Person · saint & tribal reformer · India
Rameshwar Gahira Guru
A Kanwar Painkra teacher, born in 1905 in the hill village of Gahira, who spent his life among the forest-dwelling communities of the Surguja country and founded ashrams and Sanskrit schools for them.
- Date
- 1905-1996
- Periods
- British Colonial Age, Republic and Living Practice
- Function
- Social reform & movement
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Worth knowing
He opened the Kailash Gufa ashram and its Sanskrit school in 1953, and a Korwa primary school in 1990. Sarguja University is now named after him. He died at Gahira on 21 November 1996.
Connections (3)
- Monastic foundationKailash Gufa, Deodand
Gahira Guru opened the ashram in these caves in 1953 and founded a Sanskrit school there the same year. The pairing was deliberate: the cave gave the authority of a retreat, the school gave the forest communities a claim on Sanskrit learning.
- Route adjacencyMadheshwar Pahar, Mayali
Both are centres of the Jashpur hill country where Gahira Guru worked: the natural shivling at Mayali draws the district's pilgrims, and his ashram at Deodand drew its students.
- AnalogueRajmohini Devi
Two reformers of the same hills and the same decades, both from forest-dwelling communities, both preaching against drink and sacrifice and for schooling. Neither came from outside the society they set out to change, which is what distinguishes them from the missions and the state.
Sources
Commissioner, Surguja Division (division-surguja.cg.gov.in), tourist-destination pages, 2026
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