Dera Sach Khand

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Dera Sachkhand Ballan
ਡੇਰਾ ਸੱਚ ਖੰਡ ਬੱਲਾਂ
AbbreviationDSB [1]
Formationc. 1900
HeadquartersDera Sach Khand, Punjab, India
Founder
Pipal Dass
Gaddi Nashin (leader)
Niranjan Dass

Dera Sach Khand Ballan (Punjabi : ਡੇਰਾ ਸਚ ਖੰਡ ਬੱਲਾਂ (Gurmukhi); ڈیرہ پالیسیاں کان بالا(Shahmukhi)), also known as Dera Sant Sarwan Dass or Dera Ballan, [2] is a Ravidassia dera [1] based in the village of Ballan near Jalandhar, Punjab, India. It was founded by Pipal Dass soon after 1900, and it played a role in the Ad Dharm movement to popularize the image of Ravidas as a guru. It has since adopted the mission of spreading the teachings of Ravidas and advancing public education and healthcare in India.

Contents

For much of its history, Dera Ballan's teaching was based on Sikh scripture including the works of Ravidas. [3] In 2009 in Vienna, Sikh militants attacked a Dera Ballan ceremony, killing a senior official and injuring the then-Gaddi Nashin (leader). In the following year, the Dera formally established a separate religion, Ravidassia Dharm, and they introduced their new religious text, Amritbani Guru Ravidas.

In addition to its headquarters in Ballan, Dera Sach Khand manages the Shri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan Mandir at Seer Goverdhanpur, the Sarwan Dass Charitable Hospital in Jalandhar district, and the Sarwan Dass Model School in Phagwara.

History

Dera Sach Khand was founded in Ballan, Punjab, India, by Pipal Dass in the early 1900s. [4] Originally named Harnam Dass, Pipal Dass hailed from Gill Patti village in Bathinda District, Punjab. [3] He fathered a son named Sarwan Dass (born 15 February 1895), whose mother, Shobhawanti, died when he was five years old. Pipal Dass and Sarwan Dass then left Gill Patti and eventually arrived at the village of Ballan near Jalandhar. [2] [4] There was a dry pipal tree nearby, and Pipal Dass started watering this tree, which ultimately became green again. Seeing this as an auspicious sign, Pipal Dass persuaded the people of the village to donate the surrounding land to him. Pipal Dass established the Dera there, and it became a central pilgrimage destination for followers of Ravidas in Punjab. [4]

Hari Dass, Gaddi Nashin from June 1972 to February 1982 Sant Hari Dass Ji of Dera Sach Khand Ballan.jpg
Hari Dass, Gaddi Nashin from June 1972 to February 1982

Pipal Dass died in 1928, and Sarwan Dass became the gaddi nashin (leader) of Dera Ballan. Spreading the teachings of Ravidas among the socially disadvantaged became one of the primary aims of Dera Ballan under his leadership. He laid the foundation stones of multiple Ravidas deras and sponsored the expansion of several institutions of education. Sarwan Dass was also concerned with the advancement of public education and healthcare, a goal which helped fuel the Dera's popularity. Sarwan Dass founded a medical center at the Dera for those who could not afford treatment elsewhere, and multiple hospitals were later named after him. He died on 11 June 1972 and was succeeded by Hari Dass. [2]

Garib Dass became Gaddi Nashin on 7 February 1982. Within a year, he founded the Sarwan Dass Charitable Hospital in Adda Kathar, Jalandhar district. [2] Though it started as a small dispensary, it became a fully-fledged hospital in February 1992 with the help of donors from the United Kingdom. [1] Garib Dass also founded the Dera's weekly newspaper, Begumpura Shaher, on 15 August 1991. In 2004, the Indian Dalit Literary Academy gave an award to the newspaper's chief editor, Ramanand Dass, for giving a voice to Dalits, who had been underrepresented in the media. [2]

Niranjan Dass became Gaddi Nashin on 23 July 1994. Under his leadership, Dera Ballan founded the Sarwan Dass Model School at Phagwara, and the school began admitting students in April 2004. He also laid the foundation stone of the Sarwan Dass Charitable Eye Hospital at Ballan on 10 November 2004; It opened on 15 February 2007. [2] [1] Niranjan Dass traveled extensively with his second in command, Ramanand Dass, to visit followers outside of India, and he laid the foundation stones of many Ravidas deras abroad. [5]

