A unique protest by the lower caste in some parts of central India in the early 1900s — these people inked their entire bodies with Ram naam when they were denied entry into temples — led to the formation of a samaj called the Ramnamis. SHAlINI SAKSENA caught up with one such member of the sect who talks about what it is to be a Ramnami
He is short and dark with a face that one would not remember if seen in a crowd. But what makes this 5 foot man stand tall even among 6-footers is the fact that his entire face is etched with ink. To be more specific, he has Ram naam written in Hindi; a tattoo all over his face. He is a Ramnami. A sect that is fast disappearing today in wake of modernisation. But for 56-year-old Gula Ram there is no evil in this world; there is only good.
This Ramnami who was invited for the second International Conference on Ramlila organised by IGNCA in the Capital recently tells you that it depends on how you see life. “Agar aap burai dhoondoge to bura hi dekhoge. Magar mein to sab mein achhai dekhta hoon. I don’t see people in a bad light,” he tells you rather philosophically. The good part is that this farmer from a small non-descript village in Chhattisgarh has a positive attitude towards everything — life and people. “If this was not the case, my entire purpose of living would be lost. My father, grandfather and great-grandfather, all were Ramnamis. It is something that is in my blood. Sometimes, I feel that it was my calling. It was not until I was a teenager that I finally found the path that God had destined for me. Till then I would while away time with friends in the village when I got time after doing household chores,”Gula Ram says.
He found that he loved the stories and the songs his father told in praise of Ram and decided to visit their guru in Varanasi. There, he spent many days in the company of sadhus and sants who chanted lord Ram’s name and sang songs — not with the aim to spread the lord’s name but just for the sheer pleasure that Ramnamis derived in talking about him and his life. “When we sit down, talk and sing Ram songs, we do it for ourselves. It is not meant for others. But we sit in the open. People like the stories we tell and the songs we sing, they sit around us. Soon there is a crowd. Ramnamis don’t believe in forcing anybody to do anything, including taking Ram’s name. Whatever we do, we do it for ourselves. If others want to listen to us and join us, they are most welcome,” Gula Ram says.
Considering that there was no school in his village, Gula Ram tells you that he is quite educated. “I know how to read and write. It is something that my father taught me. He was the most literate man in our village — he had studied till Class X. He was the one who taught all his children how to read,” the father of five children tells you.
For this, his father had devised an ingenious way to ensure that the children would not remain uneducated. He made sure that words and numbers always danced in front of his children; he wrote the Hindi alphabet and numbers on the kuccha walls of his home. Each morning after coming back from the khet, he would start the lesson. Young Gula Ram learnt everything — how to read and write — from those walls. But things were different for his father who loved words. It was this love that made him walk for a couple of hours to reach the nearest school. “He wanted to know things and loved to read and write. For this he would even walk kilometres,” he says.
Gula Ram, on the other hand, was not so keen on educating himself and preferred to spend his time helping his father till the farm. But his father insisted on teaching his children and always told them the importance of education and knowledge in one’s life. “Each evening after my father completed his daily chores he would sit all the village children around him including us. He would tell us stories of lord Ram and incorporate the importance of learning. I was only interested in the stories he would tell. But in the process managed to learn a bit of reading and writing,” this farmer tells you.
He tells you that his journey to join the Ramnami samaj began when he was around 20. Till then he was a mere farmer. “But once I reached Varanasi and met my guru, I realised the reason for my being born. While only my face has Ram naam written, my guru had his entire body etched with Ram’s name. I took the guru mantra from him, spent many months with him and then decided to come back home to take lord Ram’s name in the quiet environment of my home,” he recounts.
When he got married, his wife was not a Ramnami. But she expressed a desire to become one. “She told me that it was not fair that I was the only one taking Ram’s name and deriving all the benefit; she too wanted to be a part of it. So she had her face etched as well. And like me, she too wears a mukut made of peacock feathers and bamboo sticks that is then wrapped around with a hand-woven cloth,” Gula Ram explains.
The significance of the crown, he says, is lost in history but he does tell you that it gives them an identity when they sit in a crowd. “If I was that educated I would be able to tell you why we wear this mukut. My father did tell me the reason, but I was very young at that time. I have forgotten what he told me. All I remember him telling me is that it needs to be worn every time I sit down to take Ram’s name. I also remember him telling me that all Ramnamis wore a white chaadar with Ramnaam written all over it. This was something that could not be done by an artist outside our sect. This chaadar (pointing to the one he was wearing) has been hand written by my son. He has a great hand. So when he said he wanted to make a chaadar, I didn’t stop him. After all, he is taking Ram’s name. Thechaadar that I used to wear before was hand written by me. It took a lot of time and patience because my handwriting is not so neat,” Gula Ram says.
One is also told that the sect members have to eat only sattvik food. “The significance of eating foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, milk, honey are that they need not be cooked, they can be eaten as they are. Also, these foods provide calmness, purity and promotes longevity, intelligence, strength, health and happiness,” Gula Ram explains.
