Saint Namdev was a spiritual person of great repute. He was one of the pioneers of the
Bhakti movement, which stressed the existence of a single omnipresent god. He was a great devotee of god and always engaged in the utterance of the god’s name. During his lifetime he is believed to have performed many miracles, which he attributed to god’s grace on him. He is highly revered by the Sikh persons, since 61 of his hymns have been included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhism.
Saint Namdev was born in the year 1270 to a low-caste family, in a village called Narasvamani in present day Satara district of Maharashtra. It is believed that he was born after his mother offered much worship at the Vitthal Temple in Pandharpur. The deity of this temple was his object of affection in his early years. He spent most of his time singing praises of this god. Most of these hymns were his own compositions. He visited many parts of the country in the company of many reputed saints. His last years were spent in a village called Ghuman, which is in Gurdaspur District of Punjab. A temple has been built in his honor in this village.
Saint Namdev’s earlier compositions were in
Marathi, the language used in Maharashtra. Although these hymns got him many followers, they were restricted in Maharashtra alone. His later compositions in Hindi and his travels to other parts of the country won him many followers from other regions. Though he was a strong believer in idol worship, later on he adopted the worship of an omnipresent single god. His hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib, promote the worship of this single formless god.
