Ajay Kumar: Created a new article

2023-08-12T17:54:38Z

Created a new article

New page

{{short description|16th-century Hindu mystic poet, saint and devotee of the god Krishna}}
{{For|the Indian weightlifter|Saikhom Mirabai Chanu}}
{{redirect|Meera}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| name = Mirabai
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Bhoj Raj| Bhojraj Singh Sisodia]]|1516|1521|reason=died}} - Disciple
| other_names = {{ubl|''Meera''|''Meera Bai''|''Mira''|Jashoda (Birth name)}}
| image = File:Meerabai (crop).jpg
| caption = Painting of Mirabai by [[Raja Ravi Varma]]
| birth_date = {{birth year|c. 1498}}<ref name=ushamiralife>Usha Nilsson (1997), Mira bai, Sahitya Akademi, {{ISBN|978-8126004119}}, pages 1-15</ref>
| birth_place = [[Kudki]], [[Jodhpur State|Kingdom of Marwar]] (present-day [[Rajasthan]], [[India]])
| death_date = c.
{{death date and age|1547|1498}}
| death_place = [[Dwarka]], [[Gujarat Sultanate]] (present-day [[Gujarat]], India)
| known_for = Poems, [[Bhakti]] for [[Krishna]]
| birth_name = Jashoda Rao Ratan Singh Rathore
}}

'''Meera''', better known as '''Mirabai'''<ref name=brit1>{{cite web|title=Mira Bai|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mira-Bai|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=30 July 2015|archive-date=4 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204010342/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mira-Bai|url-status=live}}</ref> and venerated as '''[[Sant (religion)|Sant]] Meerabai''', was a 16th-century [[Hindu]] [[Mysticism|mystic]] poet and devotee of [[Lord Krishna|Krishna]]. She is a celebrated [[Bhakti movement|Bhakti]] saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition.<ref>Karen Pechelis (2004), The Graceful Guru, [[Oxford University Press]], {{ISBN|978-0195145373}}, pages 21-23, 29-30</ref><ref>Neeti Sadarangani (2004), Bhakti Poetry in Medieval India: Its Inception, Cultural Encounter and Impact, Sarup & Sons, {{ISBN|978-8176254366}}, pages 76-80</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Ryan|first1=James D.|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|last2=Jones|first2=Constance|publisher=Infobase Publishing | year = 2006 | isbn = 9780816075645 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&dq=Meerabai&pg=PA290 | pages = 290}}</ref>

Mirabai was born into a [[Rathore]] [[Rajput]] royal family in [[Kudki]] (modern-day [[Nagaur district]] of [[Rajasthan]]) and spent her childhood in [[Merta City|Merta]]. She is mentioned in ''[[Bhaktamal]]'', confirming that she was widely known and a cherished figure in the Bhakti movement culture by about 1600 CE.<ref name=asher>Catherine Asher and Cynthia Talbot (2006), India before Europe, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0521809047}}, page 109</ref><ref>Annals And Antiquities Of Rajasthan Vol. 1 Page no. 75</ref>

Most legends about Mirabai mention her fearless disregard for social and family conventions, her devotion to Krishna, her treating Krishna as her husband and being persecuted by her [[in-law]]s for her religious devotion.<ref name="ushamiralife" /><ref name="asher" /> She has been the subject of numerous folk tales and [[hagiography|hagiographic]] legends, which are inconsistent or widely different in details.<ref name="ushamiralife" /><ref name="nancy">Nancy Martin-Kershaw (2014), Faces of the Feminine in Ancient, Medieval, and Modern India (Editor: Mandakranta Bose), Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195352771}}, pages 162-178</ref>

Millions of devotional hymns in passionate praise of Krishna are attributed to Meerabai in the Indian tradition, but just a few hundred are believed to be authentic by scholars, and the earliest written records suggest that except for two hymns, most were written down only in the 18th century.<ref name="hawley">John Stratton Hawley (2002), Asceticism (Editors: Vincent Wimbush, Richard Valantasi), Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195151381}}, pages 301-302</ref> Many poems attributed to Meera were likely composed later by others who admired Meera. These hymns are a type of [[bhajan]], and are very famous across India.<ref>Edwin Bryant (2007), Krishna: A Sourcebook, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195148923}}, page 254</ref>

