Abhang or Abhanga is a form of devotional poetry sung in praise of the Hindu

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 god Vitthala also known as Vithoba

Vithoba

Vithoba , also known as Vitthala and Panduranga , is a Hindu god, worshipped predominantly in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Andhra Pradesh. He is generally considered a manifestation of the Hindu god Vishnu or his Avatar Krishna...

. Bhajan

Bhajan

A Bhajan is any type of Indian devotional song. It has no fixed form: it may be as simple as a mantra or kirtan or as sophisticated as the dhrupad or kriti with music based on classical ragas and talas. It is normally lyrical, expressing love for the Divine...

s focus on the inward journey, abhangs are more exuberant expressions of the communitarian experience.

History

Abhangs were first sung by the Varkari

Varkari

Varkari is a Vaishnava religious movement within the bhakti spiritual tradition of Hinduism, geographically associated with the Indian states of Maharashtra and northern Karnataka. Varkaris worship Vithoba , the presiding deity of Pandharpur, regarded as a form of Krishna, an Avatar of Vishnu...

 saints like Tukaram

Tukaram

Sant Tukaram was a prominent Varkari Sant and spiritual poet during a Bhakti movement in India.Sant Tukaram was born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "More", the descendent of the Mourya Clan with first...

 in their native language, Marathi

Marathi language

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...

. Tukaram was a seventeenth century poet, who lived in a town named Dehu

Dehu

-Demographics: India census, Dehu had a population of 5340. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Dehu has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83% and, female literacy is 72%. In Dehu, 11% of the population is under 6 years...

, which is located near modern day Pune

Pune

Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

. He was a popular poet and was a leading figure in the Varkari Movement of the time, that sought to put the emphasis back on devotion and love towards God, in contrast to blind obedience of rituals and arcane religious practices.