Modern Change,” in
Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol.
15, Nos. 1–2, 1980.