Ramnami samaj

                                                                                                                                  

 Introduction

My presentation of this paper is based on Ramdas Lamb’s book, “Rapt in the Name.” Unlike the tradition to devotion to Krishna Ram tradition is also an important component of Hinduism. As we know that Ram is the most-worshipped form of the divine being in India today, and has been particularly important to those of the lower castes throughout of India. There are groups like Satnam samaj, Kabirpanth, Ramnami Samaj etc., whose devotion is rooted and grounded in the name of Ram. My primary focus in presentating this paper is the rise of lower caste religious movements devoted to Ram, specifically the Ramnami Samaj, an Untouchable religious movement in Central India. Ramnami Samaj movement is the movment of untouchable, specially a lower cast called chamr. When we speak about the author of the book Ramdas Lamb, he has experienced about this movement as a Hindu monk and later as their friend and researcher. What we find the surprising innovative aspects of the sect is its adaptation of the story of Lord Ram that is uniquely woven into its devotional repetition of his name. They tattoo their bodies with the name ‘Ram’, write it on their clothing and adorn their walls with it. Their primary focus has been on chanting verses from the Ramchartimas. The Ramnamis have no elaborate rituals, no temples and use only small bells during their prayers.

Ramdas lamb first visited India in 1968. He was much inspired by Vaishave monk and joined Ramnanadi order in January 1970. Being a sadhu, he spent alone his time in a valley of Himalaya. He was told that Harijans were dirty, ignorant, untrustworthy and unevolved beings. As a Ramananadi sadhu his daily life was chanting of the name of ram and study of the ram story. In Haridwar at religious festivals he met some Ramnamis. Then after, he made more than 15 visits to Chhattisgarh and discovered around 80% villages were Ramnamis.

Chhattisgarh is the home of two- third scheduled casts and a large majority of them are tribal, formerly of Madhya Pradesh. Shudras dominate the ranks of caste; Hindus in the state and in many villages harijans are actually dominating the caste. In rural Chhattisgarh, the voice of the untouchables is much louder than the other parts of the India. In villages harijans have more opportunity for self expression and this gives an excellent opportunity to see them more “on their own terms.” When asked to identify themselves most of the residents, young and old refer to themselves first as rather than Indian or Hindu.

Ramnami samaj is fairly new by Indian standard, having existed for barely a hundred years. In that short time, however the samaj had a significant influence on the religious and social life of the region.

Life sketch of Parsuram and founding of Ramnami Samaj

Since the time of Ghasidas, many Chhatisgarhi became aware of their social and religious position assigned them by the Hindu Orthodox. During this time the founder of ramnami samaj Parsuram was born. He was a poor villager chamar. People have different opinion about this man. Same say that he was a great saint some say he was a simple man but his life was devoted to Ram. As one Ramnami put it,”Parsuram was a poor Chhatisgarhi villager, similar in many ways to us; therefore we have the capabilities and opportunities to become as great as Ramnam devotee as he was.”

Seeing his unusual behavior his parent married him in his early age. He was twelve and his wife ten when they were married. He was good at study and business. In his mid thirties, he contracted a disease called leprosy. Thinking about the safety of his family he thought of leaving his family. Before leaving his home he sat outside of his home by the side of the river. A sadhu came to him without considering his disease. Seeing this Parsuram was deeply moved by the holy man. The sadhu told his name as Ramdev. In the afternoom Ramdev visited Prasuram’s family and told the family that Ram is Happy with Parsuram. He told Parsuram that tomorrow as he will get up from the sleep he will see that a Ramnam will appear on his chest or in his heart. Next morning Parsuram found the things as the sadhu had told him about, he also found out that the disease he had was no more now. The sadhu asked Parsuram, Manas was his istdev and that will fulfill all his need. In the beginning he felt shy to share his experience but after few days when he came to his normal life started sharing his experience with the people. He spoke about his experience and transformation. He chanted the name of ram, people who came to listen to him tattooed on their head to follow his teacher.

For many villagers Parsuram was a guru. Under his guidance they began to memorize verses from the Manas. He proclaimed the power of nam to all those he met and told them that it was the beast means of liberation. All kinds of people were welcomed in his home. The news spread throughout much of eastern Chhattisgarh. When high caste Hindus heard about it, they got angry thinking that a low caste man, a chamar is preaching the name of Ram. They tried to stop him from doing so but Parsuram did not listen to them. Many Ramnamis were attacked. Ramnamis went to British court to get protection. Case went to court in 1910. Finally, on October 12, 1912, they won the case. They got freedom to practice their religion and they got police protection for their movement. This was a big victory for them in order to mark this day they gathered together in one place and chanted the name of ram. Similarly every year they organize bhajan mela, where they come together and celebrate.

