Kanhopatra

Kanhopatra was a 15thcentury Marathi saintpoet, venerated by the Varkari sect of Hinduism.

Kanhopatra is formally included in the list of Sants, meaning saints in Marathi in the text Bhaktavijaya. Mahipati , a traditional biographer of Marathi saints, devotes an entire chapter to her in his Bhaktavijaya extolling her devotion to Vithoba. In his Bhaktalilamrita Mahipati refers to Kanhopatra as one of the saints who sit surrounding Krishna . Kanhopatra is cited by the Vakari saintpoets as an example of the real downtrodden and deserving people persons that are saved by the merciful God. In one of his abhangas, the Varkari saint and poet Tukaram uses the example of Kanhopatra and other famous saints who were low in the social caste hierarchy, to illustrate that caste is irrelevant when compared with devotion and merit. Her death and her surrender to Vithoba is regarded as a great legacy of self respect combined with spiritualism. Kanhopatra is considered unique since she is the only prominent woman in Maharashtra who rose to fame without a traditional family backing. She was b

Source: Wikipedia