Interestingly, this simple farmer is a member of the All India Ramnami Committee and sits on the annual meetings that take place at regular intervals. “Ram teaches us to be humble. I don’t want people to see me as someone important but a man who believes there is God and that we should see good in everything so that only positive things will happen. Even if we come across a person who is full of hate and evil, all we have to do is be ourselves — be nice to him. If we don’t like what he has to say or what he is doing, we move away from there and continue on our path of righteousness. lots of people may think that we are living in a fool’s paradise, but at least it is paradise. When we see only good, good things come to us,” Gula Ram tells you. Significantly, all the names of his children end with Ram. “This, so that, we take Ram’s naam all the time,” he says.
The origin
The year, 1904. A group of people from the lower caste, led by Parsuram, decided to rebel against the atrocities the Brahmins were inflicting on the Dalits by not letting them enter the temples. In defiance, these men etched Ram naam all over their body to send a strong message — you can prevent us from entering temples but you can’t stop us from taking his name “kyon ki woh humare kan kan mein basa hai”. This gave birth to the Ramnamis.
One is told that Parsuram, from a very young age, was aware of the social and religious atrocities that people of his community faced. “He was a simple man from a lower caste who became a great saint because he dedicated his life to Ram. What his life teaches us is that even a simple man can become great,” Dr Pisilal Yadav, a Hindi higher secondary teacher from Chhattisgarh tells you.
Dr Yadav, who has written several books on social issues of the region and folklore surrounding several communities including Ramnamis, tells you that there is an interesting story how Parsuram got his first tattoo. A popular story says that when he was in his 30s he contracted leprosy. In order to prevent the spread of the disease, he decided to leave his village and family. Just then a sadhu came to him and told him that when Parsuram woke up the next morning Ram naam would be etched on his chest. The next morning, Parsuram found that not only had his disease disappeared, but there, in fact, was Ram etched on his chest. Hence the practise of Ram tattoo by the people who belong to this sect began,” Dr Yadav explains.
Though thesamaj is fairly new — it has only existed for just over a 100 years — it had in the beginning a significant impact on the people living around Chhattisgarh, particularly areas around river Mahanadi, changing the social fabric to a great extent. The focus was to bring together people from the lower caste and uneducated people together. Anybody could join thesamaj and no questions were asked. According to the sect, moksh can be attained by people who take Ram’s name. Hence one has to take the name as much as possible.
“Today, one will find Ramnamis in other States as well. But these are people who have migrated there in search of jobs. The samaj basically originated on the banks of the Mahanadi and hence one will find them in these parts in large numbers. There was a time when their number stood at 4-5 lakh. But the younger generation doesn’t want to follow in their parents footsteps. Therefore, their number is on the decline. Also, today, not everyone has inked their entire body as was thepratha when thesamaj had just started. Today, an etching of one row on the arm or the forehead is enough and that person can call himself a Ramnami.
“But there are some things that are a must do for a person to call himself or herself a Ramnami. Sect members are to eat only in the home of another Ramnami or food that is cooked by them but they can invite anyone to share their meal. Children born in a Ramnami family should be tattooed at least once by the age of two. One must chant Ramnaam daily, not drink alcohol and treat everybody with equality and respect,” Dr Yadav tells you.
For the Ramnamis, it is not just the kind of lifestyle that they need to follow, every thing that they carry has a significance. “If one sees the tattoos on their bodies, to a lay person it may appear to be Ram naam that was etched in defiance decades back, but the truth is that it is seen as a prasad from Ram that Parsuram got. Also, there is a technique involved. Seven extremely thin needles are joint together to make the markings with a natural dye made fromkajli cooked in a clay pot. This is then mixed in the liquid that is made from the bark of the babool tree. The entire process is tedious and to get just the face tattooed takes approximately seven to 10 days. It is not humanly possible to get the whole body tattooed in one sitting. For that it takes more than a year, depending on the person who is getting himself inked,” Dr Yadav tells you.
Then there is the chaadar or the ordhni which is a major part of the samaj. It is generally made from a piece of white cloth and covered with Ram naam which is written in Devnagri script. Though it is not mandatory to wear this, they must possess one because it symbolises the member’s devotion to Ram and their standing in the samaj. It is also a symbol of purity and protection from evil.
Interesingly, the Ramnamis worship the nirgun form (the all-pervading and omnipresent divine consciousness) of Ram — they don’t believe in murti puja. Therefore, to have a distinct identity, they wear anordhni, carry ghunguroos and wear a mukut made from peacock feathers. Themukut is extremely symbolic. First, it gives the members a unique physical appearance. Second, peacock feathers are often associated with Vishnu and one of his avatars, Krishna and also Ram. Third, when the peacock dances, it forgets everything that is around. It is another matter that the peahen gets attracted. For the peacock, it is nishkaam bhakti; the same holds true for the Ramnamis.
“One has to understand that for the people of this samaj, it is all about selfless devotion to Ram; they do it for themselves and not with the purpose to gain any brownie points or for status,” Dr Yadav says. As for the ghunguroos, since the members don’t carry any musical instrument, these accompany their chanting of Ram. Earlier, they only used handmade bells to create music and beats for the songs. This is because any other instrument would drown the name of Ram. The aim was to create some kind of backdrop beat while they chant Ram’s name and not to create music.
People of the samaj live a simple life but each year, they hold a mela or fair where all the Ramnamis get together and celebrate Ram. The event is not only important to the members but also the State of Chhatisgarh due to the energy and activity that is created when so many people come together. “The mela in some ways a sign that the samaj is still popular and that the members have a social standing in the society today,” Dr Yadav says.