THE

RAVIDASIS
• Former chamars – leather workers
• Bani (41 hymns) of Ravidas in GGS (bhagat bani)
• Guru Ravidas lived 15th – 16th centuries
• He also believed to be from the chamar zat
• Converted to Sikh faith, working with leather
considered by Hindus as highly polluting
• Also called mazhabis
• Did not achieve equality, hence sought equal
status through distinct identity from both as
followers of Guru Ravidas
Guru Ravidas
• Use GGS in worship but only 41 hymns
• Some adamant on complete distinction
• Others “within” Sikh faith – issues of identity
• Not Gurdwara but Bhawan – large community
in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Southall.
• Keshdharis that present issues in identity
• Some more Hindu than Sikh practices
• Punjabi community – shared culture and
traditions
• Was Ravidas also an heir to the Northern Sant
tradition – similarities in teachings:
 Emphasis on Nam
 No brahmanic rituals
 No idols
 bhakti
 See his bani in GGS
 Highlight in all Ravidasi centres is the birthday of
Guru Ravidas
 Only some celebrate and change nishan sahib on
baisakhi
 Emphasis on Ravidas, not Sikh Gurus
• Issue of identity:
It is interesting to note a Ravid1s2 child’s
description of her identity:
“I know what culture I am, Hindu, but it’s not as
if we’re restricted to Hindu because we believe
in Sikhism as well. It’s just one thing really.”
Jackson, R. and Nesbitt, E. (1993) Hindu Children
in Britain, Staffordshire: Trentham Books,
p. 28.
The Open University in England has produced a
video about the Ravidasis, in which one
speaker has voiced that, as a low-caste
person, he was refused karah prasad in both
India and Britain: thus by distributing karah
prasad, the Ravidasis exclude no one from the
sabha. Open University Video: ‘Man’s
Religious Quest – The Ravidasias Birmingham’.