Ravidassia or the Ravidas Panth[1] is a religion based on the teachings of Guru Ravidas. It was considered a sect within Sikhism until 2009.[2][3][4][1] However, some Ravidassias continue to maintain Sikh religious practices, including the reverence of the Guru Granth Sahib as their focal religious text, wearing Sikh articles of faith (5Ks), and appending Singh or Kaur to their names.[5]
Historically, Ravidassia represented a range of beliefs in the Indian subcontinent, with some devotees of Ravidass counting themselves as Ravidassia, but first formed in the early 20th-century in colonial British India.[3] The Ravidassia tradition began to take on more cohesion following 1947, and the establishment of successful Ravidassia tradition in the diaspora.[6] Estimates range between two and five million for the total number of Ravidassias.[7][8]
Ravidassias Sikhs believe that Ravidas is their Guru (saint) whereas the Khalsa Sikhs have traditionally considered him one of many bhagats (holy person), a lower position to Guru in Sikhism.[9] Further, Ravidassias Sikhs accept living sants of Ravidass Deras as Guru.[10] A new Ravidassia religion was launched following an assassination attack on their visiting living Guru Niranjan Dass and his deputy Ramanand Dass in 2009 in Vienna by Sikh militants.[1][11] Ramanand Dass died from the attack, Niranjan Dass survived his injuries, while over a dozen attendees at the temple were also injured.[11] This triggered a decisive break of the Ravidassia group from the orthodox Sikh structure.[10][1]
Prior to their break from Khalsa Sikhism, the Dera Bhallan revered and recited the Guru Granth Sahib of Sikhism in Dera Bhallan.[12] However, following their split from mainstream Sikhism, the Dera Bhallan compiled their own holy book based exclusively on Ravidas's teachings, the Amritbani Guru Ravidass Ji, and these Dera Bhallan Ravidassia temples now use this book in place of the Guru Granth Sahib.[12][4][13]
^Jan Gonda (1970). Visnuism and Sivaism: A Comparison. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN978-1-4742-8080-8.
^ abParamjit Judge (2014), Mapping Social Exclusion in India: Caste, Religion and Borderlands, Cambridge University Press, ISBN978-1107056091, pages 179-182
^ abInflamed passionsArchived 2019-12-04 at the Wayback Machine, Ajoy A Mahaprashasta (2009), Frontline (The Hindu), Volume 26, Issue 12, Quote: "The riots were sparked off by an attack on Sant Niranjan Dass, the head of the Jalandhar-based Dera Sachkhand, and his deputy Rama Nand on May 24 at the Shri Guru Ravidass Gurdwara in Vienna where they had gone to attend a religious function. A group of Sikhs militants armed with firearms and swords attacked them at the gurdwara, injuring both; Rama Nand later died. The Austrian police said the attack that left some 15 others injured “had clearly been planned”."