Sri Sri Harichand Thakur
Harichand Thakur, sometimes known as Sri Sri Harichand Thakur, was considered a God in Bengal by his followers.He worked among the subaltern population. Harichand Thakur was born in the Namasudra (Namassej) community in Bengal on 11 March 1812 in Orakandi of the Kashiani Upazila in Gopalganj district, located in present-day Bangladesh.
Life and family
He was one of six sons of Namasudra or Namassej (then called Chandala) peasant family that was thought to be belong to the Gautama clan (later, the community members agreed to be identified as belonging to Kasyapa clan; in the different census reports of the nineteenth century, the Namasudras were found to have identified themselves as belonging to four different clans or gotras). Born in 1812 at Safaladanga, Gopalgaunge, his birthname was Sri Harichand Biswas. He moved to Odakandi, Faridpur. At a very early age, he accepted the path of religious reformation for giving service to and uplifting the subaltern people of Bengal. He experienced atmadarshan (self-realisation) and preached his ideologies and religious philosophy in twelve commandments and asked his followers to pursue his works. His followers consider him as God (Thakur) Harichand and as an avatar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna. Thus, he became known as Sri Sri Harichand Thakur.
Shri Harichand was married with Jagat mata Shanti Mata and they had two sons. One son was Shri Guruchand Thakur. Shri Harichand Thakur died at Odakandi in 1877. His son, Shri Guruchand Thakur, has been the leader of the awakening of Namasudra people.
Not only that, he also created a religion called Matua. Sri Tarak Chandra Sarkar wrote a book Sri Sri Harililamrita on the life of Sri Sri Harichand Thakur. After his death his son Sri Sri Guruchand Thakur corrected the name Chandala as Namasudra with the help of Dr. C. S. Meed.
References
- [The Namasudras and other Addresses, Adelaide,1911 : C.S.Mead]
- [Matua Dharma Darshan ( in Bengali ), Thakurnagar,1393 B.S. p-47 : Paramananda Halder]
- [Sekhar Bandyopadhyay :Popular religion and social mobility : The Matua sect and the namsudras in R.K.Ray (ed) Mind Body and Society, Life and Mentality in colonial Bengal ( Calcutta) 1995]
- [Hitesh Ranjan Sanyal : Social Mobility in Bengal, Calcutta,1985]
- [Tarak Chandra Sarkar: Sri Sri Hari Lilamrita ( in Bengali ) Faridpur, 1323BS]
- [Adal Badal (Bengali Monthly) June–July,1995 No IV and V ]