On 24 May 2009, during a religious ceremony at a Ravidas temple in Vienna, Austria, Niranjan Dass and Ramanand Dass were the targets of an attack by six men armed with knives and a pistol. Both leaders were injured in the attack, along with fourteen other people. Ramanand Dass died of his injuries early the next day. The attackers were Sikh fundamentalists motivated by a belief that the Dera's leaders had disrespected the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib. [6] [1] News of the attack on the temple triggered riots in the Punjab, where three people died in clashes with law enforcement and security forces. [7] [8]

Originally, the Guru Granth Sahib was recited in Ravidassia temples, but Dera Sach Khand ended this tradition after the attack in Vienna, and began to only read the 41 works by Ravidas that are included in the Granth. On 29 January 2010, Niranjan Dass formally announced the formation of the Dera's new religion, Ravidassia Dharm, at Seer Goverdhanpur in Varanasi, the birthplace of Ravidas. The Dera also introduced its new religious text, Amritbani Guru Ravidas, which contains 240 hymns attributed to Ravidas, including the ones found in the Granth. [1] [3] [9] A dera based in Chak Hakim village near Phagwara alleged that most of the additional hymns were actually written by Hira Dass in 1908, a claim Dera Ballan denied. [10]

Role in Ad Dharm movement

According to the researcher Ronki Ram, the Ad Dharm (ancient faith) [1] movement started in 1925 to "fight against the system of untouchability" in India, and it "played a historic role in the formation of Dalit consciousness in Punjab". [2] The movement was founded by Mangu Ram, who visited Pipal Dass in its early stages for information about Ravidas's teachings and support in compiling them, with the goal of popularizing the guru among Dalits. [2] [4] In 1932, Sarwan Dass gave juice to Mangu Ram to break a fast he took to oppose Mahatma Gandhi's fast against the Communal Award. [11] On 13 December 1970, Dera Ballan hosted a conference for the Ad Dharm movement, who's leaders praised Dera Ballan's efforts in helping the Dalit community. [2]

Opinderjit Takhar writes that "there is no evidence to suggest that there was a following of Guru Ravidas during his lifetime", and she attributes the posthumous recognition of Ravidas as a guru to the efforts of the Ad Dharm. [12] The Ad Dharm movement lost momentum after the first general election in independent India, but deras such as Dera Sach Khand are still popular pilgrimage destinations in Punjab. [11] [4]

Facilities

As of 2012, Dera Ballan's headquarters includes a shrine, a congregation hall, a library, a communal kitchen hall, and charitable medical facilities. [1] [2] The Dera also manages the Shri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan Mandir (Temple of Guru Ravidas's Birthplace) [2] at Seer Goverdhanpur, Varanasi; the Sarwan Dass Charitable Hospital in Adda Kathar, Jalandhar district; and the Sarwan Dass Model School in Phagwara, and they support many other deras and educational institutions in the region. [1]

The Dera publishes books on Dalit literature, and awards medals to Dalit scholars – twenty had been honored this way by 2008. The Dera also publishes audio-visual media such as CDs, DVDs, and tapes to spread the philosophy of Ravidas. [2] [5] Its weekly newspaper, Begumpura Shaher, is written in English, Hindi, and Punjabi. [2]

Shri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan is a temple at Seer Goverdhanpur in the city of Varanasi. Millions of devotees gather there for Ravidas's birthday each year. The leaders of Dera Ballan determined that Ravidas had been born in that locale, and one of them, Hari Dass, laid the temple's foundation stone on 14 June 1965. Dera Ballan provided funding for the temple's construction, which was completed in 1994 with the help of people from India and other countries. [2] Kanshi Ram, founder of the Bahujan Samaj Party, ceremoniously installed the temple's golden dome, and he laid the foundation stone of the monumental gate leading to the temple on 25 May 1997. On 16 July 1998, this gate was inaugurated by K. R. Narayanan, who was President of India at the time. [2] [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

