Kanhopatra wrote Marathi ovi and abhanga poetry telling of her devotion to Vithoba and her struggle to balance her piety with her profession.

Most accounts agree about her birth to Shama the courtesan and her death in the Vithoba temple when the Badshah of Bidar sought her.

Kanhopatra was a daughter of a rich courtesan and dancer named Shama or Shyama, who lived in the town of Mangalvedha, near Pandharpur, the site of Vithoba's chief temple.

[6] Shama was uncertain about the identity of Kanhopatra's father, but suspected that it was the town's head-man Sadashiva Malagujar.

[1][5][8] Scholar Tara Bhavalkar states that Kanhopatra's marriage was forbidden, as it was not socially acceptable for a daughter of a courtesan to marry.

Other accounts credit the Varkari pilgrims who passed Kanhopatra's house on their way to the temple of Vithoba in Pandharpur.

In versions of the legend where Sadashiva does not appear, Kanhopatra immediately leaves for Pandharpur—singing the praises of Vithoba—with the Varkari pilgrims or coaxes her mother to accompany her to Pandharpur.

[4][10][11] Guy Deleury deduces from the poems of Namdev and other saints, that Kanhopatra did not die but acquired the power (siddhi) of invisibility by embracing Vithoba's image; after this yogic "miracle", the Badshah converted to bhakti.

[18] Most accounts say that Kanhopatra's body was laid at feet of Vithoba and then buried near the southern part of the temple, in accordance with her last wishes.

[10] In some accounts, the nearby Bhima river (Chandrabhaga) flooded, inundating the temple and killing the army that sought Kanhopatra.

[1][10] Twenty-three verses of her poems are included in the anthology of Varkari saints called Sakal sant-gatha.

According to Deshpande, Kanhopatra's poetry reflects the "awakening of the downtrodden" and the rise of female creative expression, ignited by the sense of gender equality enforced by the Varkari tradition.

Kanhopatra's abhangas frequently portray her struggle between her profession and her devotion to Vithoba, the patron deity of the Varkaris.

[10] She presents herself as a woman deeply devoted to Vithoba, and pleads for him to save her from the unbearable bondage of her profession.

[7][23] In Nako Devaraya Anta Aata—believed to be the last abhanga of her life—unable to bear the thought of separation from her Lord, Kanhopatra begs Vithoba to end her misery.

[26] Kanhopatra's abhangas also show her concern for her body, her sense of vulnerability and her will to "remain untouched in the midst of turbulence".

[7][29][n 5] Kanhopatra is formally included in the list of Sants, meaning saints in Marathi in the text Bhaktavijaya.

[5] In his Bhaktalilamrita Mahipati refers to Kanhopatra as one of the saints who sit surrounding Krishna (identified with Vithoba in Maharashtra).

[30] Kanhopatra is cited by the Vakari saint-poets as "an example of the real downtrodden and deserving people persons that are saved by the merciful God".

"[7] Kanhopatra is considered unique since she is the only prominent woman in Maharashtra who rose to fame without a traditional family backing.

She was also the subject of the popular 1931 Marathi drama named Sant Kanhopatra, in which Bal Gandharva played the lead.

Kanhopatra's abhangas Aga Vaikunthichya Raya and Patita tu pavanahe; and Nako Devaraya Anta Aata are used in that drama and in the 1963 Marathi film Sadhi Manase respectively.