Gora Kumbhar

Sant Gora Kumbhar
Personal life
Born	c. 1267
Died	c. 1317
Religious life
Religion	Hinduism
Philosophy	Bhakti movement
Sect	Varkari

Sant Gora Kumbhar (also known as Goroba) was a Hindu sant associated with the Bhakti movement and the Varkari sect of Maharashtra, India. He was a potter by trade and devotee of Vithal. ^[1] Gora Kumbhar, along with other saints, wrote and sung hundreds of Abhangs.

Gora Kumbhar is traditionally believed to have lived in the village of Satyapuri, presently known as Goraba Ter in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra State. He is believed to have been a contemporary of Namdev. He is thought to have lived between c. 1267 and c. 1317 CE. ^{[2] [3]} A small temple named after him was built in the village and is visited by devotees. ^[3]

In popular culture

Several motion pictures have been produced in India, about the life and bhakthi of Gora Kumbhar:

• K. S. Gopalakrishnan ^[a] directed the Telugu movie entitled Chakradhari in 1948. It starred V. Nagayya and S. Varalakshmi. ^[4]
• K. S. Gopalakrishnan ^[a] directed the Tamil movie entitled Chakradhari in 1948. It starred V. Nagayya and Pushpavalli.
• 1974 Kannada film Bhakta Kumbara starring Rajkumar.
• V. Madhusudhana Rao directed another Telugu movie entitled Chakradhari in 1977. ^[5] It starred Akkineni Nageswara Rao and was a remake of 1974 Kannada film Bhakta Kumbara .
• Dinesh Raval directed Gujarati film Bhagat Gora Kumbhar in 1978, starring Arvind Trivedi, Sarla Yevlekar, Kalpana Diwan, Shrikant Soni, Mahesh Joshi and others.

Notes

1. Not K. S. Gopalakrishnan

References

1. Vanina, Eugenia (2012). Medieval Indian Mindscapes: Space, Time, Society, Man. Primus Books. p. 188. ISBN   9789380607191.
2. Novetzke, Christian Lee (2008). Religion and Public Memory: A Cultural History of Saint Namdev in India. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 65. ISBN   978-0-231-14184-0.
3. "Osmanabad District". osmanabad.nic.in Official website of Dist. Admin. Osmanabad District Administration. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
4. 1948 film Chakradhari at IMDb.
5. 1977 film Chakradhari at IMDb.

Further reading

• Novetzke, Christian Lee (2013). Religion and Public Memory: A Cultural History of Saint Namdev in India. Columbia University Press. ISBN   9780231512565.