India is an abode to the charming festivals. Peoples of different religions celebrate different festivals with full charm. One of these festivals celebrated by the Sikh and Hindu community is Guru Ravidas Jayanti. This celebration occurs on the day of Sant Ravidas Birthday.
According to the Hindu Calendar Panchang, this celebration is on the full moon of Magha Month. In the Year 2020, this day is on Tuesday, 19th February. In the year 2020, we are going to celebrate Ravidas’s 642nd birthday.
Sant Guru Ravidas Ji was born in Goverdhanpur village of Varanasi district. Some scholars believe that he was born in 1450 CE. However, some scholar believes that he was born around 1371 AD. His mother’s name was Ghurbinia and father’s name was Raghuram.
While his entire family was involved in leatherwork, since childhood he started spending most of his time in spiritual activities on the bank of river Ganga. After that, he gets in touch with the Sufi Saint community.
After getting in touch with the Sufi community, Ravidas meet with the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Ravidas wrote down a number of poems, 41 poems out of them are included in Sikh Texts- Adi Granth.
His poetic exposure not only limited to Sikhism. However, he also traveled to the various regions of Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. He focussed on Nirguna– a form of Supreme beings. His poetic hymns in different regional languages inspired a lot of people.
The Adi Granth and Panchvani are the two oldest sources of the poetic works of Ravidas. In the Adi Granth, 40 of Ravidas’s poems are included, and he is one of thirty-six contributors to this scripture of Sikhism. In most of his poetry, he tried to cover topics related to inequality between citizens of different castes.
According to texts, once Ravidas Ji was playing with his friend. One day, his best friend does not come to the playground. The next day, Ravidas Ji goes to find him, but he listens that his friend died. Seeing this, Ravidas Ji feels very sad and tells his friend that wake up this is not the time to sleep, play with me.
Hearing this, his dead friend stands up. This happens because of Sant Ravidas Ji had supernatural powers since childhood. But as time went on, he used his power in the devotion of Lord Rama and Krishna. In this way, gradually he became a saint, doing good to the people. Also at a very early age, he joined the community of Sufi saint. This inclined Ravidas’s interaction towards spirituality.
He started visiting different places in nearby states and advised all his followers to come out of caste and religion. Humanity is above all these things. Help Each Other in this journey of life as much as possible.
Ravidas Jayanti is celebrated across all over India. This festival mainly belongs to the Sikh Community. However, peoples from different communities participate in the grand celebration. His followers bath in the holy rivers. Followers then take inspiration from his Guru by remembering the great events related to his life. There are many inspiring episodes of the life of Saint Ravidas from which we can learn the formula of a happy life.
This day is like an annual festival for his followers. Millions of devotees reach his place of birth and participate in a grand function. Also, Songs and poems of saint Ravidas are sung so that the entire atmosphere becomes enchanted.
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