Guru Ravidass Jayanti Date in the current year: February 24, 2024

There is very little known about Ravidas’s life. Presumably, he lived in the 14th – 16th centuries (sometime between 1371 and 1520); some scholars claim that he was born in 1371, others state that his birth year was 1440. His parents were engaged in leather work, which meant that they belonged to an untouchable caste. At first Ravidas worked with leather like his parents, but at some point he decided to dedicate his life to religious pursuits.

Guru Ravidas believed in monotheism and advocated the eradication of all forms of discrimination and the removal of boundaries between faiths so that all people could achieve spiritual unity. He also defended the rights of the untouchables and believed that people should be judged by their actions, and not by the caste they belong to. According to his teachings, anyone can study sacred texts and worship God, regardless of their caste.

Many scholars believe that Ravidas was acquainted with Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism and the first Sikh Guru. Over 40 hymns composed by Guru Ravidas were included in the Adi Grandth (or Guru Granth Sahib), the central religious scripture of Sikhism. They deal with topics such as fighting against tyranny and war, conflict resolution, willingness to dedicate one’s life to the right cause, a just society, and the importance of dispassion.

A community of Guru Ravidas’s followers began to form in the early 20th century. It started to become more coherent following the proclamation of India’s independence in 1947. The Ravidassia religion (Ravidasi Dharam) finally split from Sikhism in 2009, after the leader of Guru Ravidas’s devotees Ramanand Dass was killed in a terrorist attack in front of the Guru Ravidass Temple in Vienna, Austria.

Ravidassia don’t consider themselves Sikhs; while they deeply respect all Sikh Gurus, Guru Ravidas is the most important religious figure and a saint for them. The Ravidassia religion is based on the following principles:

• God is one, omnipresent and omnipotent.
• A human soul is a particle of God.
• God can be met by all castes, including lower ones.
• The goal of human life is to know God.
• The only way to meet God is to free one’s mind from duality.

Guru Ravidass Jayanti is mostly celebrated in the Indian states of Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and some others. It is regarded as the most important holiday of the Ravidassia religion.

The main ceremony dedicated to Guru Ravidas is held at Shri Guru Ravidass Janam Asthan Mandir, a temple located in Guru Ravidas’s home village of Seer Goverdhanpur. It includes a colorful procession with the guru’s portrait. Every year, over a million devotees from all over India and abroad come here to honor the guru on his birthday.

* date for 2024