The Shrine

It is, perhaps, because the dera was founded by Sant Pipal Das at the turn of the last century while the police presence is only 10 years old, dating to an attempt on Sant Niranjan Das’s life by Sikh extremists in Vienna in 2009.

The gentle peace at the dera is far removed from the rage that followed the demolition of a Ravidas temple in Delhi’s Tughlaqabad area last month. But scratch the surface and it bubbles over. “It was unfair,’’ bristles Navjyot, a young bride from Kapoor village who was accompanied by Gurbaksh Kaur, her mother-in-law. “How could they bring down such an old temple?’’

There is no one here or in the surrounding villages, who doesn’t know about the demolition, though no one is aware of the complete case. Office manager Pritam Kumar rues that the case wasn’t pleaded well. “It was over 600 years old. Delhi emperor Sikandar Lodi had himself allotted the land to Sant Ravidas,’’ argues Kumar.

In Jalandhar, GC Kaul, a retired professor of the DAV College who specialises in Ravidas studies, says there is no mention of this either in the court ruling or in the appeal. “There is a lot of awareness now and people are very emotional about their religion. This matter needs delicate handling.’’

At Sarmastpur village opposite Ballan, Baljinder Singh, in bicep-hugging gymwear, says, Delhi is yet to get a taste of the Ravidassia fury. “Barely 30 per cent people went from our villages. We would have flooded Delhi had we gone in full strength,’’ he says. Dalits form nearly 32 per cent of Punjab’s population, a large number of them Ravidassias.

It was after the 2009 assassination attempt that the community carved out a separate religion, says Prof Ronki Ram of Panjab University. Dera Ballan spearheaded the move by declaring themselves followers of a separate religion with a holy book called Amrit Bani, a compilation of the works of Guru Ravidas. In place of the khanda used by the Sikhs and trishul by the Hindus, they adopted a sun-shaped hari.

Satpal Virdi, an advocate and legal counsel of the Akhil Bharatiya Ravidasiya Dharam, says they announced the formation of this new religion from Varanasi, the seer’s birthplace. “We have a community of 25 crore people, including the diaspora. Around seven crore have already registered with us,’’ he says, adding that they have petitioned the Centre to recognise them as a separate religion under Article 25 of the Constitution.

Even before 2009, the community has always been quite well-knit, partly due to the profusion of temples and deras in the north that not only provide spiritual succour to the community but medical and educational support as well. Dera Ballan, for instance, has a free dispensary and a charitable eye hospital within its compound. It also runs a senior secondary English-medium school at Hadiabad near Phagwara for 1,200 children, besides a 150-bed charitable hospital at Kuthar nearby. The langar runs around the clock and there is a dharamshala for pilgrims from afar.

Kaul claims there are around 350-odd deras in Punjab associated with the community. “They are the rallying point for the followers in times of personal distress as well,’’ he says.

Virdi says PM Narendra Modi has visited the opulent seven-storey Seer Goverdhanpur temple in Varanasi twice. “He has promised to give us more land and beautify the temple which has gold-plated domes,’’ says Virdi, calling it the Mecca of Ravidassias. “We have a yearly Kumbh mela there with separate tents for devotees from 17 states of India.’’

But not everyone is comfortable with the deepening divisions. “We don’t face discrimination any longer, it is just that as long as I can remember we have always had a separate gurdwara,’’ says Baljinder Singh at Sarmastpur village. The 2009 assassination, he says, united the community and made it defiant. “This demolition is another watershed.’’

This article appeared in the print edition with the headline ‘The Shrine’