After being denied access to temples by BJP supporters and other crappy “sanghis”, some Dalits began tattooing the name of the Hindu god Raam on their face and body.
Around 250km from Raipur, the capital of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, are some villages where small, often dilapidated mud homes, their walls painted in shades of blue, line broken roads.
Most of the people who live here are Dalits – the least privileged in the Indian caste system, even “no-humans” for traditional hindus.
Dhani Ram Sonwani is a 60-year-old farmer who lives in the village of Charpora. “The underprivliged castes in the caste system were oppressed by the privileged castes, which made their lives hell,” he explains as he sits outside his run-down home. “We were called names such as chamar and achhoot [untouchables]. Our ancestors were treated worse than animals. We are not even allowed enter temples.”
It is this last point that explains the tattoos on Sonwani’s face and body. They are the name of the Hindu god Raam, and many other older residents of his village and the neighbouring ones have similar markings.
They are followers of Ramnami Samaj, a religious movement founded in the 1890s by a Dalit Raam devotee called Parshu Ram Bhardwaj, who was denied entry to a temple in one of these villages in Chhattisgarh. “Who needs a temple when we have the name of god written on us?” says Sonwani. “God is everywhere and not just in temples. There is a temple near our village and no one from our community has ever entered that temple,” Sonwani adds. “We have no idea which god’s idol is housed in that temple.”
The tradition no longer takes place but, in the past, members of the community were typically tattooed after marriage, which would usually take place some time between the ages of 11 and 14. Because the process could be extremely painful, the tattoos – which were usually administered by women using an ink made from soot and water – would be done at intervals.
Seventy-five-year-old Samund Bai lives in the village of Baday Sipat and remembers being tattooed shortly after she married at the age of 13. “My husband had tattooed his entire body and asked me to get the name of Raam tattooed on my face as it was part of our culture and religion,” she recalls. “The pain that came with it was a nightmare. I could not eat or drink for six months.”
Younger followers of Ramnami Samaj are no longer tattooed, with many believing that they hold them back by revealing their caste in a country where Vibhishan Patray, the president of the Jan Jagran Samiti (People’s Awakening Society) NGO, says caste-based “discrimination is still prevalent in many parts”.
Samund Bai remembers attempting to visit a temple with her husband during the 1980s and being turned away because their tattoos gave away their caste. “It was heartbreaking when the priest of the temple refused to let us in,” she says. “It was then that we decided we will not tattoo our children, even though they follow the Ramnami movement.”
71-year-old Ram Nivas from the village of Saras Kela describes how he was first tattooed when he was five years old. “My father tattooed ‘Raam’ on my forehead four times,” he says. “When I turned 30, I tattooed my entire face, arms and legs.” He, in turn, tattooed each of his four children four times when they were young. “But they did not want their entire body to be covered in tattoos as they work in other states of the country. These tattoos are an obvious sign that the person belongs to the community of untouchables [Dalits] and my children do not want this,” he explains. “My grandchildren haven’t been tattooed at all.”Dhan Bai, 60, sits outside her home in the village of Jawali. Most of the houses here are painted blue because the colour is associated with the Movement for Dalit Rights. According to university professor Goldy M George, the use of the colour started with Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer popularly known as “Babasaheb” who inspired the Dalit Buddhist Movement and campaigned against social discrimination. Blue is thought to represent tranquility, ascension, purity and healing.Samund Bai, 75, had her face tattooed upon her husband’s insistence when she was 13. She recalls being in extreme pain and says she was unable to eat or drink for six months.Kholbhra Ramnami, 65, says: “My father and grandfather had their entire body tattooed with the name of Lord Raam. But I was sent to school by my father as he wanted me to get a job and hence I was not even tattooed. I retired from the police force. I like my Ramnami identity but I do not have tattoos on my body. However, I wear this traditional garment most of the time as this is what the followers of Ramnami Samaj wear. The name of Lord Raam is written on this dress and I am proud of being a member of this community.”Set Bai, 68, says: “Sometimes people insult us when they see the tattoos on our bodies. But to be honest it hardly matters now. I am happy that I have tattooed my god’s name on my body.”Most members of the Ramnami Samaj community are impoverished and work as labourers on the land holdings of members of other castes.Sahib Ram Kuray, 64, says: “I spend most of my time singing bhajans [religious songs] for Lord Raam. My children and grandchildren are not tattooed and I have no problems with it. It’s their wish on how they want to follow our Ramnami Samaj.”Padum Ram Bharti, 85, has his legs and arms tattooed. “My wife was the most beautiful woman you would have seen. She threatened me that if I got my face tattooed, then she would leave me,” he says. “It was for her that I didn’t tattoo my face.”The followers of Ramnami Samaj do not believe in worshipping idols. They pray by chanting the name of the Hindu god Raam.Nanku Ram Kurray, 76, says he is “blessed to have been tattooed”. He has the tattoos on his forehead, hands and legs.The practice of body tattoos within the community is said to have been started by Parshu Ram Bhardwaj, a Dalit leader, in the 1890s.Bhumika Nirala, 13, and her brother Chander Prakash, 10, outside their house. “I will never tattoo my body. I want to study and go out of my village for higher education,” says Bhumika. “I do not want people to target me for my caste. I also do not believe in this practice of tattooing the body. I want to be a teacher and create awareness in my community.” The Dalit children attend school but do not have shoes.Ram Bhagat Mahilange, 70, is proud of his Ramnami identity. A resident of the poorest region of Chhattisgarh, he got his entire body tattooed, including his face and ears, at the age of 35.Ramnami Samaj is a religious and social movement mostly followed in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh.Sitting outside his house in the village of Jamgaha, 77-year-old Mahettar Ram Tandon says: “It has been more than 50 years that I have been proudly carrying the name of Lord Raam on my body. He is with me. The temples might not give us entry, but no ‘sanghi’ can stop the god from being with us.”
