this poem is taken from Jejuri anthology. It depicts the pilgrim spot Jejuri in India. It reveals the ignorance of the Lord Khandoba temple priest.

1. The Blue Horse
-Arun Kolatkar

2. Arun Kolatkar

3. Arun Kolatkar’s Career
Arun Kolatkar was born in 1932 in Kolhapur. He worked as graphic
artist in Bombay.
He was a brilliant bilingual poet, who wrote in English and
Marathi.
 His major works in English are the boatride (1968), Jejuri (1976),
Sarpa Satra (2003),Kala Ghoda Poems (2004), and The Boatride and
Other Poems (2009).
 His major works in Marathi are such as Arun Kolatkarchya Kavita
(1976), Chirimiri (2003),Bhijki Vahi (2003) and Droan (2004).
No single book of poetry has received such continuous and serious
critical appreciation and attention as Arun Kolatkar’s ‘Jejuri’ right
from the 1977 Commonwealth Poetry Prize

4. Arun Kolatkar is an important and influential
figure in Indian English poetry.
He is a bilingual poet who wrote poems
simultaneously in Marathi, his native language and
in English.
His ‘Bhijki Vahi’ (2004), a collection of Marathi
poems, won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2005.
Jejuri is his first collection of English poems that
not only brought him immense fame but won the
Commonwealth Writers Prize in 1977.

5. Kolatkar : A Genius
Indian English Poetry is remarkable very great. It
has gained name and fame both during pre-
independence period as well as post-independence
period.
Arun Kolatkar, one of the leading literary voices
of his generation has contributed immensely
towards raising Indian English poetry to its present
canonical status.
His poetry demonstrates indisputably that Indian
poetry has come to acquire a distinct identity of its
own.

6. Kolatkar : An Observer
Arun Kolatkar with an observant eye wearing the
rationalist’s spectacle, has observed the events,
situations, traditions, customs and rituals performed by
the people at the barren land Jejuri.
He has presented them with minute details in order to
show the cultural decay, superstitious nature of the
pilgrims and tradition bound society.
What are the genuine problems to Kolatkar may not be
to the people blinded by superstations at Jejuri.

7. Kolatkar’s Style
Simplicity of language
Common topics of daily life as a theme
Rational attitude
No imagination in poetry
Realistic

8. Lord Khandoba

9. Jejuri : An Anthology
Arun Kolatkar‟s (1932 – 2004) widely known collection of
poems, Jejuri (1976) is about Jejuri, an ancient place of
pilgrimage in Maharashtra and its mythical association of
the god Khandoba. But what makes Jejuri to draw much
critical attention is that it presents a conflict, an essential
element for any literary work, between the legendary
associations of the place and the god and the socio-cultural
reality of the place; between the blind faith of the people of
Maharashtra in the miraculous power of the god Khandoba
and the sceptic attitude of an urban tourist.

10. Backgroundof Jejuri
Jejuri is a collection of thirty-one poems, the last one having six
sections, which has provoked a considerable amount of debate
among critics and readers because of its attitude to the religious
experience.
Jejuri is a place of pilgrimage about thirty miles away from Pune in
the central Indian state of Maharashtra and has one of the most
famous temples of the state.
Khandoba (often said to be a form of Lord Shiva) is the local god of
the temple and is worshipped by all castes and communities in
Maharashtra and some other places in India.

11. Kolatkar then rewrote Jejuri, which was first
appeared in the Opinion Literary Quarterly (1975)
and later as a book by Clearing House Publication
in 1976.
Kolatkar beautifully blends the theme of religious
faith, mythical stories and superstitious believes
of the people of Jejuri with the natural
description, harsh reality and rational and
sceptical attitude.

12. Jejuri : A Religious Place
Jejuri is a place of pilgrimage, about 60 km from
Pune,Maharashtra,India.
Kandhoba is the local god of the temple. Arun Kolatkar's
poetry collection covers an excursion to the temple and
the village.
Jejuri is an expression of a major issue concerning
Contemporary Indian Society.
Jejuri has provoked a considerable amount of debate
because of its attitude to the religious experience. Jejuri is
one of the famous temples in Maharashtra, popularly
known as ’Khandobachi Jejuri’.
It is one of the major Gods in Maharashtra. The God of
Jejuri-Mhalsakant or Malhari Mantad - is popular among
Dhangars . Khandoba is known to be their god.

13. Kolatkar wants to seek what Jejuri is really about
and therefore he, like a modern sceptic, investigates
every stone, tradition, culture, people and legend
associated with gods and goddesses, people and
places of Jejuri.
Almost all the poems are written in a sarcastic and
ironical tone by satirizing the blind faith and
superstitious belief of the people.
By presenting the myths Kolatkar beautifully exposes
the legends about the god Khandoba and the place
of pilgrimage for what they really are.

14. Jejuri Temple
As the temple is on the hill, one has to climb almost 200
steps. But the climbing is not so tough and the wonderful
view of Jejuri town is marvelous. The idol of Khandoba in
the temple is beautiful.
Various weapons like sword, Damaru, and Paral are of
historic rememberance.
The five hills around Jejuri are considered as the relics of
the five demons killed by Khandoba. For this reason he
has a large following among the Kshartriyas also. Animal
sacrifice is performed to appease the God.

15. Lord Khandoba : As a Symbol
•Khandoba is also considered as a fertility symbol.
Therefore the newly married couples visit the town, and
many childless couples are believed to have been blessed
with children after their visit to Jejuri.
Many of such children, particularly the first-borns, are
offered to God Khandoba.
•The female children, offered to Khandoba are called
‘Murlis’ and the male children are called ‘Vaghyas’.
They are called as ‘children of god’ and earn their
livelihood by singing and dancing in praise of Khandoba.

