Ravidassia
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
A backgrounder
Anju Agnihotri Chaba, January 18, 2022: The Indian Express
From: Anju Agnihotri Chaba, January 18, 2022: The Indian Express
Who are the Ravidassias?
The Ravidassias are a Dalit community of whom the bulk — nearly 12 lakh — live in the Doaba region. The Dera Sachkhand Ballan, their largest dera with 20 lakh followers worldwide, was founded in the early 20th century by Baba Sant Pipal Das. Once closely connected with Sikhism, the dera severed these decades-old ties in 2010, and announced they would follow the Ravidassia religion.
The dera made the announcement on Guru Ravidas Jayanti in Varanasi. Guru Ravidas was a mystic poet saint of the Bhakti Movement from the 15th and 16th centuries, and founded the Ravidassia religion. From 2010, the Dera Sachkhand Ballan started replacing the Guru Granth Sahib with its own Granth, Amritbani, carrying 200 hymns of Guru Ravidas, in Ravidassia temples and gurdwaras.
How was the Dera Sachkhand Ballan established?
Its founder, Baba Sant Pipal Das, was originally Harnam Das from Gill Patti village in Bathinda. When his wife died, he left home along with his son Sarwan Das. They reached Sarmastpur near Jalandhar, and then Ballan village, where they settled in 1895. Dera officials said Baba Pipal Das and his son started living under a dry pipal tree. As they watered it, it gradually bloomed, earning the Baba the name Sant Pipal Das. Dera members said he was well versed in Guru Granth Sahib bani, and began to win followers, including those who followed the teachings of Guru Ravidas. He went on to establish the Dera Ballan.
After the death of Sant Pipal Das, his son Sant Sarwan Das headed the dera from 1928 to 1972. There have been three more heads since, none chosen by heredity.
The third leader, Sant Hari Das, born at Garha village of Jalandhar, spent his entire life at Dera Ballan. The next dera head (1982-94), Sant Garib Das from Jalbhe village in Jalandhar, also spent his life at the dera, where he impressed Sant Sarwan Das. The current head, Sant Niranjan Das, born on January 5, 1942 at Ramdaspur village in Jalandhar, is the son of a couple who were devotees of Sant Pipal Das and who offered their son to Sant Sarwan Das, who gave him the name “Hawaigar” for the speed at which he performed his duties.
What is the significance of Guru Ravidas Jayanti?
During his tenure, Sant Sarwan Das undertook the work of establishing a memorial temple in Varanasi. After identifying the birthplace of Guru Ravidas at Seer Goverdhanpur village near Banaras Hindu University, the dera bought land there. The foundation stone for a temple was laid in 1965, and its first phase completed in 1970. NRI followers too contributed funds.
Several followers from Ballan started visiting the temple and, over time, it became a practice to observe Guru Ravidas Jayanti in Varanasi. Gradually, the dera in Ballan became the largest dera of the Ravidassias. Since 2000, the Dera Sachkhand Ballan has been taking followers on the Begampura Train from Jalandhar to Varanasi on Guru Ravidas Jayanti every year.
How significant is the dera politically?
Punjab has thousands of deras, small and big. Because of the numbers these command, political leaders having been visiting them for the last several elections. These include the Dera Sachkhand Ballan, where party leaders have visited and met its head.
The Dera Sachkhand Ballan has never openly supported any political party, but welcomed every visiting political leader. Visitors this time have included Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi (Congress), Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal, and senior BJP leaders.
Of the dera’s 20 lakh followers worldwide, around 15 lakh live in Punjab, mostly in the Doaba region that has 23 Assembly seats (out of Punjab’s 117). Around 32% of Punjab’s population comprises Dalits, whose concentration is highest in Doaba at 37% (19.48 lakh Dalits out of a regional population of 52.08 lakh). And 61% (11.88 lakh) of Doaba’s Dalits belong to the Ravidassia community. Doaba has hundreds of deras, besides Dera Sachkhand Ballan.
That explains representations made to the Election Commission by several political parties seeking a postponement of the elections on account of Guru Ravidas Jayanti. CM Channi, who had written to the ECI seeking postponement, is a Dalit Sikh from the Ramdassia community, and his elevation had lifted all Dalit groups including Ravidassias.
How assertive are the Ravidassias?
