New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, June 14, that Sant Tukaram remains a ray of hope not only for the present society but for the future as well.
The Prime Minister said this while addressing devotees after inaugurating the Shila Mandir of Jagadguru Sant Tukaram Maharaj at Dehu village near Pune. He said Veer Savarkar sang abhangs (devotional poetry in praise of Lord Vitthal) of Sant Tukaram while in jail during India’s freedom struggle.
Sant Tukaram was a Warkari saint and poet, famously known for Abhanga devotional poetry and community-oriented worship through spiritual songs known as Kirtans.
Sant Tukaram Maharaj was a 17th-century Marathi poet and a renowned Hindu saint or Sant of Varkari sampradaya that venerated the god Vithoba.
He was part of the egalitarian, personalized Varkari devotionalism tradition and is best known for his devotional poetry called Abhanga and community-oriented worship with spiritual songs known as kirtans.
He lived in Dehu. A Shila Mandir was built after his demise, but it was not formally structured as a Temple.
It has been rebuilt in stone masonry with 36 peaks and also carries an idol of Sant Tukaram.
Earlier, the Prime Minister visited the statues of Vitthal-Rukmini in the main temple of Dehu. He also worshipped the symbolic pillar of Bhagwat Dharma built in front of the Shila Mandir.