16. Waghya & Murali

17. Jejuri : A Religious Satire
Kolatkar has written the poem Jejuri not to
celebrate the God Khandoba or to pay his
personal tribute and homage to him. In fact he
does not even fully or whole-heartedly believe
in idol worship to be a kind of superstition,
though he does not openly say so anywhere in
the poem. While going through the poem
Jejuri, it depicts a direct and unflinching
attitude of denial and disbelief.
Kolatkar’s Jejuri is a religious satire.

18. Kolatkar,s intention is not to worship or
celebrate the god Khandoba but to depict
the real socio-cultural and economic
condition of the local people by
highlighting, or rather by satirizing their
blind faith, superstitions and mythopoeic
imagination.
S. K. Desai justly comments that the
narrator goes to Jejuri not “as a pilgrim... He
is a kind of traveller... a tourist”

19. The conflict between a modern intellectual sceptic
and the traditional believers of God and religion is
presented through some conversational poems like
“A Low Temple”, “The Blue Horse”, “The Priest‟s
Son”, “Makarand” etc.
The quest intention and the questioning mind of the
protagonist bring out the ignorance of the priest.
“A Low Temple” and “The Blue Horse” make it clear
that the priest, who is the prime worshipper of God,
does not have the true knowledge about the gods
and goddesses whom he is worshipping every day.

20. Situation in the Poem: Blue Horse
The poem ‘The Blue Horse’ is about the night-long musical
and dramatic recitation of the legends of the deity
‘Gondhal Jagran’.
The people believe in these rituals to be performed
immediately after a marriage in order to get the blessings
of Khandoba.
The priest in the poem has limited knowledge but
pretends to become expert. The songs in the ‘Gondhal’ are
mostly invocations to Khandoba and gods at Jejuri.

21. The Blue Horse : theme
‘The Blue Horse’ presents the spectacle of
a group of singers singing at a Jagran
Gondhal in a keyless passion in praise of
Khandoba’s horse at the house of priest.
The group of singers is led by a “The
toothless singer” who: Opens her mouth.
Shorts the circuits in her haywire throat.”

22. ‘Gondhal Jagran’
The people believe in these rituals to be performed immediately
after a marriage in order to get the blessings of Khandoba

23. The toothless singer
opens her mouth .
Shorts the circuits
in her haywire throat.
A shower of sparks
flies off her half-burnt tongue.
Witha face fallen in on itself
and a black skin burnt blacker in the sun
the drummer goes blue in the face
as he thumps and whacks the tambourine
a~d joins the chorus in a keyless passion.
HIS pockmarked half-brother .
twiddles, tweaks and twangs
on the one-string thing.
God's own children
making music.
You tum to the priest
who has been good enough to arrange

24. that bit of sacred cabaret act at his own house
and ask him,
'The singers sang of a blue horse.
How is it then, that the picture on your wall
shows a white one?'
'Looks blue to me,'
says the priest,
shifting a piece of betel nut
from the left to the right of his mouth.
And draws an end of a nutcracker
along the underbelly of the noble animal.
Picking on a shade of blue
that many popular painters like to use . .
to suggest shadow on an object otherwIse white.
The tambourine continues to beat its breast.

25. Kolatkar As a Traveller
But the poet’s reaction to the whole thing is only
predictable.
This poem describes a religious ceremony which the
priest has arranged at his house for the convenience
of protagonist.
Of course the priest must have been paid enough
money as his fee for thus obliging the protagonist.
You turn to the priest who has been good enough to
arrange that bit of sacred cabaret act at his own
house.

26. “The Blue Horse” exposes the ignorance of the priest.
While a group of singers singing of „a blue horse‟ upon
which god Khandoba is sitting, the picture that the
protagonist finds on the wall of the priest‟s house has a
„white‟ horse: “The singers sang of a blue horse.
How is it then, that the picture on your wall shows a
white one?” “Looks blue to me”. says the priest. (21-25)
The priest then very cunningly gives a „shade of blue‟ so
that the white horse looks blue. This shows how the
priest is in darkness about the true history of the god.

27. The singers are
professional but do
not have always a
musical singing voice.
The narrator being a
non believer is struck
by the hoarse and
harsh music.
He also notices that
the singers in their
songs mention ‘a blue
horse’.

28. The picture of
Khandoba that is
hung on the wall of
the priest’s house
shows the horse to
be ‘white’. The
narrator is moved by
the discrepancy
while the priest is
not.

29. Question by Kolatkar
Kolatkar’s utter contempt of the priest is obvious.
The singers sing of a Blue Horse on which Khandoba
had ridden away after killing the demons and after
having murdered his wife.
But the picture on the wall of the priest’s house
shows a white horse.
The protagonist asks priest for the explanation.
“The singers sang of a blue horse.
How is it then, that the picture on your wall shows a
white one?’

30. The Priest is Speechless
The priest artificially imparts a bluish hue to
the picture on the wall in order to make it
look blue.
Once again we see the negligence about
the accuracy or the fact. The true history is
not known by the priest; hence the religion
is in darkness. The interruption or queries
doesn’t affect the priest and the singers.
They carry on with their drums to be beaten
with great force.

31. Ignorance of the Priest
The priest is ignorant about the two kind of
horses referred to the legends. The horse
that Khandoba normally used was a white
one, but the horse that he used while
fighting with the demons Mani and Mala and
kidnapping Banai was blue.
It doesn’t make any difference to the
devotees, because they blindly believe and
faithfully follow the information provided by
the priest to them.