Abhangs, a Marathi poetic pattern has caught up craze with Tamils of late. Abhangs are easy to follow with 4 lines and 4 syllables in each line used mainly in Sankirtan. So, trying to explain a popular abhang.
Maajhe Maher Pandhari…
Majhe Maher Pandhari, Aahe Bhim Ratya tiri.. (or Bheevarechya tiri..)
Pandharpur is my maternal home, that is on the banks of River Bheema. (Maher = maternal home)
Maher in Marathi means maternal home! In Indian household, among women, the maternal home always has a special place. For every woman, even after decades of marriage and having lived in the extended family, maternal home (mother’s home) always remains a special place for her.
The reasons are very many but no place fills the place of a maternal home.
Sant Eknath, in this Abhang, describes Pandharpur as his maternal house – a very special place to him in his life, a place he always wishes to go, where he can go and stay at his own wish,
spend time at his own will and yet none complains. He gets all the liberty to do at this place. It is a place of respite for him. Or in another sense, Pandharpur is his real home.
Baap aani aayee, majhi Vittal Rakumayee…