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Kabir Panth is the religious tradition based on the teachings of Kabir, an 15th century Indian mystical poet. Like various other movements, it attempts to bring Hindus and Muslims closer to each other and a member of any religion can become a Kabirpanti. It was modelled after the Sahaja Panth. The Kabir panth has served as a model for numerous other religious sects in India.
Followers of the Kabir Panth are called 'Kabir Panthi' and recognise Kabir as their Satguru. They are numerous in Uttar Pradesh, Mauritius, Trinidad, Guyana and also in Canada. The Kabir Panth Association in Trinidad operates two primary schools in the island and was one of the first early religious denominational schools to be founded in the region. Other groups have split off from the association forming their own branches of Kabir Panth namely the Kabir Chaura Mat and the Satya Kabir Nidhi.
Two main centers of Kabir panth are:
- Kabirchaura Math in Benares in Uttar Pradesh
- Dharam Das Math in Kawardha in Chhatisgarh. It has a branch at Damakheda. Dharam Das was a Kasaundhan Bania and a disciple of Kabir. The Mahantas of the Kawardha Math and its branches are his direct descendants.
Initiation into the Kabir panth is accomplished by the tying of a kanthi, or necklace of beads, around the neck of an initiate by the Mahant. The religious service in the Kabir panth is called a chauka. It involves marking a square with sides of five meters in length. The Mahant sits at one end and conducts bhajans.
It is difficult to estimate the actual number of Kabir panthis in India, since religious affiliations tend to overlap, but estimates of 9,600,000 are given.
The Bijak
The Sacred book of the Kabir panth religion is the Bijak, many passages from which are presented in the Guru Granth Sahib. The contents of the Bijak cannot be classified as Hindu, Muslim, or Sant Mat. In a blunt and uncompromising style the book exhorts its readers to shed their delusions, pretensions, and orthodoxies in favor of a direct experience of truth. It satirises hypocrisy, greed, and violence, especially among the religious. The Bījak includes three main sections called Ramainī, Shabda, and Sākhī, and a fourth section containing miscellaneous folksong forms. Most of the Kabir material has been popularized through the song form known as Shabda (or pada), and through the aphoristic two-line sākhī (or doha) that serves throughout north India as a vehicle for popular wisdom.
Other sacred texts include the Anuraag Saagar which is the story of creation as told to one of Kabir's foremost disciples, Dharamdas, and the Maan Sarowar, which is another collection of teachings of Kabir.
References
- Kabir - Chhatisgarh - Parishisht, (2003) ©IGNCA, last accessed Sept 3, 2007.
External links
- Website of the Kabir Chaura, home of the Panthis
- Mandir in the capitol of India, New Delhi
- website of the Kabirpanthi's in Holland and Surinam
- Information about Kabir Panth