Postage stamps issued on Guru Ravidas
Best wishes to everyone on Birth Anniversary of Guru Ravidas
Guru Ravidas was one of the brightest luminaries of the Bhakti Movement of the fifteenth century, a religious renaissance in India. As stories of Guru Ravidas’s selfless devotion and philosophy of universal love spread far and wide, he had to face the challenge of the orthodox society. Ravidas was born as an untouchable. However, his true devotion towards God was a great source of strength and he proved that irrespective of caste and creed, all are equal in the eyes of God and only sinful actions bring a bad name and dishonor to a man. Influenced by Guru Ravidas’ teachings, the Maharaja and the Rani of Chittor became disciples of Guru Ravidas. The famous saint poetess, Mirabai, also became a disciple of Guru Ravidas.
Best wishes to everyone on Birth Anniversary of Guru Ravidas.
In Bedford, UK – The first road outside India named after Shri Guru Ravidass Ji
This is perhaps the first road outside India named after Shri Guru Ravidass Ji This road is leading to Shri Guru Ravidass Bhavan (worshiping place) in Bedford, UK. The dispute between the Guru Ravidass Community Center and the local council was resolved last week. Congratulations to the community leaders who successfully campaigned for the ownership of the road.
Check also – http://I Ravidas, proclaim all vedas are worthless
Dalit History Month – Remembering Shri Guru Ravidas Ji
Today’s ?Dalit History? post focuses on Guru ?Ravidass?. He represents one of many Dalit saints within our liberatory spiritual traditions who challenge Hinduism and its painful notions of pollution. These thinkers fearlessly explored the existential questions posed by caste apartheid with their counter vision of justice, freedom, and one’s true place in the universe.
Guru Ravidass was one such towering figure. A Chamar saint, poet, and philosopher, he called himself a ‘tanner now set free’. He was the first to envision an Indian utopia in his song “Begumpura”—a modern casteless, classless, tax-free city without sorrow. This vision was in stark contrast to the dystopia of the Brahmanical Kali Yuga.
Emerging from the Bhakti tradition he employed loving devotion as a method of social protest against Untouchability. The path he chose was free from religious rituals and sectarian formalities. It emphasized the dignity of labour and compassion for all. It reflected the democratic and egalitarian traits of his social philosophy. He dared challenging the tyranny of the Brahmin spiritual hegemony by wearing dhoti (cloth wrapped around the waist), the janeue (sacred thread), and tilak (sacred red mark on forehead).
His poetry became one of the main vehicles of his social protest. Written in the vernacular of the common man, he hoped to “provide for a better world and a fight against exploiters, power-holders and oppression going on under the name of religion”.
Check also – Photos and what Guru Ravidas ji said
His spiritual teachings became a catalyst that helped concretize the Dalit cultural space in Punjab as his followers have grown beyond India to the world. The followers of his path, represent a range with some devotees counting themselves as Ravidassi Sikhs, while the vast majority now consider themselves a separate religion from Hinduism and Sikhism. One of the key defining characteristics of Ravidassias is that they must believe that Ravidass is a guru (saint) whereas the Sikhs consider him a merely bhagat (holy person). Ravidassias also have compiled their own holy book of Ravidass’ teachings, the Amritbani Guru Ravidass Ji, and many Ravidassia temples now use this book in place of the Guru Granth Sahib.
Check also – Stop Attacking dalit statues and Dalit Pride
Please share the information with your friends. Follow the Dalit History Month on Facebook from here and check www.dalithistory.com
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Dalit History Month - Jhalkari Bai - A Legendary Dalit Women Warrior
3rd Feburary (2015) in Dalit History – Best wishes to everyone on birth-anniversary of Guru Ravidas
Also read – I,Ravidas ,proclaim all Vedas are worthless
