Contents

Iisr OF ILLUSTRATIONS 7

INTRODUCTION Eleanor Zelliot Rohini Mokaski-Punekar 9

I. THE TAMIL SAINTS: TIRUPPAN ALVAR AND NANDANAR 1. The life and Lyrics of Tiruppan Alvar Vasudha Narayanan 55 2. In Love with the Body of God: Eros and the Praise of Icons in South Indian Devotion Steven P. Hopkins 83 3. The Story of Nandanar: Contesting the Order of Things Karen Pechilis Prentiss 95 4. Nandanar: Untouchable Saint and Caste Hindu Anomaly Lynn Vincentnathan 109

H. THE MARATHI SAINTS: CHOKHAMELA, SOYRABAI, KARMAMELA, NIRMALA, BANKA 5. On the Threshold: The Songs of Chokhamela Rohini Mokaski-Punekar 123 6. Banka and Karmamela Rohini Mokaski-Punekar 143 7. The Story of Karmamela's Birth Eleanor Zelliot 149 8. Soyrabai and Nirmala Eleanor Zelliot 157 6 CONTENTS

9. The Search for Chokhamela Eleanor Zelliot 169 10. Representations of Chokhamela in Maratfai Film and Drama Anil Sapkal 175 11. God in a Copper Pot V.L Manjul 185 12. Chokhamela and His Revilers Mahipati 189

III. RAIDAS, , ROHIDAS 13. The Poems of Ravidas Translated by Anne Murphy 197 14. The Saintly Chamar: Perspectives on (he Life of Ravidas James G. Lochtefdd 201 15. The Legends of Raidas in Word and Song: Satire and the Rhetoric of Reform Joseph Schaller 221 16. Stories of Ravidas (Raidas) Anantadas 231 17. Rohidas the Shoemaker Mahipati 245 18. Ravidas in the Contemporary World Chandrabhan Prasad & Mahesh Dahiwale 249 19. Bhakti Voices on Untouchability 257

GLOSSARY 265

CONTRIBUTORS 271

BIBLIOGRAPHY 275

INDEX 281 Illustrations

Map 1 : Places associated with major Bhakti Saints 8 Plate 1.1: Lord Ranganatha at Srirangam 59 Plate 3.1 : Sketch of Nandanar entering the fire and emerging wearing a sacred thread 104 Plate 4.1: Shiva Nataraj 114 Plate 5.1 : The samadhi of Chokhamela at die foot of the stairs of the temple to 127 Plate 5.2 : Chokhamela's image at his samadhi at the foot of the stairs of the Pandharpur temple to Vithoba 128 Plate 18.1 : Ravidas' portrait in the hostel dining room run by Sukhadeo Ranganath Waghmare of Pune 251 Rate 18.2 : The Gum Ravidas temple in Govardhanpur village, behind Banares Hindu University in Varanasi 252 Plate 18.3 : Saint Ravidas. Images of Guru Ravidas in the R.K. Puram temple in New Delhi 253 PPN: 255694105 Titel: Untouchable saints : an Indian phenomenon / ed. by Eleanor Zelliot ; Mohini Mokashi- Punekar. - . - New Delhi : Manohar, 2005 ISBN: 81-7304-644-1 Bibliographischer Datensatz im SWB-Verbund