Sant Ravidas Jayanthi celebrated in Chilkur

Chilkur: Magha Pournami is the day of divine appearance of Sant Shiromani Ravidas. His Jayanthi celebration was done grandly at Chilkur by describing the saint's greatness to thousands of devotees. Ravidas, a mystic poet-saint, is believed to have been born to a Harijan family of cobblers in present-day Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

Ravidas is said to have been born on the day of Magh Purnima, the full moon day of the Hindu calendar's "Magh" month, which corresponds to the months of January and February. Over his life time, Ravidas emerged as a luminary of the Bhakti Movement, which called for complete devotion to god and challenged the caste hierarchy. With his message of equality, he came to be seen as a divine figure by people of the lower castes. His followers revere him for his welfare work and calls to boycott social and religious pageantry.

Meerabai, the legendary devotee of Lord Krishna, also considered Sant Ravidas her guru. Some of his creations were edited by Sikh guru Arjun Dev and included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. For Dalits in north India, God means Ravidas… and the road to reaching Ram is through their saint Ravidas."

Ravidas is the most revered saint of the Jatav and Chamar community of Dalits.

Chilkur Balaji temple chief priest CS Rangarajan said that Sant Ravidas and his teachings in the form of poems and songs belong to the entire society and not just to one community.

Participating in Sant Ravidas Jayanti celebrations, the senior archaka said that Sanatana Dharma treated everyone as equal before God and the discrimination based on caste and class had crept into the system in later times.

"Sant Ravidas was born in a cobbler's family and gained knowledge from his Guru Swami Ramananda, who was a great disciple of Ramanuja philosophy. There is a definite need for more community interaction and recognising the message of Sant Ravidas," Rangarajan said.

In his speech during the celebrations, the senior archaka referred to the 'Munivahana Utasvam,' which was performed by him last year when he carried a Dalit devotee Aditya Parasri on his shoulders into the temple. It was nearly 2,700 years ago that Tiruppanalwar, born in a 'lower caste', was carried from the banks of the river Cauvery into the Srirangam Ranganatha Swamy temple by a priest.