Ramanandi Sampradaya

History

The Ramanandi Sampradaya originates from Rama, who initiated Sita with his six-letter mantra. Sita later initiated her beloved disciple Hanuman with the same mantra. According to Shanti Lala Nagar, Valmiki Samhita says:

The Supreme Being, Rama, always ready to protect his eternal servants and to assist those with meek hearts. This is well-known in the Vedas. He created this universe and, with the desire for the welfare of people, Rama imparted the transcendental mantra to Sita, the daughter of King Janaka than She revealed this to the glorious Hanuman, the repository of virtues. Hanuman then conveyed it to Brahma, who in turn passed it on to the sage Vasishtha. Thus, in this sequence, the divine mantra descended into this world.

It is claimed that this tradition has been established in all four Yugas, and that in Kaliyuga, Rama himself appeared as Ramanandacharya at Prayagraj.

Bhaktamal is a hagiographic work on Hindu saints and devotees written by Nabhadas in 1660, and was a core text for all Vaishnavas, including Ramanandis. Many localised commentaries of Bhaktamal were taught to young Vaishnavas across India. In the 19th century, the proliferation of the printing press in the Gangetic plains of North India allowed various commentaries of the text to be widely distributed. Of these, Jankidas Sri Vaishnav's edition of Bhaktamal, known as Bhaktamal Bhaskara, is considered to be the most authoritative, as he had used the oldest handwritten manuscripts in this edition.

It is said that the propagator of the Ramanadi tradition is Sita. She first imparted teachings to Hanuman, through which the revelation of this secret occurred in the world. Due to this, the name of this tradition is Sri Sampradaya, and its main mantra is referred to as the 'Ram Tarak Mantra'. The guru imparts the initiation of sacred Ram mantra into the disciple's ear. They apply an upward-pointing tilak (urdhva pund) on the forehead. Complete devotion and immersion in devotional songs (bhajans) is the tradition's way of life. Most saints lead a life of renunciation (paramhansa) within this tradition. Farquhar credits Ramananda and his followers as the origin of the North Indian practice of using Ram to refer to the Absolute. Farquhar finds no evidence to show that Ramananda endeavoured to "overturn caste as a social institution". On the other hand, Sita Ram, author of the Vaishnava history of Ayodhya, and George Grierson, eminent linguist and Indologist, represent Ramananda as a saint who tried to transcend caste divisions of medieval India through the message of love and equality. The scholars also disagree on Ramananda's connection with Ramanuja. While Farquhar finds them completely unconnected, Sita Ram and Grierson finds Ramananda's connection with the Ramanuja tradition. But a historical debate held between Ramanuja and Ramanand tradition in Ujjain Kumbh 1921, ended up the issue of both the traditions being one; Ramanuja Ramprapannadas from Ramanuj tradition got defeated from Bhagvaddas of Ramanandi tradition.

The Ramanandi Sampradaya as a sect unto itself only gained prominence at the close of the 17th century, though Rama bhaktas existed as members of Vaishnava traditions like the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya long beforehand. The Sampradaya's rise may have been a gradual process, preceded by various earlier paramparas, such as the Rasika schools. While they had a presence across Northern India, the Ramanandi Sampradaya found particularly strong support in Rajasthan, which became the sect's primary region during this time. The Galata monastery in particular was one of the most important early centers of Rama bhakti. About 100 kilometers northwest of Galata, the Raivasa gaddi in Shekhavati, one of the first Ramaite communities, is said to have been founded by Agradasa.

The period spanning the late 17th century and early 18th century was marked by increased religious intolerance and economic turmoil, coinciding with the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb. The state of affairs would further decline with the death of Aurangzeb and the beginning of a civil war between his sons, throwing the Mughal Empire into turmoil. In this atmosphere, the various Hindu ascetic sects began to take up arms to defend their holy sites and the revenues from pilgrims' fees and donations that could be gained from them. Tensions between various religious sects, which had already been growing since even before Aurangzeb's reign, worsened significantly due to the general state of anarchy. These groups would soon come into armed conflict with each other over control of pilgrimage routes and pilgrimage centers. In the early 18th century, on the day of Ramanavami, Gosains of the Dasnami sect of Sannyasis encircled and captured the city of Ayodhya from the Ramanandi vairagis. Violence like this was not unique to just pilgrimage sites, and also occurred at fairs and on Kumbh Mela. The terror evoked by the attacks on Vaishnavas across India created a fear among Vaishnavites of the time that the Vaishnava religion might disappear. The losses against the Shaiva Dasnamis and Gosains led to Balananda, the then Ramanandi acharya of Jaipur, and Vrindavanadeva, an acharya of the Nimbarka Sampradaya, to jointly convene Vaishnavas of all four Sampradayas together at Galata under the auspices of Raja Jai Singh to organize themselves into military orders called akhara.

At the conference at Galata, Balananda was entrusted with the organization of military sections of the participating Vaishnava sects. For his role in protecting the Ramanandi Sampradaya, Balananda became revered in the sect as an incarnation of Hanuman. Burghart notes that "at the Galata conference the Ramanandis displaced the Sri sect and were recognized as the original members of the catuh sampradaya together with the sects founded by Nimbarka, Madhvacharya, and Visnusvami". In this way, the Galata conference served as a turning point for the Ramanandi Sampradaya. The first akhara belonging to the Ramanandi branch to be established in Ayodhya was founded at Ramghat by Govindadasa shortly after the conference. The Vaishnavas for a time after this were able to defeat the Dashnami Gosains in various conflicts as a result of the formation of these new Vaishnavite akharas. The conflict between the Shaivite Gosains and the Vaishnavite Bairagis was by no means concluded, however, and bloodshed at the hands of both groups would continue for the rest of the century, especially during Kumbh Mela.

Up to the nineteenth century, many of the trade routes in northern India were guarded by groups of warrior-ascetics, including the Nāgā sections of the Rāmānandīs, who were feared because of their strength and fearlessness. The British took steps to disarm these militant groups of ascetics, but even today the sects still retain their heroic traditions.

The Ramanandi Sampradaya is considered one of the largest and most egalitarian Hindu sects in India, around the Gangetic Plain, and Nepal.