The Rāmnāmī Samāj is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

sect founded by Sant Parasurām, in the 1890s, that worships the god Ram. Living mainly in

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

, its adherents tattoo the word " Ram" () on their bodies and wear shawls with the word "Ram" printed on it and headgear made of peacock feathers. Estimates of the group's population range from about 20,000 to more than 100,000.

History

Sant Parasuram, the

Chamar Chamar (or Jatav) is a community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's Reservation in India, system of affirmative action that originated from the group of trade persons who were involved in leather tanning and shoemaking. They a ...

founder of Ramnami samaj born in the 1870s at Charpora village according to anecdotal accounts, is believed to be the first person to tattoo the word "Ram" on his forehead in the 1890s and is considered to be the sect's founder. Parasuram tattooed himself as an act of defiance after being denied entry to a temple because of his

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

. According to Ramdas Lamb, the sect is a continuation of the 15th-century

Bhakti movement The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of Bhakti, devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6t ...

. In 1910, the Ramnamis won a court case against upper caste Hindus over the right to use the name of the god Ram. As late as the 1980s, tattooed followers were denied entrance to temples because their tattoos "gave away their caste."

Practices

The sect's adherents do not drink or smoke, chant the name of Ram every day, tattoo the word "Ram" on their body, and wear a shawl with the word "Ram" printed on it and a headgear made of peacock feathers. Those with full body tattoos are knows as "''purnanakshik''" and are mostly in their seventies; the younger generations of Ramnamis are no longer tattooed, fearing that they might be discriminated against and denied work because of the tattoos. Ramnamis gather every year for a three-day Bhajan Mela at the end of the harvest season in December–January in the village of Sarsiwa in

Raipur district Raipur district is a district in the Chhattisgarh state of India. Its administrative headquarters is the city of Raipur. The district is rich in mineral resources and there are many wildlife sanctuaries. With a population of 2 million, it is the ...

where they erect a '' jayostambh'' (a white pillar with the name of Ram inscribed on it) and chant from the '' Ramcharitmanas''.

Demographics

Since Ramnamis are listed simply as Hindus in official records, accurate demographic data is unavailable but elders estimate their population to be no more than 20,000 based on the attendance at the annual Bhajan Mela; however, others estimate it to be more than 100,000. Ramnamis live primarily in villages along the

Mahanadi river The Mahanadi River is a major river in East Central India. It drains an area of around and has a total length of . Mahanadi is also known for the Hirakud Dam which was the first major multipurpose river valley project after India's independence ...

, but some adherents also live in border regions of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

and

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

Ramnami Community of Chhattisgarh
on Sahapedia Hindu denominations Hinduism in Chhattisgarh Dalit communities Scheduled Castes of Chhattisgarh Scheduled Castes of Madhya Pradesh Scheduled Castes of Uttar Pradesh Scheduled Castes of Odisha