Govt to commemorate Banjara community leader

The year-long commemoration of the 284th birth anniversary of Santh Sevalal Maharaj, the spiritual leader of the Banjara community is being celebrated by the Ministry of Culture at the Ambedkar International Centre. Besides Shah, Union Minister of State for Culture, Meenakshi Lekhi will be present at the event, besides BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, and BJP’s Kalaburagi MP Umesh Jadhav, and Shankar Pawar, National President of the All India Banjara Seva Sangh. Jadav is the only BJP MP of the Banjara community, from the Kalaburagi Constituency in Karnataka.

A special train has also been run from Karnataka, bringing in more than 2,500 people of the community from Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to Delhi for the two-day event, said a statement by the Ministry of Culture.

Sevalal Maharaj was born on February 15, 1739, at Surgondankoppa in Shivamogga district, and was considered a social reformer and spiritual teacher of the Banjara community. It is believed that the community has a population of around 10 to 12 crore across the country, said the ministry statement.

In states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, Sevalal Maharaj is a revered figure, and his birth anniversary is celebrated every year throughout the month. His final resting place or Samadhi is situated at Pohradevi in Maharashtra’s Washim district, also known as Banjara Kashi.