Bhakti Philosophy

                                                     

The two central practices of Ramnami devotion are chanting Ramnam ("the name of Ram") and reciting Ramkatha ("the story of Ram"). These practices are shared by the larger Ram traditions in India. Parsuram, the founder of the ramnami Samaj simply started the path of devotion for Ram. The primary goal of early Ramnami samaj was bonding together of low caste and uneducated people. Anybody who wanted to join in this samaj was welcomed without considering their caste. According to Parsuram the salvation can be attained only by chanting Ramnam. Keeping this in their mind the members of the sect use to chant Ramnam as much as possible. Especially they used to use their free time in chanting the Name of Ram, e.g., if they waited for the bus they use to chant the name of Ram.

Some lows were prescribed like other religions, they are as follows:

1.      Sect members are to eat only in the home of an initiated Ramnami, though they may invite anyone to their own home.

2.      All children born to a Ramnami family should be tattooed at least once by the age of two.

3.      Anyone seeking to be married by the sect must also have at least one Ramnam tattoo and must agree to chant Ramnam daily.

Besides above mentioned three lows, they have some other rules also which the sect members have to follow, they are as follows:

1.      Practicing Ramnam daily

2.      Treating all sect members with equality and respect.

3.      Abstaining from alcohol

4.      Practicing vegetarian

5.      Tattooing of Ramnam at least once on the body

6.      Wearing the Ramnam ordhni during chanting if one is owned.

Among all these rules first three rules are considered of supreme importance, next two are of great importance and last one is encouraged but not compulsory.

Significance of Tattoo,Ordhni,Mukut and Ghungru

Tattoo or Ankit

Parsuram the founder of Ramnami samaj, was the first one to be tattooed, But in India the concept and practice of wearing the name of God or other important religious and cultural symbols on the body date back to ancient times.

The Sanskrit term for the sacred marks used by many Hindus sect to identify themselves is “Tilaks”. Some religious sects in south India also refer to their marks as “nama”. For the ramnamis, Ramnam tattoos have had varied significance throughout the sect’s brief history, but they have always remained a vital part of the sect’s tradition. For Parsuram, his tattoo was the result of his devotion and also Prasad, a gift and an acknowledgement from Ram. For the First Ramnamis, their tattoos expressed their religious connection with Parsuram, signified their commitment to ramnam, and furnished them with a common bond, which set them apart from others and linked them together in a permanent and visible way.

Ordhni

A ramnami ordhni is the sect’s ritual shawl, its major part of ramnami wardrobe. The shawls are generally made from piece of white cloths and are covered with ramnam, written in devnagri script. All ramnamis are encouraged to possess an ordhni and wear it whenever they chant. The shawl is meant to symbolize the ramnamis’ devotion to Ram and their membership in the samaj. More importantly it is used to wrap them in the name, as well as in a sheath of purity and protection provided through the power of name.

Mukut

The ramnamis wear a peacock feather hat known as mukut. It gives the members of the samaj a unique physical appearance. In Hindu devotional literature peacock feather is often associated with Vishnu or one of his avatars, usually Krishna but also Ram. To symbolize their devotion to Ram Parsuram used to wear a peacock feather in his turban when he worked in the fields, and the members of his village soon began to call him pankhawala.

Ghunghuru

The ramnamis used no musical instruments as such to accompany their chanting of Ram. Throughout much of the history of the sect, however, members used a set of handmade bells, called “ghunguru”, for maintaining a beat during the bhajan. They did not use other cymbals saying that they wish to hear is only the sound of ramnam.

Bhajan Mela

The bhajan mela is an important event not just for ramnamis but also for the people of eastern Chhatisgarh. Its increasing popularity has caused it to become a focus of energy and activity, and it is anticipated by many from all over the regions. As none of the other religious sects in the rural Chhattisgarh, has as large gathering. The mela enhances the Ramnamis’ popularity and credibility in the eyes of many villagers. Mela shows as a sign of stability and continuity, and thus it enhances the status of the sect. The mela also gives ramnamis an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to the movement and its goals, to come into contact with people from all over the region and to celebrate. For many it is also a time to forget a few days the problems and worries that so often plague daily existence. At the mela it is easy to become involved in the ritual, emotional, and religious activities and fervor, thus allowing the daily difficulties to fade from thought and concern.