Hindu temples, such as in Chittorgarh fort, are dedicated to Mirabai's memory.<ref name="ushamiralife" /> Legends about Mirabai's life, of contested authenticity, have been the subject of movies, films, comic strips and other popular literature in modern times.<ref>Edwin Bryant (2007), Krishna: A Sourcebook, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195148923}}, page 242</ref>

==Biography==
[[File:Rajasthan-Chittore Garh 09.jpg|left|230px|thumb|''Meera's'' temple to [[Krishna]] at [[Chittor Fort]], Rajasthan]]
Authentic records about Meera are not available and scholars have attempted to establish Meera's biography from secondary literature that mentions her and wherein dates and other moments. Meera unwillingly married [[Bhoj Raj]], the crown prince of [[Mewar]], in 1516.<ref name=usha13>Usha Nilsson (1997), Mira bai, Sahitya Akademi, {{ISBN|978-8126004119}}, pages 12-13</ref><ref>Nancy Martin-Kershaw (2014), Faces of the Feminine in Ancient, Medieval, and Modern India (Editor: Mandakranta Bose), Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195352771}}, page 165</ref> Her husband was wounded in one of the ongoing wars with the [[Delhi Sultanate]] in 1518, and he died of battle wounds in 1521. Both her father and father-in-law ([[Rana Sanga]]) died a few days after their defeat in the [[Battle of Khanwa]] against first [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Babur]].

After the death of her father-in-law Rana Sanga, Vikram Singh became the ruler of Mewar. According to a popular legend, her in-laws tried many times to assassinate her, such as sending Meera a glass of poison and telling her it was nectar or sending her a basket with a snake instead of flowers.<ref name=brit1/><ref name=usha13/> According to the hagiographic legends, she was not harmed in either case, with the snake miraculously becoming a Krishna idol (or a garland of flowers depending on the version).<ref name=nancy/><ref name=usha13/> In another version of these legends, she is asked by Vikram Singh to go drown herself, which she tries but she finds herself floating on water.<ref name=usha17>Usha Nilsson (1997), Mira bai, Sahitya Akademi, {{ISBN|978-8126004119}}, pages 16-17</ref> Yet another legend states that the third Mughal emperor [[Akbar]] came with [[Tansen]] to visit Meera and presented a pearl necklace, but scholars doubt this ever happened because Tansen joined Akbar's court in 1562, 15 years after she died.<ref name=usha17/>
Similarly, some stories state that [[Ravidas|Guru Ravidas ]] was her guru (teacher), but there is no corroborating historical evidence for this. Some versions suggest this could likely have happened. Others disagree.<ref name=usha17/>

The three different oldest records are known as of 2014 that mention Meera,<ref>These are Munhata Nainsi's Khyat from [[Jodhpur]], Prem Ambodh from [[Amritsar]] and Nabhadas's Chappy from [[Varanasi]]; see: JS Hawley and GS Mann (2014), Culture and Circulation: Literature in Motion in Early Modern India (Editors: Thomas De Bruijn and Allison Busch), Brill Academic, {{ISBN|978-9004264472}}, pages 131-135</ref> all from the 17th century and written within 150 years of Meera's death, neither mention anything about her childhood or circumstances of her marriage to Bhojraj nor do they mention that the people who persecuted her were her in-laws or from some Rajput royal family.<ref>JS Hawley and GS Mann (2014), Culture and Circulation: Literature in Motion in Early Modern India (Editors: Thomas De Bruijn and Allison Busch), Brill Academic, {{ISBN|978-9004264472}}, pages 131-135</ref> Nancy Martin-Kershaw states that to the extent that Meera was challenged and persecuted, religious or social conventions were unlikely to have been the cause, rather the likely cause was political chaos and military conflicts between the Rajput kingdom and the Mughal Empire.

