The Prime Minister recently inaugurated the Adampur Airport in Punjab and renamed it after Sri Sant Guru Ravidas Ji in a bid to honour the revered saint and social reformer on his birth anniversary.
About Guru Ravidas:
Guru Ravidas (1377-1527 C.E.) was a renowned saint known for his contributions to the Bhakti movement.
His devotional songs and verses made a lasting impact upon the Bhakti Movement.
Guru Ravidas is also known as Raidas, Rohidas, and Ruhidas.
Ravidas was born in a village called Sir Gobardhanpur, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh,
Today, his birthplace is a special place known as Shri Guru Ravidass Janam Asthan.
His birthday is celebrated as Ravidas Jayanti.
Ravidas is traditionally seen as a student of the bhakti-poet Ramananda.
He is also thought to have lived around the same time as Kabir, another famous poet-saint.
He was a well-known poet. His poems, written in local languages, inspired many people.
Many of his devotional songs and poems are found in the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib.
Many of his poems are also in the Panch Vani text of the Dadu Panthi tradition within Hinduism.
Philosophy and Teachings:
The core of Guru Ravidas’s philosophy was the rejection of the caste system and the promotion of human rights and dignity.
He envisioned a society called 'Beghumpura' (a city without sorrow), where there is no suffering, no fear, and no discrimination.
He also became a symbol of opposition to untouchability in society by the higher caste people for the lower caste people.
He emphasised the philosophy of spiritual freedom.
He abandoned the saguna (with attributes, image) forms of supreme beings and focussed on the nirguna (without attributes, abstract) form of supreme beings.
Meera Bai, a revered figure in Hindu spiritualism, is said to have considered Guru Ravidas as her spiritual Guru.
Ravidassia religion:
The Guru’s teachings now form the basis of the Ravidassia religion.
Ravidassias believe that Guru Ravidas should be treated as a saint just like the other gurus, as he lived before the first Sikh Guru, and his teachings were studied by the Sikh Gurus.
The Ravidassia community adopted the Amrit Bani Guru Ravidass as its holy book and established its own symbols and rituals.
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