Satya Mahima Dharma (the "dharma of the divine glory") is a religious tradition from
Orissa
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...
. It goes back to a historic person called Mahima Svami (or Mahima Gosain).
He is said to have appeared in
Puri
Puri () is a coastal city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as '' ...
in 1826. Dissatisfied with the ritualised idol worship of Lord
Jagannath
Jagannath ( or, ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ, lit=Lord of the Universe, Jagannātha; formerly en, Juggernaut) is a deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India and Bangladesh as part of a triad along with his brother Balabhadra, and sister ...
, he left Puri and travelled to the Kapilas hills near
Dhenkanal, where he engaged himself in severe Yogic practices. In 1862, he became a ''
siddha
''Siddha'' (Sanskrit: '; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely in Indian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished." It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual ...
'' and started preaching a new ''
dharma''. He is said to have attained ''
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 ...
'' in 1876. Under his first disciple, Govinda Baba, and the dissident saint poet
Bhima Bhoi
Bhima Bhoi (1850–1895) was a 19th-century saint, poet and philosopher from the state of Odisha in India, most known for his songs on the philosophical aspects of ''Mahima Dharma''. Bhima Bhoi was a ''bhakta'' (Odia: devotee) of Mahima Gosain, ...
, the movement shifted away from the coastal region towards the central and western parts of Odisha. Spreading also to other states (
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 ...
,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
,
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...
,
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
), people from different regions and sociocultural backgrounds joined as followers. Since then, several monastic as well as lay currents and competing associations emerged and various regional centres (Joranda, Khaliapali) have been established. Mahima Dharma is a popular ascetic movement which considers the void, ''
shunya'', as the divine principle, opposing as such any idol worship. The void can only be venerated through fire, or its manifestation in the Sun, traits which link Mahima Dharma to the ''
nirguna
''Para Brahman'' ( sa, परब्रह्म, translit=parabrahma, translit-std=IAST) in Hindu philosophy is the "Supreme Brahman" that which is beyond all descriptions and conceptualisations. It is described as the formless (in the sense th ...
bhakti'' tradition.
See also
*
Mahima Dharma
*
Joranda Gadhi
References
{{reflist
* Banerjee-Dube, Ishita. 2001. ‘Issues of Faith, Enactment of Contest: The Founding of Mahima Dharma in Nineteenth-Century Orissa’. In Kulke, H. and Schnepel, B. (eds.). ''Jagannath Revisited'', New Delhi: Manohar, 149 – 177.
* Banerjee-Dube, Ishita and Johannes Beltz 2008 (eds.), ''Popular religion and ascetic practices. New studies on Mahima Dharma'', New Delhi: Manohar Publishers.
* Eschmann, Anncharlott 1978. ‘Mahima Dharma: An Autochthonous Hindu Reform Movement’. In Eschmann A., Kulke, H. & Tripathi, C.G. (eds). ''The Cult of Jagannath and the Regional Tradition of Orissa'', New Delhi: Manohar, 375 – 410.
* Guzy, Lidia 2002. ''Baba-s und Alekh-s – Askese und Ekstase einer Religion im Werden'', Berlin: Weissensee Verlag.
* An analysis of Satya Mahima Dharma, Bhakta Karunakar Sahoo, Sahidnagar, Bhubaneswar, 2012.
External links
Mahima Dharma
Hindu denominations
Vaishnava sects
Nirguna worship traditions
Monotheistic religions
Religion in Odisha
1862 establishments in India