PM Modi’s Visit to Varanasi’s ‘Mini Punjab’ Today to Add to Sant Ravidas Jayanti Grandeur

Sir Gobardhanpur, locally referred to as Seer Goverdhanpur, is a small town on the outskirts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi and the birthplace of 15th Century poet-Saint Guru Ravidas.

As the town — popularly known as ‘Mini Punjab’ — gears up for grand celebrations to mark Ravidas Jayanti this year on February 24, they will have a special guest in PM Modi who is set to visit the Saint Ravidas Temple — a pilgrim site for Dalits, Ravidasia Sikhs and other sects.

On a two-day visit to Kashi, PM Modi will unveil the statue of Saint Ravidas on Friday. He had laid the foundation for the statue way back in 2019. He will pay tributes to the saint and have a community feast with the devotees.

PM Modi’s visit, just ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is his third visit to the temple since occupying the chair. Before this, he had visited Seer Goverdhanpur for the first time in 2016, just ahead of state assembly polls and had a word with the devotees. The he paid a visit ahead of the 2019 polls. UP’s political analysts called PM Modi’s visit an attempt to woo the vote bank spread across Punjab, Haryana and other states.

‘Mini Punjab’

People say though Ravidas Jayanti celebrations are common in many districts and states, Kashi, being the birthplace of the 15th Century saint, holds a distinct position.

“On the occasion, millions of devotees not only from India but also from abroad pay a visit to this temple where Guru Ravidas — known for the Bhakti movement and honoured with the title of ‘Sant Shiromani’ — was born. This place is also a pilgrim site for Ravidasia Sikhs and Dalits. Some researchers have described this temple as having the same importance for Dalits as Mecca holds for Muslims and Golden Temple for Sikhs,” said professor Rajeev Srivastava, a city-based historian in Varanasi.

An architectural marvel

Srivastava said Saint Ravidas temple is an architectural marvel. “Apart from the main dome, there are around 30 big and small domes at the temple which are studded with gold. Inside, there is a palace of penance of Saint Ravidas where a ‘Sitar’, one of the belongings of Saint Ravidas, has been kept in one corner of the room. The foundation of this temple was laid on June 14, 1965, and Swami Garib Das was entrusted with the responsibility of building it. The idol of Saint Ravidas was installed in the Sant Sammelan organised in this temple on February 22, 1974.”

Celebrations start a week in advance

Ravidas Jayanti celebrations start almost a week before the main festive day with the arrival of pilgrims from Punjab in special trains, including a group led by the trust’s chairman Sant Niranjandas. The Varanasi district administration ensures that all arrangements are done at the pilgrim site, which also holds a grand fair on the occasion.

Political significance

The fair is also politically significant as several VVIPs and political party chiefs visit it in an attempt to expand their vote base.

Other than PM Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and others have visited the site. Political analysts said Ravidassias are a Dalit community, the bulk of whom — nearly 12 lakh — live in Punjab’s Doaba region comprising Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, and Nawanshahr and play a vital role in Punjab politics.

Ever since the Yogi government came to power in UP, many projects for the development of the birthplace of Saint Ravidas were launched. These include the Sant Ravidas birthplace development project, including the construction of langar hall (community hall) and toilet block of Rs 5.35 crore near the Ravidas temple.