Other stories state that Mira Bai left the kingdom of Mewar and went on pilgrimages. In her last years, Meera lived in [[Dwarka]] or [[Vrindavan]], where legends state she miraculously disappeared by merging into an idol of Krishna in 1547.<ref name=ushamiralife/><ref name=brit1/> While miracles are contested by scholars for the lack of historical evidence, it is widely acknowledged that Meera dedicated her life to God Krishna, composing songs of devotion, and was one of the most important poet-saint of the Bhakti movement period.<ref name=brit1/><ref name=usha17/><ref>John S Hawley (2005), Three Bhakti Voices: Mirabai, Surdas and Kabir in Their Times and Ours, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195670851}}, pages 128-130</ref>

==Poetry==
[[File:Krishna N Radha.jpg|thumb|230px|Most of Meera's poems are dedicated to God in the form of [[Krishna]] (left), calling him the Dark One or the Mountain Lifter. Some Meera songs include [[Radha]] (right), the lover of Krishna. All her poems have philosophical connotations.<ref>Edwin Bryant (2007), Krishna: A Sourcebook, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195148923}}, page 244</ref>]]

A number of compositions by Meera Bai continue to be sung today in India, mostly as devotional songs (''[[bhajans]]'') though nearly all of them have a philosophical connotation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Subramanian |first1=VK |title=Mystic songs of Meera (in Hindi and English) |date=1 February 2005 |publisher=Abhinav publications |isbn=8170174589 |url=https://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/mystic-songs-of-meera-with-english-transliteration-and-translation-IDF197/ |access-date=23 November 2018 |archive-date=23 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123113608/https://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/mystic-songs-of-meera-with-english-transliteration-and-translation-IDF197/ |url-status=live }}</ref> One of her most popular compositions remains [[Payo Ji Maine Ram Ratan Dhan Payo|'''"''Payoji maine Naam Ratan dhan payo''''']]" (पायो जी मैंने नाम रतन धन पायो।, "I have been given the richness of God's name blessing").<ref>{{cite web |title=Lyrics - Ram Ratan Dhan Paayo (Lata Mangeshkar rendition) |url=http://tophindilyrics.com/shri-ram-bhajan/%e0%a4%aa%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%af%e0%a5%8b-%e0%a4%9c%e0%a5%80-%e0%a4%ae%e0%a5%88%e0%a4%82%e0%a4%a8%e0%a5%87-%e0%a4%b0%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%ae-%e0%a4%b0%e0%a4%a4%e0%a4%a8-%e0%a4%a7%e0%a4%a8-%e0%a4%aa%e0%a4%be/ |website=www.tophindilyrics.com |publisher=Top Hindi Lyrics |access-date=23 November 2018 |archive-date=9 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209074615/http://tophindilyrics.com/shri-ram-bhajan/%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A5%8B-%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%80-%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%88%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%87-%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AE-%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%A8-%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%A8-%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The poetry of Meera : a compendium of her songs translated in English |publisher=Poetry Hunter |url=https://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/mirabai_2012_7.pdf |access-date=23 November 2018 |archive-date=23 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123112146/https://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/mirabai_2012_7.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Meera's poems are lyrical ''padas'' (metric verses) in [[Rajasthani language]].<ref name=usha17/> While thousands of verses are attributed to her, scholars are divided in their opinion as to how many of them were actually penned by Meera herself.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meera ke bhajan (Hindi) |url=https://hindividya.com/mirabai-poems/ |website=www.hindividya.com |date=10 June 2016 |publisher=Hindi Vidya |access-date=23 November 2018 |archive-date=23 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123113509/https://hindividya.com/mirabai-poems/ |url-status=live }}</ref> There are no surviving manuscripts of her poetry from her time and the earliest records with two poems credited to her are from early 18th-century, more than 150 years after she immersed into the statue of Dwarkadhish at Dwarka Temple.<ref name="hawley" />

===Hindi and Rajasthani===
[[File:Mirabai. Provincial Mughal. Possibly Jaipur.jpg|thumb|Mirabai. Provincial Mughal. Possibly Jaipur. Early 19th century. Chiswick.]]
Her most extensive collection of poems exists in manuscripts from the 19th century. To establish the authenticity of the poems, scholars have looked at various factors such as the mention of Meera in other manuscripts, as well as the style, language, and form of the poems. Through these efforts, they aim to verify the authorship of the poems attributed to Meera.<ref name="hawley" /><ref name="edwinsongs">Edwin Bryant (2007), Krishna: A Sourcebook, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195148923}}, pages 244-245</ref> John Stratton Hawley cautions, "When one speaks of the poetry of Mirabai, then, there is always an element of enigma. (...) there must always remain a question about whether there is any real relation between the poems we cite and a historical Mira."<ref>John Stratton Hawley (2002), Asceticism (Editors: Vincent Wimbush, Richard Valantasi), Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195151381}}, page 302</ref>

