Matua Maha Mela 2023: Date, Time, Address, All You Know to Know About Shri Shri Harichand Thakur Ji
Matua Maha Mela 2023: The Matua Dharma Maha Mela 2023 will begin in West Bengal on Sunday. And in response to a tweet from Union Minister Shri Shantanu Thakur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to attend this spiritual celebration. He wrote, “The MatuaMahaMela2023 is an important event which showcases the vibrant culture of the Matua community. I would urge more people to visit Mela. Humanity will forever be indebted to Shri Shri Harichand Thakur Ji for showing the path of kindness and service.”
The #MatuaMahaMela2023 is an important event which showcases the vibrant culture of the Matua community. I would urge more people to visit the Mela. Humanity will forever be indebted to Shri Shri Harichand Thakur Ji for showing the path of kindness and service. https://t.co/srKlvFcGvR
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 17, 2023
What is Matua Dharma Maha Mela?
A significant occasion, the Matua Maha Mela 2023 highlights the vibrant culture of the Matua community. The Matua Community, a subset of lower-class AVARNA Hindus who belong to the Namasudra Scheduled Caste group and are also referred to as "Chandalas," celebrates this holiday. And the Matua Dharma Maha Mela is an opportunity to celebrate the Matua traditions and way of life, which were established by Shree Shree Harichand Thakur and further developed by Guruchand Thakur and Boro Ma.
Matua Dharma Maha Mela 2023: Date, Time & Address
Every year, the All India Matua Mahasangha hosts the Matua Dharma Mela. It will take place from March 19 to 25 this year. The seven-day event will be held in Shreedham Thakurnagar, Thakurbari, West Bengal. In the Indian state of West Bengal, Thakurnagar is located close to the Bangladeshi border.
| A significant number of people in West Bengal, India, as well as Bangladesh are members of the Matua Mahasangha, a religious reformation movement that began in modern-day Bangladesh around 1860 AD. The followers of Harichand Thakur started the movement as a reformation. The chanting of Harinaam, or the Holy Name of God Hari, is a key component of Matua Mahasangha's belief in Swayam-Dikshiti (also known as "Self-Realization"). |
Who is Harishchandra Thakur?
The Matua sect was founded by the Hindu votary Thakur, Harichand (1811–1877). He began a social and religious movement in 1860 in Orakandi, which is now in Bangladesh, and this movement eventually led to the creation of the Matua.
This sect opposed caste oppression and later drew members from other communities, including Malis and Telis, that was ostracised by the upper castes. The Thakur's devotees regard him as God and refer to him as Thakur, a Vishnu or Krishna avatar. As a result, he earned the name Sri Sri Harichand Thakur. He had two sons with "Jagat Mata" Shanta Mata, his wife. Later, around 1878, he passed away in Bangladesh's Faridpur district.
Who was Harichand Thakur and the importance of the Matua community?
In the years leading up to independence, he dedicated his entire life to the cause of helping the oppressed, disadvantaged, and downtrodden people of undivided Bengal. His sermons emphasized Truth, Love, and Sanity as the three fundamental guidelines for obtaining salvation. His philosophy holds that all traditional rituals aside from devotion to God, belief in humanity, and love for all living things are meaningless diversionary practices from the true pursuit of God.
The popular 12 instructions he gave to his followers are:
- Be truthful at all times.
- Give the woman the respect she deserves and treat her as your mother.
- Always show your parents respect.
- Love, compassion, and kindness are how you should treat your neighbors and all other living things on Earth.
- Never make racial distinctions.
- Get control of all six of your mental passions, Lust, Anger, Greed, Infatuation, Pride, and Jealousy.
- Keep an open mind to all other religions and philosophies.
- Be honest in your thoughts and actions, and refrain from dressing in saintly garb to enhance your appearance.
- Execute your duties with devotion, utter the holy Haribol, and pray to God all at once.
- Build a Shree Hariparameshwar temple in your home and in your heart and soul.
- Offer God your daily prayers in fervent sanctity.
- Give yourself to God's cause.
Check other important National and International Days and Dates in March 2023
After his death, one of his sons, Guruchand Thakur, who was also a Chandala or Avarna, launched a campaign to reclassify the Chandala as Namasudra.
Prime Minister on multiple occasion have recalled his happiness to be able to visit Bangladesh's Orakandi Thakurbari in March 2021, as well as in February 2019 and yesteryear. He stresses the importance of bowing to the Matua tradition, the roots of which were laid by Shree Shree Harichand Thakur ji and further developed by Guruchand Thakur ji and Boro Ma, during the Matua Dharma Maha Mela. And in order to continue his legacy, one should adhere to nonviolent principles and give selflessly to the country.
