Anurag Thakur Calls for Taking Sant Ravidas's Message of Samrasta to Every Home
Synopsis
BJP MP Anurag Thakur on 9 August 2026 called for spreading 15th-century Bhakti saint Ravidas's message of social harmony — samrasta — to every village and home in Himachal Pradesh, extending a pattern of BJP outreach through devotional idiom in the northern belt.
Key Takeaways
Anurag Thakur , BJP Lok Sabha MP from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh , posted the call on 9 August 2026 .
He urged carrying Sant Ravidas's philosophy of samrasta (social harmony) to every village and home in the state.
Sant Ravidas was a 15th–16th century Bhakti saint from Varanasi who preached equality and rejection of caste discrimination.
His compositions are enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib , giving him cross-community reverence across northern India.
Central ministries have organised Sant Ravidas Jayanti commemorations since at least 2014 to highlight his message of samrasta.
The call signals intent to move beyond ceremonial commemoration toward grassroots, panchayat-level cultural engagement in Himachal Pradesh.
The philosophy of a 15th-century Bhakti saint is being invoked at the grassroots — and BJP MP Anurag Thakur wants it to reach every village and every doorstep in Himachal Pradesh. On Sunday, 9 August 2026, the Hamirpur MP posted a call to action on X, urging that the thought and spirit of social harmony preached by Sant Ravidas be carried door to door across the state.
Thakur wrote: 'Sant Ravidas ji ki soch ko unke samrasta ke vichar ko hamein gaon-gaon ghar-ghar pahunchana hai' — 'We must carry Sant Ravidas ji's thinking, his idea of samrasta (social harmony), to every village and every home.'
Who Was Sant Ravidas — and Why His Message Still Travels
Sant Ravidas, born in Varanasi in the 15th–16th century, was one of the most influential voices of the Bhakti movement. He preached devotion to God as a path that transcended caste, challenged the hierarchies of his era, and left behind a body of verse that still finds its way into daily worship across northern India. His compositions are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scripture of Sikhism, cementing his reach well beyond any single community. The word samrasta — social harmony, a levelling of difference — is the distilled essence of what he stood for.BJP's Bhakti-Saint Outreach in the Northern Belt
Thakur's post fits into a sustained pattern of BJP leaders in northern states invoking medieval Bhakti saints to frame social-harmony messaging within a devotional idiom. Since at least 2014, central ministries have organised national-level commemorations of Sant Ravidas Jayanti to amplify his message of samrasta. The approach is deliberate: reaching communities that revere these saints through cultural and spiritual vocabulary rather than purely political framing. In Himachal Pradesh, where Thakur holds the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, rural communities and Sant Ravidas devotees form a significant part of the social fabric. The call to take the saint's message 'village to village, home to home' signals intent to translate commemoration into ground-level engagement — the kind that plays out in panchayat halls and community gatherings, not just state-capital events. Whether that translates into district or block-level cultural programmes ahead of the next Sant Ravidas Jayanti will be the real measure of the outreach.Point of View
Not just a commemorative gesture. How that intent is operationalised through state or district-level events will determine whether this remains rhetoric or becomes a visible ground campaign.
NationPress
9 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Anurag Thakur say about Sant Ravidas?
Anurag Thakur called for carrying Sant Ravidas's thinking and his message of samrasta — social harmony — to every village and home in Himachal Pradesh.
Who was Sant Ravidas and what did he teach?
Sant Ravidas was a 15th–16th century Bhakti movement saint from Varanasi who preached devotion to God as a path that transcended caste, championing social equality and rejecting caste discrimination. His compositions are included in the Guru Granth Sahib.
What does samrasta mean?
Samrasta is a Sanskrit-derived term meaning social harmony or the levelling of social differences. It is closely associated with Sant Ravidas's philosophy of equality and brotherhood.
Why do BJP leaders invoke Sant Ravidas?
BJP leaders in northern states routinely invoke medieval Bhakti saints like Ravidas to frame social-harmony and anti-caste messages within a devotional idiom, forming part of outreach to communities — particularly Dalit devotees — beyond traditional electoral mobilisation.
When is Sant Ravidas Jayanti celebrated?
Sant Ravidas Jayanti is observed on the full moon day of the Hindu month of Magh, typically falling in January or February. Central ministries have organised national-level commemorations since at least 2014.