In her poems, Krishna is a yogi and lover, and she herself is a yogini ready to take her place by his side into a spiritual marital bliss.<ref name=hawley/> Meera's style combines impassioned mood, defiance, longing, anticipation, joy and ecstasy of union, always centred on Krishna.<ref name=edwinsongs/>

{{Quote|
<poem>
My [[Krishna|Dark One]] has gone to an alien land.
He has left me behind, he's never returned, he's never sent me a single word.
So I've stripped off my ornaments, jewels and adornments, cut my hair from my head.
And put on holy garments, all on his account, seeking him in all four directions.
Mira: unless she meets the Dark One, her God, she doesn't even want to live.
</poem>
|Mira Bai|Translated by John Stratton Hawley<ref>John Stratton Hawley (2002), Asceticism (Editors: Vincent Wimbush, Richard Valantasi), Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195151381}}, page 303</ref>}}

Meera speaks of a personal relationship with Krishna as her lover, God and mountain lifter. ([[Sanson Ki Mala Pe|Sanson Ki Mala Pe Simru Main pi Ka Naam]]) is written by [[Meera Bai]] Shows her dedication towards Krishna.The characteristic of her poetry is complete surrender.

{{Quote|
<poem>
After making me fall for you so hard, where are you going?
Until the day I see you, no repose: my life, like a fish washed on shore, flails in agony.
For your sake I'll make myself a yogini, I'll hurl myself to death on the saw of Kashi.
Mira's God is the clever Mountain Lifter, and I am his, a slave to his lotus feet.
</poem>
|Mira Bai|Translated by John Stratton Hawley<ref>John Stratton Hawley (2002), Asceticism (Editors: Vincent Wimbush, Richard Valantasi), Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195151381}}, page 304</ref>}}

Meera is often classed with the northern Sant bhaktis who spoke of God Sri Krishna.

===Sikh literature===
[[File:Manuscript of the Adi Granth from the Bhai Banno recension named "Bhai Banno Vali Bir", kept at Gurdwara Bhai Banno Sahib, Kanpur Uttar Pradesh, India.jpg|thumb|Manuscript of the [[Guru Granth Sahib|Adi Granth]] from the Bhai Banno [[recension]] named "Bhai Banno Vali Bir" which contains compositions of Mirabai within it. Kept at [[Gurdwara]] Bhai Banno Sahib, Kanpur Uttar Pradesh, India]]
When the [[Guru Granth Sahib|Adi Granth]] was compiled in 1604, a copy of the text was given to a Sikh named Bhai Banno who was instructed by [[Guru Arjan]] to travel to Lahore to get it bound. While doing so, he made a copy of the codex which included compositions of Mirabai. These unauthorized additions were not included in the standardized edition of the scripture by the Sikh gurus, whom rejected their inclusion.<ref>Clary, Randi Lynn. ''‘Sikhing’a husband: Bridal imagery and gender in Sikh scripture''. Rice University, 2003.</ref><ref>Singh, Pashaura. "Recent Research and Debates in Adi Granth Studies." ''Religion Compass'' 2.6 (2008): 1004-1020.</ref><ref>Zelliot, Eleanor. "The Medieval Bhakti Movement in History: An Essay on the Literature in English." ''Hinduism''. Brill, 1982. 143-168.</ref><ref>Singh, Pashaura. "Scriptural adaptation in the Adi granth." ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'' 64.2 (1996): 337-357.</ref>

''Prem Ambodh Pothi'', a text attributed to [[Guru Gobind Singh]] and completed in 1693 CE, includes poetry of Mira Bai as one of sixteen historic ''bhakti saints'' important to [[Sikhism]].<ref>JS Hawley and GS Mann (2014), Culture and Circulation: Literature in Motion in Early Modern India (Editors: Thomas De Bruijn and Allison Busch), Brill Academic, {{ISBN|978-9004264472}}, pages 113-136</ref>

