Ravidassia Religion

The Ravidassia religion (i/rɑːvaɪdɑːssaɪɑː/) (or Ravidassia Dharam; Punjabi: ਰਬਿਦਾਸੀ ਧਰਮ, Hindi: रविदास्सिया धर्म, Urdu: راویدسسیہ دھرم‎) is a monotheistic religion based on the teachings of the 14th century Indian guru Ravidass, revered as a satguru and prophet by his followers. Ravidass, a Chamar by birth, taught monotheistic spirituality and a message of equality and emancipation from the Indian caste system.

Historically Ravidassia represented a range of beliefs in South Asia, with some devotees of Ravidass counting themselves as Ravidasia Sikhs, others as "Lower Caste Hindus", and others considering themselves a separate group from Hinduism and Sikhism. The Ravidassia community began to take on more cohesion following 1947, and the establishment of successful Ravidassia communities in the diaspora.

Ravidassias believe that Ravidas is a guru (saint) whereas the Sikhs consider him a bhagat (holy person) even though the Sikh Gurus included some of Ravidas's (as well as other Bhagats) teachings in the 11th Sikh guru 'Guru Granth Sahib Ji'.

Ravidassias believe that since Ravidas lived before the 1st Sikh Guru and his teachings were studied by the Sikh Gurus and influenced them, he is just as much a saint as them. This has caused conflict with hardline orthodox Sikhs which culminated in the 2009 murder of Ravidassia cleric Ramanand Dass by Sikh extremists in Vienna. This has led to a more decisive break from the orthodox Sikh structure. Initially the Ravidassia revered the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikhs, which was the only repository of Ravidass' devotional poetry. However, following their schism from mainstream Sikhs, the Ravidassi compiled their own holy book of Ravidass' teachings, the Amritbani Guru Ravidass Ji, and many Ravidassia temples now use this book in place of the Guru Granth Sahib.