Phagwara is a city and municipal corporation in the Kapurthala district of Punjab, India. It is located 40 kilometers from Kapurthala, the district headquarter, 124 kilometres (77 mi) away from Chandigarh, 20 kilometres (12 mi) away from Jalandhar and 361 kilometres (224 mi) from New Delhi. The city is famous for sugar, glucose, starch, fine fabric textiles, and auto parts manufacturing for engines in Punjab. This place is also known for the Shri Hanuman Garhi Temple, which has statues of the Hindu God, Lord Hanuman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doaba</span> Region of Punjab, India

Doaba, also known as Bist Doab or the Jalandhar Doab, is the region of Punjab, India that lies between the Beas River and the Sutlej River. People of this region are given the demonym "Doabia". The dialect of Punjabi spoken in Doaba is called "Doabi". The term "Doaba" or "Doab" is derived from Persian دو آب meaning "land of two rivers". The river Sutlej separates Doaba from the Malwa region to its south and the river Beas separates Doaba from the Majha region to its north.

Ravidassia or the Ravidas Panth is a religion based on the teachings of Guru Ravidas. It was considered a sect within Sikhism until 2009. However, some Ravidassias continue to maintain Sikh religious practices, including the reverence of the Guru Granth Sahib as their focal religious text, wearing Sikh articles of faith (5Ks), and appending Singh or Kaur to their names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhagat Sadhana</span> 12th-century Indian poet and mystic

Bhagat Sadhna, also called Sadhna Qasai, was a north Indian poet, saint, mystic and one of the devotees whose hymn was incorporated in Guru Granth Sahib. Venerated in the region of Punjab, among Sikhs and Ravidassias, his devotional hymn is widely quoted by most preachers. His one hymn is present in Adi Granth Sahib, in Raga Bilaval.

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The Ramdasia were historically a Sikh, Hindu sub-group that originated from the caste of leather tanners and shoemakers known as Chamar.

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Shri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan Mandir, located in Seer Goverdhanpur, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, is an important cultural and religious site for Dalits, Ravidasis, and Ramdasia Sikhs. It was built to mark the birthplace of Ravidas. Millions of devotees gather there for Ravidas's birthday each year.

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Ravidas or Raidas (1267–1335) was an Indian mystic poet-saint of the Bhakti movement during the 15th to 16th century CE. Venerated as a guru in the modern regions of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana, he was a poet, social reformer and spiritual figure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramanand Dass</span> Indian religious leader (1952–2009)

Sant Ramanand Dass was a leader of Dera Sach Khand, a socio-religious organization founded by followers of Guru Ravidas. His name came to international attention when he was murdered by Sikh radicals at the age of 57 in the 24 May 2009 attack on the Guru Ravidass Temple in Austria.

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Lakhpur is a village near Sahni (Lakhpur-Sahni), Tehsil Phagwara, Kapurthala district, in Punjab, India.

Amritbani Guru Ravidass Ji is the holy book of the Ravidassia religion.

The Ad-Dharmi is a sect in the state of Punjab, in India and is an alternative term for the Ravidasia religion, meaning Primal Spiritual Path. The term Ad-Dharm came into popular usage in the early part of the 20th century, when many followers of Guru Ravidas converted to Sikhism and were severely discriminated against due to their low caste status. Many of these converts stopped attending Sikh Gurdwaras controlled by Jat Sikhs and built their own shrines upon arrival in the UK, Canada, and Fiji Island.Ad-Dharmis comprise 11.48% of the total of Scheduled Caste communities in Punjab.

The Gaddi Nashin, alternatively spelt as Gaddi Nasheen, is a term to refer to a leader in various Sikh sects, Ravidassia, and also Sufi groups.

Sikhism has often been criticised by non-Sikhs regarding its texts, practices, and societal norms, but Sikhs and other scholars argue that these criticisms are flawed and are based on a biased and poor understanding of the texts, especially of the multiple languages used in the Sikh scriptures. They also argue that most western scholars who attempted to interpret eastern religious texts were missionaries and could not overcome the bias they carried with them, irrespective of whether they were translating the Quran, Vedas, Puranas or the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Nanak rejected ritualistic worship and encouraged belief in one true God, Waheguru. The veneration and bowing to the Guru Granth Sahib, has often been interpreted by western scholars as akin to idolatry, as observed by the Hindu faith, which defeats the ideology of Guru Nanak. Other scholars dismiss Sikhism as, either consciously or spontaneously, a syncretism of the Hindu Bhakti and Muslim Sufi movements.

