Matua Mahasangha

Religious movement in Indian subcontinent

Matua Mahasangha

The Thakurbari Temple of the Matua Mahasangha

Total population
c. 50 millions
Founder
Harichand Thakur
Religions
Hinduism
Languages
Sacred
Bengali and Sanskrit
Holy Book
Harililamrito
Majority
Bengali
Related ethnic groups
Namasudras

The Matua Mahasangha (Bengali: মতুয়া মহাসংঘ[1]) is a Hindu reform movement that originated around 1860 AD in modern-day Bangladesh. Today, it has a considerable number of adherents both in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India.

The Matua movement originated among the Namasudras, an avarna (outcaste) community of Bengali Hindus, founded by the followers of Harichand Thakur. The teachings of Harichand, also known as Matuaism, 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 in Swayam-Dikshiti ("Self-Realisation") through harinaam, the chanting of the holy name of Hari (God). Harichand stressed the congressional chanting of God's name as the sole means to mukti (liberation). In Bengali, this is known as hariname matoara, giving rise to the name "Matua".

## History

[edit]

Harichand Thakur was born to a peasant family belonging to the Namasudra community. According to historian Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, Thakur "experienced atma 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] Reforming Vaishnava 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 an ashram in the Labanchora neighborhood of Khulna, Bangladesh.[7] After the partition of India in 1947, large numbers of Matua migrants settled in West Bengal, India,[8] Pramatha Ranjan Thakur among them. He founded the town of Thakurnagar, which became the new headquarters of the Matua Mahasangha.[9]

## Notes and references

[edit]

### Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "In Bengal, battle for Matua vote heats up". Hindustan Times. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
2. ^ Mukherjee, Sipra (3 April 2018). "In Opposition and Allegiance to Hinduism: Exploring the Bengali Matua Hagiography of Harichand Thakur". South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. 41 (2): 435–451. doi:10.1080/00856401.2018.1445400. ISSN 0085-6401.
3. ^ Bandyopadhyay 1995, p. 163
4. ^ Lorea 2020, p. 2
5. ^ Bandyopadhyay 1990, p. 2563
6. ^ Walker 1999, p. 566
7. ^ Bandyopadhyay 1995, pp. 183–184
8. ^ Mukherjee 2020, p. 71
9. ^ Lorea 2020, pp. 11–12

### References

[edit]

* Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (17 November 1990). "Community Formation and Communal Conflict-Namasudra-Muslim Riot in Jessore-Khulna". Economic & Political Weekly. 25 (46): 2563–2568. JSTOR 4396995.
* Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar (1995). "The Matua Sect and the Namasudras". In Ray, Rajat Kanta (ed.). Mind Body and Society: Life and Mentality in Colonial Bengal. Oxford University Press. ISBN 019-563757-7.
* Lorea, Carola Erika (28 February 2020). "Religion, Caste, and Displacement: The Matua Community". In Ludden, David (ed.). Oxford Research Encyclopedias: Asian History. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277727.013.428. ISBN 978-0-19-027772-7.
* Mandal, Mahitosh (2022). "Dalit Resistance during the Bengal Renaissance: Five Anti-Caste Thinkers from Colonial Bengal, India". Caste: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion. 3 (1): 11–30.
* Mukherjee, Aditi (2020). "Re-thinking protracted displacements: insights from a namasudra refugee camp-site in suburban Calcutta". Contemporary South Asia. 28 (1): 58–73. doi:10.1080/09584935.2019.1666089.
* Walker, Dennis (Winter 1999). "Matua Untouchable Writers In West Bengal: Between Islam And India's Changing Upper Caste-Led System". Islamic Studies. 38 (4): 563–602. JSTOR 20837062.