== Mirabai's compositions ==

* Raag Govind
* Govind Tika
* Raag Soratha
* Meera Ki Malhar
* Mira Padavali
* Narsi ji Ka Mayara

==Influence==
[[File: Meerabai painting.jpg|thumb|A modern painting of Mirabai]]
Scholars acknowledge that Meera was one of the central poet-saints of the Bhakti movement which was during a difficult period in Indian history filled with religious conflicts. Yet, they simultaneously question the extent to which Meera was a canonical projection of social imagination that followed, where she became a symbol of people's suffering and a desire for an alternative.<ref name="dirkparita">Dirk Wiemann (2008), Genres of Modernity: Contemporary Indian Novels in English, Rodopi, {{ISBN|978-9042024939}}, pages 148-149</ref> Dirk Wiemann, quoting Parita Mukta, states,

{{Quote|
If one accepts that someone very akin to the Mira legend [about persecution and her devotion] existed as an actual social being, the power of her convictions broke the brutal feudal relationships that existed at that time. The Mira Bai of the popular imagination, then, is an intensely [[Anachronism|anachronistic]] figure by virtue of that anticipatory radical democracy which propels Meera out of the [[historicity]] that remains nonetheless ascribed to her. She goes beyond the shadowy realms of the past to inhabit the very core of a future which is embodied within the suffering of a people who seek an alternative.
|Dirk Wiemann / Parita Mukta| On Meera<ref name=dirkparita/><ref name=parita>Parita Mukta (1998), Upholding the Common Life: The Community of Mirabai, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195643732}}, pages viii-x, 34-35</ref>}}

[[File:Meera Bai-The Pure Devotee of Load Krishna.jpg|thumb|Modern stage performance about Mirabai]]
The continued influence of Meera, in part, has been her message of freedom, her resolve and right to pursue her devotion to deity Krishna and her spiritual beliefs as she felt drawn to despite her persecution.<ref name="dirkparita" /><ref name="parita" /> Her appeal and influence in Indian culture, writes Edwin Bryant, is from her emerging, through her legends and poems, as a person "who stands up for what is right and suffers bitterly for holding fast to her convictions, as other men and women have", yet she does so with a language of love, with words painting the "full range of emotions that mark love, whether between human beings or between human and divine".<ref>Edwin Bryant (2007), Krishna: A Sourcebook, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0195148923}}, page 245</ref>

==English versions==
Aliston and Subramanian have published selections with English translation in India.<ref name="books.google.com">Mirabai, V. K. Subramanian, ''Mystic Songs of Meera'', Abhinav Publications, 2006 {{ISBN|81-7017-458-9}}, {{ISBN|978-81-7017-458-5}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=dP-oekmHwWQC&dq=meera&pg=PA81] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626191943/http://books.google.com/books?id=dP-oekmHwWQC&pg=PA81&lpg=PP1&dq=meera&lr=&output=html|date=26 June 2014}}</ref><ref>Alston, A.J., ''The Devotional Poems of Mirabai'', Delhi 1980</ref> Schelling<ref>Schelling, Andrew, ''For Love of the Dark One: Songs of Mirabai'', Prescott, Arizona 1998</ref> and Landes-Levi<ref>Landes-Levi, Louise, ''Sweet On My Lips: The Love Poems of Mirabai'', New York 1997</ref> have offered anthologies in the USA. Snell<ref>Snell, Rupert. ''The Hindi Classical Tradition: A Braj Bhasa Reader'', London 1991, pp 39, 104–109.</ref> has presented parallel translations in his collection ''The Hindi Classical Tradition''. Sethi has selected poems which Mira composed presumably after she came in contact with Saint [[Ravidas]].<ref>Sethi, V.K.,''Mira: The Divine Lover'', Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Punjab 1988</ref> and Meera Pakeerah.

