Guru Ravidas Jayanti: Ravidassias in Punjab to leave for Varanasi today

Apart from different parts of Jalandhar city, devotees take out a procession from Dera Sach Khand Ballan, which is the largest religious place for the Ravidassia community in the region, to reach the city railway station

Guru Ravidas Jayanti is an annual occasion during which Ravidassias travel to Varanasi in large numbers. Many of them take a special train organised by the Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar.

Residents of each locality have installed different types of langars (community food) in the city for the devotees. Women and men dance to the tunes of the band while Jalandhar railway station turns into a human sea.

The Ravidassias are a Dalit community of whom the bulk — nearly 12 lakh — live in Punjab’s Doaba region comprising Jalandhar, Hoshirpur, Kapurthala, and Nawan Shahr. The community plays a vital role in Punjab politics. In 2022 the Election Commission of India had to change the date of the Punjab assembly elections scheduled on February 14 to February 20 as Guru Ravidas Jayanti fell on February 16. Every political party tries to woo the community to fetch their votes.

The Dera Sachkhand Ballan, their largest dera, was founded in the early 20th century by Baba Sant Pipal Das. Once closely connected with Sikhism, the dera severed these decades-old ties in 2010 and announced they would follow the Ravidassia religion.