## External links

[edit]

* Matua at Banglapedia

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Hindu reform movements

Reform movements|

* Adi Dharm/Brahmoism
* Brahmo Samaj
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* International Vedanta
* ISKCON
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* Kriya Yoga
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* Matua Mahasangha
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Topics|

* Bhakti
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Gurus and
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Bengali Hindus

Society|

| Groups|

* Babu
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|

Castes|

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Sects|

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Orders|

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Folk dance|

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Others|

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State of West Bengal

Capital: Kolkata

State symbols|

* Emblem: Emblem of West Bengal
* Anthem: Banglar Mati Banglar Jol
* Animal: Fishing cat
* Bird: White-throated kingfisher
* Flower: Night-flowering jasmine (Shiuli)
* Tree: Devil's tree (Saptaparni)
* Fish: Ilish

History|

* Gauda Kingdom
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* Anushilan Samiti
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* Bengal famine of 1943
* Direct Action Day
* Noakhali riots
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* Bengali Language Movement (Manbhum)
* Bangladesh Liberation War
* Naxalite–Maoist insurgency

Geography|

* Bengal Basin
* Darjeeling Himalayan hill region
* Terai
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* Dooars
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* Sundarbans
* Western plateau and high lands
* Ganges Delta
* Climate
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Rights groups|

* Matua Mahasangha
* Bangla Pokkho

Divisions and
districts|

| Burdwan division|

* Birbhum
* Hooghly
* Paschim Bardhaman
* Purba Bardhaman

|

Jalpaiguri division|

* Alipurduar
* Cooch Behar
* Darjeeling
* Jalpaiguri
* Kalimpong

Malda division|

* Berhampore (declared)
* Dakshin Dinajpur
* Jangipur (declared)
* Malda
* Murshidabad
* Uttar Dinajpur

Medinipur division|

* Bankura
* Bishnupur (declared)
* Jhargram
* Paschim Medinipur
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* Purulia

Presidency division|

* Basirhat (declared)
* Howrah
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* Kolkata
* Nadia
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* Ranaghat (declared)
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* Sundarbans (declared)

Cities and
towns|

* Alipore
* Asansol
* Berhampore
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* Barasat
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* Hugli-Chuchura
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* Darjeeling
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* List of cities in West Bengal by population
* Cities and towns by district

Culture|

* Bengal Renaissance
* Bengali calendars
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* Arts of West Bengal
* Baul
* Bhadu
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* Chhau dance
* Cuisine
* Rabindra Sangeet
* Rabindra Nritya Natya
* Holi
* Dol Purnima
* Prostitution in Kolkata
* Pohela Boishakh
* Durga Puja
* Bhai Dooj
* Raksha Bandhan
* Ratha Yatra
* Architecture of Bengal
* Bengal temples
* Bengali language
* Bengali literature
* Feluda
* Lalmohan Ganguly
* Professor Shonku
* Tarini Khuro
* Kakababu
* Kiriti Roy
* Pather Panchali (novel)
* Bengali cinema
* Jatra
* Ghosts in Bengali culture

GI products|

* Baluchari sari
* Banglar Rosogolla
* Banglar Muslin
* Bankura horse
* Bengal Patachitra
* Chhau mask
* Darjeeling tea
* Dhaniakhali Sari
* Dhokra
* Fazli (mango)
* Garad Saree
* Gobindobhog
* Himsagar
* Jaynagarer Moa
* Madurkathi
* Manasa chali
* Mihidana
* Nakshi kantha
* Santiniketan Leather Goods
* Shantipuri sari
* Sitabhog
* Sundarban Honey
* Tangail Saree
* Tulaipanji

Demographics|

* Bengali people
* Bihari people
* Economy of West Bengal
* Gurkha
* Adivasi
* Rajbanshi
* Anglo-Indian people
* Ethnic communities in Kolkata
* List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate
* Discrimination against Bengalis in India

People|

* Rabindranath Tagore
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* Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
* Rani Rashmoni
* Ramakrishna
* Swami Vivekananda
* Sarada Devi
* Dwarkanath Tagore
* Sukumar Ray
* Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury
* Michael Madhusudan Dutt
* Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
* Sister Nivedita
* Mother Teresa
* Amartya Sen
* Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay
* Nihar Ranjan Gupta

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