Some bhajans of Meera have been rendered into English by [[Robert Bly]] and [[Jane Hirshfield]] as ''Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems''.<ref>Bly, Robert / Hirshfield, Jane,''Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems'', Boston, Massachusetts 2004</ref>

==Popular culture==
[[File:Mirabai_Museum_Merta.JPG|thumb|Mirabai Museum Merta]]
Composer [[John Harbison]] adapted Bly's translations for his ''Mirabai Songs.'' There is a documentary film ''A Few Things I Know About Her'' by Indian film director Anjali Panjabi.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-10-04/news-interviews/27307288_1_film-maker-first-film-indian-panorama-section | title=Legend of Mira Bai retold by Anjali Panjabi | date=4 October 2002 | access-date=23 September 2014 | archive-date=14 July 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130714132733/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-10-04/news-interviews/27307288_1_film-maker-first-film-indian-panorama-section | work=[[The Times of India]] | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Two well-known films of her life have been made in India, ''[[Meera (1945 film)|Meera]]'' (1945), a [[Tamil language]] film starring [[M. S. Subbulakshmi]], and ''[[Meera (1979 film)|Meera]]'' a 1979 [[Standard Hindi|Hindi]] film by [[Gulzar (lyricist)|Gulzar]]. Other Indian films about her include: ''Meerabai'' (1921) by [[Kanjibhai Rathod]], ''[[Sant Mirabai]]'' (1929) by [[Dadasaheb Phalke|Dhundiraj Govind Phalke]], ''[[Rajrani Meera]]''/''Meerabai'' (1933) by [[Debaki Bose]], ''Meerabai'' (1936) by T. C. Vadivelu Naicker and A. Narayanan, ''Sadhvi Meerabai'' (1937) by [[Baburao Painter]], ''Bhakta Meera'' (1938) by [[Y. V. Rao]], ''Meerabai'' (1940) by Narasimha Rao Bhimavarapu, ''Meera'' (1947) by [[Ellis Dungan]], ''Matwali Meera'' (1947) by [[Baburao Patel]], ''Meerabai'' (1947) by [[W. Z. Ahmed]], ''Meerabai'' (1947) by [[Nanabhai Bhatt]], ''Girdhar Gopal Ki Mira'' (1949) by Prafulla Roy, ''Raj Rani Meera'' (1956) by G. P. Pawar, ''Meera Shyam'' (1976), ''[[Meera Ke Girdhar]]'' (1992) by Vijay Deep.<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999">{{cite book|last1=Rajadhyaksha|first1=Ashish|last2=Willemen|first2=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofi0000raja|url-access=registration|accessdate=12 August 2012|year=1999|publisher=British Film Institute|isbn=9780851706696}}</ref>

A 26 episodes popular series starring Mrinal Kulkarni was produced by [[UTV (TV channel)|UTV]] in 1997 based on her life called ''Mirabai''.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=April 30, 1997 |title=Ved Rahi's serial 'Meera' to telecast on DD1|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/story/19970430-ved-rahi-serial-meera-to-telecast-on-dd1-831343-1997-04-30|access-date=2021-09-30|magazine=India Today|language=en}}</ref>

''[[Meera (2009 TV series)|Meera]]'', a 2009 Indian television series based on her life aired on [[NDTV Imagine]].

The novel Cuckold by Kiran Nagarkar features her as one of the central characters.

''[[Shree Krishna Bhakto Meera]]'', a 2021 Indian Bengali mythological television series based on her life is currently airing on [[Star Jalsha]].

Meera Bai's life has been interpreted as a musical story in ''Meera—The Lover…'', a music album based on original compositions for some well known Meera bhajans, released 11 October 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vandanavishwas.com/ |title=Vandana Vishwas: Home |access-date=12 October 2020 |archive-date=24 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224070516/https://www.vandanavishwas.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Meera Mahal in [[Merta City|Merta]] is a museum dedicated to telling the story of Mirabai through sculptures, paintings, displays and a shaded garden.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/destinations/experiencing-the-presence-of-meerabai-at-meera-mahal-in-rajasthan/as67994996.cms|title=Experiencing the presence of Meerabai at Meera Mahal in Rajasthan|last=Sengar|first=Resham|website=Times of India Travel|access-date=2020-02-21|archive-date=13 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113123905/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/destinations/experiencing-the-presence-of-meerabai-at-meera-mahal-in-rajasthan/as67994996.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Adaptations ==
Out of all serials made on Meerabai, however the 1997 serial Meerabai by Ved Rahi starring Mrinal Kulkarni was more true to life of Meera and the most popular one. It has more than 30 raag based classical bhajans composed by Mohinderjit Singh and sung by Sandhya Rao, Kavita Krishnamurthy and many others. Its title track was sung by 40 chorus singers, the highest till today.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Year
!Name
!Note
!Played by
!Channel
|-
|1997
|''Mirabai''
|26 episodes; Director : Ved Rahi
|[[Mrinal Kulkarni]]
|[[Doordarshan]]
|-
|2009
|''Meera''
| 135 episodes; Director : Mukesh Singh, Swapnil Mahaling (Shahane)
|Aashika Bhatia, [[Aditi Sajwan]]
|[[NDTV Imagine]]
|-
|2021 - present
|''[[Shree Krishna Bhakto Meera]]''
| Director : Amit Sengupta
|[[Arshiya Mukherjee (actress)|Arshiya Mukherjee]], [[Debadrita Basu]]
|[[Star Jalsha]]
|-
|}

