Balmiki
Encyclopedia
Balmiki is Dalit communities in the India
n state of Rajasthan
, Uttar Pradesh
and Haryana
and also in Pakistan
and was historically restricted to three occupations: cleaning latrines, sweeping, and scavenging (which sometimes involves handling dead bodies). They prefer to be known as Bhangi. Pejoratively called "Toilet Cleaners", as it was their traditional profession, Bhangis had to carry human waste
away in bucket
s on their head
s. In the traditional Indian caste system, professions were passed on from parents to children, thus a child born in Bhangi family was forced into this profession mostly for economic reasons.
Efforts have been made to improve sanitation systems in India, including laws that ban the construction of dry toilets, and the manual removal of human waste. However Bhangis, who are numerous throughout India, continue to work in their traditional roles and they continue to face severe social barriers, discrimination
, and hate crimes. The Bhangi community includes a number of sub-division such as the Hela
.
was a Kirata
Bhil
Adivasi
. Valmikis believe that Valmiki
was the Avatar
of God, and they consider his works, the Ramayana
and the Yoga Vasistha
, as their holy scripture.
The poet-philosopher Appayya Dikshita also believed Valmiki was the incarnation of Lord Brahma
. A few scholars in the modern age believe that the text of the Ramayana may propose that Valmiki is an avatar of Lord Vishnu
.
Although the Bhangis traditionally have a lower status, there have been Bhangis that are recognized as Hindu saints. For example, Maharshi Naval Ram and his successors Daya Ram Maharaj (his son), Ram Baksh Maharaj and the present-day Badri Ram Maharaj are important Hindu figures. Saint Umaid Ram Maharaj and his successors Sukaram Maharaj, Deepa Ram Maharaj and the present-day Mangeshwar Ram Maharaj are important Hindu figures as well.
Sanjeev Khudshah is a Bhangi motivational speaker, writer & sociologist. He wrote a book about scavenger community from India named "SAFAI KAMGAR SAMUDAY" This book has been included in Washington University of America for study of scavenger community from India.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n state of Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
and Haryana
Haryana
Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...
and also in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and was historically restricted to three occupations: cleaning latrines, sweeping, and scavenging (which sometimes involves handling dead bodies). They prefer to be known as Bhangi. Pejoratively called "Toilet Cleaners", as it was their traditional profession, Bhangis had to carry human waste
Human waste
Human waste is a waste type usually used to refer to byproducts of digestion, such as feces and urine. Human waste is most often transported as sewage in waste water through sewerage systems...
away in bucket
Bucket
A bucket, also called a pail, is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone, with an open top and a flat bottom, usually attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the bail. A pail can have an open top or can have a lid....
s on their head
Head
In anatomy, the head of an animal is the rostral part that usually comprises the brain, eyes, ears, nose and mouth . Some very simple animals may not have a head, but many bilaterally symmetric forms do....
s. In the traditional Indian caste system, professions were passed on from parents to children, thus a child born in Bhangi family was forced into this profession mostly for economic reasons.
Efforts have been made to improve sanitation systems in India, including laws that ban the construction of dry toilets, and the manual removal of human waste. However Bhangis, who are numerous throughout India, continue to work in their traditional roles and they continue to face severe social barriers, discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
, and hate crimes. The Bhangi community includes a number of sub-division such as the Hela
Hela
Hela can stand for:* Hela, an ancient name for Sri Lanka* Hela , a name for the Sinhala people of Sri Lanka* Hela a Hindu caste found in North India* HeLa cells derived from Henrietta Lacks...
.
Balmiki sect founder Valmiki
ValmikiValmiki
Valmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e...
was a Kirata
Kirata
The Kirāta is a generic term in Sanskrit literature for people who lived in the mountains, particularly in the Himalayas and North-East India and who are postulated to have been Mongoloid in origin. It has been theorized that the word Kirata- or Kirati- means people with lion nature. It is derived...
Bhil
Bhil
Bhils are primarily an Adivasi people of Central India. Bhils are also settled in the Tharparkar District of Sindh, Pakistan. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages....
Adivasi
Adivasi
Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India...
. Valmikis believe that Valmiki
Valmiki
Valmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e...
was the Avatar
Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
of God, and they consider his works, the Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
and the Yoga Vasistha
Yoga Vasistha
Yoga Vasistha is a Hindu spiritual text traditionally attributed to Valmiki. It recounts a discourse of the sage Vasistha to a young Prince Rama, during a period when the latter is in a dejected state...
, as their holy scripture.
The poet-philosopher Appayya Dikshita also believed Valmiki was the incarnation of Lord Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
. A few scholars in the modern age believe that the text of the Ramayana may propose that Valmiki is an avatar of Lord Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
.
Relations to Christianity
Balmiki are devout Hindus but some Bhangis have converted to Christianity in an attempt to escape the social stigma.Achievements
Bhagwan Valmiki was known to be higher than all Brahmin god's during his time.Although the Bhangis traditionally have a lower status, there have been Bhangis that are recognized as Hindu saints. For example, Maharshi Naval Ram and his successors Daya Ram Maharaj (his son), Ram Baksh Maharaj and the present-day Badri Ram Maharaj are important Hindu figures. Saint Umaid Ram Maharaj and his successors Sukaram Maharaj, Deepa Ram Maharaj and the present-day Mangeshwar Ram Maharaj are important Hindu figures as well.
Sanjeev Khudshah is a Bhangi motivational speaker, writer & sociologist. He wrote a book about scavenger community from India named "SAFAI KAMGAR SAMUDAY" This book has been included in Washington University of America for study of scavenger community from India.
Notables
- Kamlesh BalmikiKamlesh BalmikiKamlesh Balmiki is a member of Lok Sabha, Lower House of the Parliament of India.He has been elected to 15th Lok Sabha in 2009 and he represents Bulandshahr, a parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh state-References:...
, MP from Bulandshahr (Lok Sabha constituency)Bulandshahr (Lok Sabha constituency)Bulandshahr Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh state in northern India.-Assembly segments:... - Om Prakash ValmikiOm Prakash ValmikiOm Prakash Valmiki is a Dalit writer and poet. His autobiography, Joothan, is a well known work in Dalit literature.-References:...
, writer - Yuvraj ValmikiYuvraj ValmikiYuvraj Valmiki is an Indian field hockey player from Maharashtra. He was the member of 2011 Asian Men's Hockey Champions Trophy winning Indian team.-Personal life:...
, Indian field hockeyField hockeyField Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
player - Mohammad Yousuf, Pakistani cricketer
External links
- Lesser Humans — Review of a documentary film on the Bhangis