Bhima Bhoi

Bhima Bhoi
File:Saint Bhima Bhoi.jpg
Personal
Born	1850, Baisakh Purnima Jatasinga near Subalaya, Subarnapur (previously Rairakhol, Sambalpur), Odisha, India
Died	1895, Siva Chaturdasi Khaliapali, Subarnapur, Odisha, India
Religion	Satya Mahima Dharma
Nationality	Indian
Spouse	Annapurna
Children	Labanyabati (daughter) Kapileshwar (son)
Notable work(s)	Stuti Chintamoni Brahma Nirupana Gita Nirveda Sadha
Senior posting
Teacher	Guru Mahima Swamy

Bhima Bhoi (1850–1895) was a Khond saint, poet and philosopher from the state of Odisha in India. Bhima Bhol was a bhakta (Oriya: devotee) of Mahima Swamy (commonly referred to as Mahima Gosain and whose birth name is said to have been Mukunda Das). From Mahima Swamy, Bhima Bhoi would receive initiation into Mahima Dharma, an Indian religious tradition that challenged the authority of caste Hinduism on its own terms.

Early life

Bhima Bhoi was born in Kaliapali in 1850, though various sources have cited different years as well as different places of birth. Bhima Bhoi's family belonged to the Khond tribe, a Dravidian-language speaking people found throughout Orissa and neighboring Andhra Pradesh. Bhoi's family was not well off and by most accounts his early life was not a happy one. His father died when he was quite young. His mother remarried and had children with her new husband soon after.

Further reading

• Bannerjee, Ishita and Johannes Beltz 2008 (eds.), Popular Religion and Ascetic Practices. New studies on Mahima Dharma, New Delhi: Manohar Publishers.
• Bäumer, Bettina and Johannes Beltz 2010 (eds.), Verses from the Void: Mystic poetry of an Oriya saint, New Delhi: Manohar Publishers.
• Beltz, Johannes. 2003. “Bhima Bhoi: The making of a modern saint”, A. Copley (ed.) Hindu Nationalism and Religious Reform Movements, New Delhi: OUP, pp. 230–253.
• Mahapatra, Sitakant. 1983. Bhima Bhoi. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi (Makers of Indian Literature).