The hagiography of Chandal Harichand, Bengal's Matua faith founder

What is it about?

The essay explores the making of the hagiography of Harichand Thakur, the founder of the Matua faith popular among a majority of the Namasudra, earlier named Chandals, of Bengal. The essay argues that the hagiography achieves two objectives. The first is the community's celebration of the life of the founder who fashioned a new dharma in opposition to Brahminical Hinduism, giving the Chandals a narrative that gives them access to dignity. But even as it does so, the hagiography is also a a document through which the community concretizes its desired self: becoming a narrative that writes out the hopes, anxieties and the fears of the larger collective who see the saint as ‘theirs’.

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Why is it important?

The Matua faith, begun by Harichand Biswas among the chamdals, one of the lowest caste-groups, earlier deemed untouchable, is a faith that has since spread among other depressed castes of Bengal like Kapali, Poundra, Malo and Muchi. Conscious of the strength of their numbers, the Matuas have entered mainstream politics - a new phenomenon in Bengal’s politics.