 The Thakurbari Temple of the Matua Mahasangha | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 100 millions | |
| Founder | |
| Harichand Thakur | |
| Religions | |
| Hinduism | |
| Languages | |
| Sacred Bengali andSanskrit Holy Book Adi-Rigveda Majority Bengali | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Namasudras |
TheMatuaism (Bengali:মতুয়া মহাসংঘ[1]) is aHindu reform movement that originated around 1860 AD in modern-dayBangladesh. Today, it has a considerable number of adherents both in Bangladesh and inWest Bengal, India.
The Matua movement originated among theNamasudras, anavarna (outcaste) community ofBengali Hindus, founded by the followers ofHarichand Thakur. The teachings of Harichand, also known asMatuaism, emphasise the importance of education for the upliftment of the population, while also providing a formula for ending social conflict.[2]
Members of the Matua Mahasangha believe inSwayam-Dikshiti ("Self-Realisation") throughharinaam, the chanting of the holy name ofHari (God). Harichand stressed the congressional chanting of God's name as the sole means tomukti (liberation). In Bengali, this is known ashariname matoara, giving rise to the name "Matua".
Harichand Thakur was born to a peasant family belonging to theNamasudra community. According to historianSekhar Bandyopadhyay, Thakur "experiencedatma darshan or self revelation, through which he realized that he was the incarnation of God himself, born in this world to bring salvation to the downtrodden".[3] ReformingVaishnava devotionalism, he established the Matua sect of Hinduism.[4] The sect was centered in Thakur's ancestral village, Orakandi,Faridpur,Bengal Presidency (now in Bangladesh).[5] Their most sacred shrines are located there.[6]
The Matua Mahasangha ("Matua Federation") was formed by adherents of Harichand's philosophy before 1915 to organize devotees. In the early 1930s,Pramatha Ranjan Thakur, great-grandson of Harichand Thakur, rejuvenated the organization. He started anashram in the Labanchora neighborhood ofKhulna, Bangladesh.[7] After thepartition of India in 1947, large numbers of Matua migrants settled inWest Bengal, India,[8] Pramatha Ranjan Thakur among them. He founded the town ofThakurnagar, which became the new headquarters of the Matua Mahasangha.[9]
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