Ramdwara (Devanagari रामद्वारा) means "the doorway to the ''Ram''" (i.e., to the name of God). It is a place of worship for the people who believe in Ramsnehi Sampradaya, which advocates chanting of "Ram" (राम).Page 324, Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Ahmedabad Government Central Press 1879 https://archive.org/stream/gazetteerbombay18enthgoog#page/n346/mode/2up Ramsnehi means "People who love God". Their way of worshipping God is simple. People of all faiths, castes, sections etc. visit at the Ramdwaras.Page 24, Spiritual heritage of Rajasthan, Dinesh Chandra Shukla, Books Treasure, 1992 https://books.google.com/books?id=FhscAAAAIAAJ&q=Ramdwara+Shahpura&dq=Ramdwara+Shahpura&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DOUQUsGMH8TqrQfZmYCACQ&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBQPreface, Lakshya Ram Ji Maharaj, "Ram Rahasya Darshan" https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3bUXrI1MZN1ZjI0WHhnX2s4T3M/edit?usp=sharing This concept of ''Ram'' or ''Rama'' is distinct from the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

deity

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

Origin of Ramsnehi

Ramsnehi Sampradaya is a spiritual and religious tradition originating in 1817

Vikram Samwat Vikram Samvat ( IAST: ''Vikrama Samvat''; abbreviated VS) or Bikram Sambat B.S. and also known as the Vikrami calendar, is a Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent. Vikram Samvat is generally 57 years ahead of Gregorian Calen ...

in Bhilwara city of Rajasthan by the disciple of Swami Shri Ram Charan Maharaj who provided the spiritual and philosophical basis for the sect. In present time, ''Ramsnehi Sampradaya'' has four major monasteries. All are in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

, India. They are in the following cities: *Shahpura, Rajasthan * Banwara, Rajasthan *Sodha, Rajasthan *Bhilwara, Rajasthan People at Ramdwara Chhatribagh, Indore

Smaller Ramdwara centres are located at various places in states of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. Swami Ji Shree Ram Charan Ji Maharaj came to Shahpura from Bhilwara and did

Tapasya Tapas (Sanskrit: तपस्) is a variety of austere spiritual meditation practices in Indian religions. In Jainism, it means asceticism (austerities, body mortification); in Buddhism, it denotes spiritual practices including meditation and se ...

(deep meditation). At the place where Swami Ram Charan Ji Maharaj's body was cremated, a giant Ramdwara has been built. This is now the chief Ramdwara of ''Ramsnehi Sampradaya''. This Ramdwara is also called Ram Niwas Dhaam or Ram Niwas Baikunth Dhaam.

Construction

The Shahpura Ramdwara was sponsored by the then King of Shahpura, Maharaja Amar Singh, and his brother Chattra Singh. It was built by constructors named Jarror Khan and Kushal Khan. This is also a great example of the brotherhood of

s and

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

in India. All the marble stones used in construction were sourced from a place near the north border of nearby village named ''Kanti''. There is a speciality in all used marble stones that each marble stone has a picture and stone mark on it as of Hindi (Devnagari) alphabets of the construction of word "Ram" (Lord Ram), bow, saint, India's map, sword, lion, monkey and other natural pictures. The main (and base) structure of Shahpura Ramdwara is an octagon shaped shiny marble pillar which is about 12 feet long. This pillar is situated at the cremation place of Ram Charan Maharaj. This pillar is called the

Samadhi ''Samadhi'' (Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yoga ...

Stambh. The floor above the pillar is called Baradari (a kind of summer house with several open marble gates ). A rectangular stone is placed in the center of Baradari which is just over the main pillar. The Baradari has 108 small pillars which make 84 open gates. The construction was done in different phases.

Monks of Ramdwara

The

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s of ''RamSnehi Sampradaya'' are identical by their dressing code. They wear a robe coloured a very light pink. After taking oaths, monks can not return to their family and must treat the whole world equally and fairly, without any prejudices. They are supposed to follow all the defined rules strictly.

Way of worship and belief

Ramsnehis believe in the name of God (Ram राम) and do not believe in

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the A ...

. A Ramsnehi only follows the simple and easily defined rules. Ramsnehis just do Darshan of the chair of current

Acharya In Indian religions and society, an ''acharya'' (Sanskrit: आचार्य, IAST: ; Pali: ''ācariya'') is a preceptor and expert instructor in matters such as religion, or any other subject. An acharya is a highly learned person with a tit ...

and monks. They pay respects to all the previous (departed) acharyas and saints as well. Ramsnehis remember the name राम (Ram, a name of the Lord). Three main pillars of the ideology are: *Have the Name of God (राम) in your Heart *Have mercy for every living being *Be ready to serve any needy person

Spiritual succession (leaders) in Ramsnehi Sampradaya

The following are the Acharyas who successively led the Ramsnehi Sampradaya after Ram Charan:Page 29 (of pdf), Ramsnehi Bhaskar, March 2005 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3bUXrI1MZN1LVQ4R1RvYlQzQkU/edit?usp=sharing # Ram Jan #Dulhe Ram #Chatra Das #Narain Das #Hari Das #Himmat Ram #Dilshudh Ram #Dharam Das #Daya Ram #Jagram Das #Nirbhay Ram #Darshan Ram # Ram Kishor # Ram Dayal (present) Ram Dayal is the present Acharya.

Gallery

file:frontbaradari.JPG, Baradari Picture From Front file:ramdwara2.JPG, Another View of Ramdwara file:doorwaytoSS.jpg, Door Way to ''Samadhi Stambh'' file:SamadhiStambh.JPG, ''Samadhi Stambh''

References

{{reflist

Sources

*Sant LakshyaRam (

2015 ). Preface of ''Ram Rahasya Darshan'', Ram Niwas Dham Trust, Bhilwara ''Ram Rahasya Darshan'' is a small compilation of Swami Ram Charan Ji's works, prepared by the late Sant Shree LakshyaRamJi. *Capt. G. E. Westmacott, ''Some account of a sect of Hindu Schismatics in Western India, calling themselves Ramsanehis or friends of God'', Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, February, 1835 (pages 65–82

*http://vijayvargia.com/maharaj.pdf *Svāmī Rāmacaraṇa, jīvanī evaṃ kr̥tiyoṃ kā adhyayana, Mādhavaprasāda Pāṇḍeya, Hindī Sāhitya Sammelana, 1982 - On the life and works of Swami RamCharan, 1719-1798, founder of the Ram Snehi sect in Vaishnavism. A few prayers of Ramsnehis: *http://vijayvargia.com/aartishrimaharajji.pdf *Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Volume 9, Part 1, Government Central Press 1901 *Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Ahmedabad, Government Central Press 1879 Anti-caste movements Bhakti movement Hindu denominations Hindu monasteries in India Hindu new religious movements Hindu religious orders Nirguna worship traditions Tourist attractions in Bhilwara district Vaishnava sects 1817 establishments in British India