Relevance: Then and Now

When we study carefully about the ramnami movement we find that Parsuram, who was the founder of Ramnami movement wanted to make a way of devotion to Ram for the untouchables. The life of untouchables or a low caste person of central India was very pitiful at that time. They were not allowed to enter in the temple of upper cast orthodox Hindu. They were considered dirty, untrustworthy and unevolved human beings. These people even could not express their devotion as they wanted. Thus we see that at this time Parsuram the founder of Ramnami movement comes into scene.

Ramnami movement gave a base for those untouchable low caste people who because of fear remained speechless. They became aware about their rights and opportunities. In a way this movement gave an open platform to practice their religion. Parsuram who was their own man and who had received a special grace from God encouraged his followers to be the part of this movement. This movement was not so difficult also; Parsuram the founder of this movement used to tell his followers that one can attain salvation by chanting the name of the Lord Ram. This was something new for them thus they started to show great devotion to Ram. Ramnam could be chanted anywhere but sometimes they came together and chanted the name of Ram. This kind of arrangement brought them under one umbrella. We can observe that there was uniformity in their movement. Tattoo, mukut, ankle bells and ramnam shawl they shared in common gathering, created the feeling of oneness and united in one community. In the time of difficulties they used to help one another. Bhajan mela they organized every year again this occasion strengthened their unity and strength.

Today when we see Ramnami samaj then we find that it is slowly fading away. Today low caste people are also getting good education. Thus, they don’t want to spoil their beautiful bodies by getting Ramnam tattoo. Even their parents don’t encourage their children to get tattoos. They rarely use the ramnam shawl and chanting ramnam is limited to only some special occasions, feasts and special rituals. This shows that a lot of changes have taken place in ramnami samaj with the change of time. Their thinking pattern has changed with the proper education. But when we talk about caste system, we observe only a little change. As we know that Gandhiji also tried his best to eliminate the caste system by saying that the harijans are the sons of God but sad thing is that it still exists in India even today. There are some changes in thinking about the low caste people, high caste Hindus at least many of them don’t consider harijans as dirty, untrustworthy and unevolved human beings. Dr. Ambedkar who was also an untouchable once said that, “he don’t want to die as Hindu.” Keeping this in his mind he converted into Buddhism, along with him so many harijans also converted into Buddhism.

Thus we see that the practice of caste system has been decreased with the time but still in some places we hear that harijans are not allowed to enter in the Hindu temples. Today it is difficult to find ramnamis in their original custom. Reason may be whether they are forgetting or they don’t want to follow the old custom. Thus we conclude that with the change of time ramnami samaj is also changing its existence.

                         

Conclusion

Ramnami samaj which was founded by a low caste chamar named Parsuram was much effective in the central India, specially in Chhattisgarh. Ramnami samaj’s bhakti was based on the Lord Ram. Members were fully devoted to their Lord Ram. This religion was much popular in the central India only. People of other part of India were not aware about this movement. Thus we can give some credit to the author of the book “Rapt in the name,” Ramdas Lamb whose research and study threw light about this movement. Ramnamis were simple, humble and mostly illiterate people who belonged to the low caste community. These people were not aware about their social and religious status. Parsuram who was believed to be enlightened one, brought awareness among these people.

One good thing we can observe about this movement is that it brought unity among the low cast people, specially among the harrjans. In this religion people of all caste and creed were welcomed without discrimination. People came together under the same roof and chanted the name of Ram. Followers of this movement shared the same belief with their teacher about the liberation; the chanting of Ramnam can lead to liberation. Thus ramnamis wanted to hear and utter only the name of Ram. Tattoo, ramnami shawl, mukut and Ghungru they shared in common were to show their devotion to their Lord Ram and to their unity. Some high caste Hindus misunderstood this movement and the result they attacked the ramnamis. But at last ramnamis won the case and this victory strengthened their movement.

Today when we talk about the ramnami samaj we find that there are lot of changes has taken place. With the change of time they have also changed their life style and their custom. Today we cannot identify with their physical appearance like earlier used to. This kind of changes can be observed in other religions to. Thus I conclude by saying that things changes with the time, and the changes are the sign of progress but the problem arises when we lose our identity.