==See also==
* [[Andal]]
* [[Akka Mahadevi]]
* [[Bhajan]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* [[Robert Bly]] and Jane Hirshfield (2004), Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems, Beacon Press, {{ISBN|978-0807063866}}
* Chaturvedī, Ācārya Parashurām(a), Mīrāŉbāī kī padāvalī,(16. edition)
* Goetz, Hermann, Mira Bai: Her Life and Times, Bombay 1966
* Levi, Louise Landes. Sweet on My Lips. The Love Poems of Mira Bai. Cool Grove PrBrooklyn NY,1997,2003,2016
* Mirabai: Liebesnärrin. Die Verse der indischen Dichterin und Mystikerin. Translated from Rajasthani into German by Shubhra Parashar. Kelkheim, 2006 ({{ISBN|3-935727-09-7}})
* Hawley, John Stratton. The Bhakti Voices: Mirabai, Surdas, and Kabir in Their Times and Ours, Oxford 2005.
* Sethi, V.K.: Mira—The Divine Lover; Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Punjab, India; 1988
* {{cite book |title=The Story of Mira Bai |author=Bankey Behari |year=1935 |publisher=[[Gita Press]] |location=Gorakhpur |oclc=798221814}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Meera (Mirabai)}}

*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1061803 Mīrābāī and Her Contributions to the Bhakti Movement], S. M. Pandey and Norman Zide (1965), History of Religions, Vol. 5, No. 1, pages 54–73
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1062103 Without Kṛṣṇa There Is No Song], David Kinsley (1972), History of Religions, Vol. 12, No. 2, pages 149-180
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170704123419/http://www.manushi-india.org/pdfs_issues/pdf_files-50-51-52/mirabai_in_rajasthan.pdf Mirabai in Rajasthan], Parita Mukta (1989)
* {{Cite journal|date=14 July 1990|title=Mirabai and the Spiritual Economy of Bhakti |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4396502|access-date=15 April 2021 |jstor=4396502 | author = Sangari, Kumkum | journal = Economic and Political Weekly | volume = 25 | number = 28 | pages = 1537–52 }}
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/40374421 Feminist and Non-Western Perspectives in the Music Theory Classroom: A Study of John Harbison's "Mirabai Songs], Amy Carr-Richardson (2002), College Music Symposium, Vol. 42, pages 20–36
*[https://www.jstor.org/stable/25614522 "By the Sweetness of the Tongue": Duty, Destiny, and Devotion in the Oral Life Narratives of Female Sādhus in Rajasthan], Antoinette E. DeNapoli (2009), Asian Ethnology, Vol. 68, No. 1, pages 81–109

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meera}}

[[Category:1498 births]]
[[Category:1547 deaths]]
[[Category:Hindu female religious leaders]]
[[Category:16th-century Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:Hindi-language poets]]
[[Category:Indian women religious leaders]]
[[Category:People related to Krishna]]
[[Category:Ravidassia]]
[[Category:Hindu mystics]]
[[Category:Indian women poets]]
[[Category:Devotees of Krishna]]
[[Category:Bhakti movement]]
[[Category:People from Pali district]]
[[Category:16th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Women writers from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Indian Hindu saints]]
[[Category:Scholars from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Women educators from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Educators from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Women musicians from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Singers from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:16th-century Indian women singers]]
[[Category:16th-century Indian singers]]
[[Category:Women mystics]]
[[Category:Rajput princesses]]

Mirabai - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article