They have been very assertive since 2009, following a deadly attack by fundamentalists on Shri Guru Ravidas Temple in Vienna on May 24 that year. Around 400 devotees had gathered for a religious service when the attackers struck, killing the Dera Sachkhand Ballan’s then second-in-command, Sant Ramanand, and injuring 30 including dera head Niranjan Das. The alleged attackers were reportedly affiliated to a gurdwara in Vienna.
The Vienna attack triggered riots in Doaba, mainly in Jalandhar, where curfew was clamped for 15 days. The fissure it caused in relations between Sikhs and Ravidassias led to the dera severing its ties with Sikhism and announcing they would follow the Ravidassia religion. Ravidassias have demanded a separate column for their religion in the 2021 Census.
After the Vienna attack, Ravidassia singers composed special songs centred on their community and religion so that people of the community could play them at their events instead of playing songs composed by upper caste Jat Sikhs. Last year, Jat Sikhs for the first time observed Guru Ravidas Jayanti together with Ravidassias, because it was important for both communities to stick together during the protest against the Centre’s three farm laws.
The community
In California and India/ 2023
(Written By Deepa Bharath), AP, June 1, 2023: The Indian Express
In California, members of an under-the-radar, minority religious community are stepping into the public eye to advocate for making the state the first in the nation to outlaw caste bias.
They are the Ravidassia — followers of Ravidass, a 14th century Indian guru who preached caste and class equality. There are about 20,000 members of the community in California, most of them in the Central Valley.
Guru Ravidass belonged to the lowest-rung of the caste system formerly considered untouchable and also known as Dalit, which means “broken” in Hindi. Today, many Ravidassia members share that caste identity, but they are hesitant to make that widely known, fearing repercussions for being exposed to the larger community as “lower-caste.”
Members of the Fresno Ravidassia community say publicly championing the anti-caste bias legislation is worth the risk, noting that fighting for equality is part of their history and their spiritual DNA.
The faith itself emerged in response to the societal exclusion of the lowest caste members, including persistent roadblocks to landownership, said Ronki Ram, professor of political science at Panjab University in Chandigarh, India. Caste-based discrimination was outlawed in India in 1947.
Who was Guru Ravidass?
Ravidass was an Indian guru, mystic and poet who was one of the most renowned figures in the North Indian bhakti movement, which placed love and devotion to god above all and preached against the caste system. Ravidass was born in the 14th century in a village near Varnasi, India, to a family of cobblers and tanners who belonged to the then-untouchable or leather-working caste known as “chamars.” The Guru Granth Sahib, which is the sacred text of Sikhism, bears 40 verses or shabads of Ravidass.
Ravidassia temples
A Ravidassia place of worship is called a sabha, dera, gurdwara or gurughar, which could all be translated as temple. Adherents cover their heads and remove their shoes before entering the prayer hall or place of worship. In California Ravidassia temples, the Guru Granth Sahib is the focal point of the prayer hall. The temples serve a post-worship meal as Sikh gurdwaras also do, which is known as langar. Ravidassia temples often display idols and/or pictures of Guru Ravidass in the prayer halls.
The Ravidassia identity
Professor Ronki Ram says the Ravidassia identity is challenging to pin down because it “cannot be compartmentalized.”
“More recently, they have been trying to carve out a separate identity for themselves,” he said. “But, they also follow Sikh traditions.”
Many male Ravidassia members wear long hair in a turban and carry Sikh articles of faith such as the kada or bracelet, kangha or wooden comb and kirpan, the sheathed, single-edged knife. Many men and women in the community also have Sikh last names — Singh and Kaur.
Ram points out that idols and images of Ravidass, however, can only be seen in a Ravidass temple. In addition, the community celebrates the birthday of their guru, which typically falls in February. Many Ravidass temples also observe the birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar, the Indian Dalit rights icon whose given name was Bhimrao.
The faith also has followers who are Hindu and those who are from different parts of India. Ravidassia community members in California are largely of Punjabi descent.
The community’s relationship with Sikhism
The Ravidassia community’s relationship with Sikhism is “flexible and nuanced,” said Sasha Sabherwal, assistant professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies, Northeastern University.
“It’s not an either-or relationship,” she said. “It’s a much more complex idea of what their faith means for them. Some (Ravidassia temples) may be autonomous spaces. But, in many cases, it’s blended or overlapping rather than something entirely independent. There is still a commitment to this larger Sikh project.”
Sabherwal said the path to unity may lie in making “meaningful structural changes.”
“The issue is that often, caste is not even acknowledged as a problem,” she said.
