Mystic poet and saint Kabir (1440–1518) was brought up by a Musilm weaver family in Varanasi. While his work had significant influences on Sikhism and the Bhakti movement, the greatest footprint of his legacy is in “Kabir Panth” (“Path of Kabir”), a religious community that accepts him as their founder.
The members, known as Kabir Panthis, are estimated at 9,600,000 spread around central and North India and Indian diaspora. “Bijak”, “Sakhi Granth”, “Kabir Granthawali” and “Anurag Sagar” are some of his works.
As an illiterate his poetry was expressed orally in vernacular Hindi. His couplets, popularly known as dohe, have been alluded to in Indian film music many times over. Fusion band Indian Ocean’s album “Jhini” (2003) based on Kabir’s poetry was first used as the soundtrack of director Anwar Jamal’s debut movie “Swaraj: The Little Republic” (2002). Another filmmaker to have used Kabir’s works is Anand Gandhi in films “Right Here Right Now” (2003) and “Continuum” (2006). Kabir Project by documentary filmmaker Shabnam Veermani is a documentary and book series on Kabir’s philosophy and poetry featuring musicians such as Prahlad Tipanya, Mukhtiyar Ali and Qawwal Fareed Avaz.
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