Dalit saints of Hinduism
Dalit is a designation for a group of people who were suppressed by upper caste Hindus for hundreds of years and also considered by that system as being outside the caste system of India. Several influential Hindu saints, though, were members of this group.[1][2][3]
Saints
- Chokhamela, one of the first Dalit poets in India. Born and lived in Maharashtra. Wrote many Abhangas.
- Harichand Thakur (1811–1839), Namsudra, Bengali, founded Vaishnava Matua sect to worship Hari and preach Harinam[4] and a few of their songs even recognize Harichand as an avatar of Vishnu[5]
- Nandanar, He is the only Dalit saint in the Nayanars
- Ravidas-Guru of meera bai and 15-16t century saint in north india.
References
- ^ Dalits and the state, pp. 42, Ghanshyam Shah, Centre for Rural Studies (Lal Bahadur Shastry National Academy of Administration)
- ^ Dalit consciousness and Christian conversion: historical resources for a contemporary debate: mission theology in an Asian context, pp. 20, Samuel Jayakumar, I.S.P.C.K. (Organization), Regnum International, 1999
- ^ Staging politics: power and performance in Asia and Africa, pp. 179, Julia C. Strauss, Donal Brian Cruise O'Brien, I. B.Tauris, 2007
- ^ p. 96, Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Domination in Colonial Bengal
- ^ p. 100, Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Domination in Colonial Bengal