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Sikh sects, denominations, traditions, movements, sub-traditions, also known as sampardai in the Punjabi language, are sub-traditions within Sikhism that believe in different approaches to practicing the religion. All sampradas believe in the One Creator God typically rejecting both idol worship and caste systems. Different interpretations have emerged over time, some of which have a living teacher as the leader. The major historic traditions in Sikhism, states Harjot Oberoi, have included Udasi, Nirmala, Nanakpanthi, Khalsa, Sahajdhari, Namdhari Kuka, Nirankari and Sarvaria.

A dera is a type of socio-religious organization in northern India. Jacob Copeman defines the deras as "monasteries or the extended residential sites of religious leaders; frequently just glossed as sect".

On Sunday 24 May 2009, several people in the Guru Ravidass Gurdwara in Vienna, Austria, were attacked by six men carrying knives and guns. Two of the victims were identified as visiting Dera Sach Khand head Niranjan Dass, 68, and another leader, Ramanand Dass, 57, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died the next day in hospital. At least 15 others were injured, including 4 of the attackers, who were in the end subdued by the other worshipers. It was described as a terrorist attack committed by Sikh fundamentalists. The incident sparked riots across Northern India.

Chambhar is caste from Indian state of Maharashtra, and Northern Karnataka. Their traditional occupation was leather work. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. Castes with similar traditional occupation are found throughout the Indian subcontinent such as Chamar in Northern india, and Mochi in Gujarat.

Seth Kishan Dass was a leather trader, propagator of the Ad-Dharm movement, and a politician.

Karam Singh Raju was an Indian bureaucrat and author who joined the Punjab State Civil Service just after the Independence of India. He was one of the very few first dalits who joined this prestigious service.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Singh, Gurharpal (2012). "Religious Transnationalism and Development Initiatives: The Dera Sachkhand Ballan". Economic and Political Weekly. 47 (1): 53–59. ISSN   0012-9976. JSTOR   23065577.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Ram, Ronki (2008). "Ravidass Deras and Social Protest: Making Sense of Dalit Consciousness in Punjab (India)". The Journal of Asian Studies. 67 (4): 1341–1364. doi: 10.1017/S0021911808001800 . ISSN   0021-9118. JSTOR   20203488.
  3. 1 2 3 "From Sikh Ambit to Separate Ravidassia Dharam". Hindustan Times. 15 March 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Juergensmeyer, Mark (1982). Religion as Social Vision: the Movement against Untouchability in 20th century Punjab. Internet Archive. Berkeley, CA : University of California Press. pp. 83–85. ISBN   978-0-520-04301-5.
  5. 1 2 Ram, Ronki (2009). "Ravidass, Dera Sachkhand Ballan and the question of Dalit identity in Punjab" (PDF). Journal of Punjab Studies. 16 (1): 12–15, 27.
  6. ↑ "Preacher dies after Vienna clash". BBC News . 25 May 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
  7. ↑ Jolly, Asit (26 May 2009). "Heavy security after Punjab riots". BBC News . Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "Punjab riots after Vienna killing". BBC News . 25 May 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
  9. ↑ Singh, IP (1 February 2010). "Punjab sect declares new religion". The Times of India . Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  10. ↑ "Dera Ballan accused of plagiarism in preparing holy book 'Amritbani' of Guru Ravidass". The Times of India. 1 March 2013. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  11. 1 2 Ram, Ronki (31 May 2009). "Dera Sachkhand Ballan: Repository of Dalit Consciousness". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 1 December 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  12. ↑ Takhar, Opinderjit Kaur (2016). Sikh Identity: An Exploration of Groups Among Sikhs. Routledge. p. 89. ISBN   9781351900102.
  13. ↑ "Deciphering dera politics | Dera Sachkhand Ballan". The Times of India. 24 November 2011. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 3 August 2023.
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