Top Pictures: faith

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Varanasi is one of the holiest places of Hindu pilgrimage. The place is believed to rest on the trident of the god Shiva. On special religious occasions people flock to the place to take a dip in the Ganga and to worship Lord Vishwanath, the deity of the place.

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"Matua" is a religious movement in Bengal, in the same spirit of the "Bhakti" movement of Sri Chaitanya. It strives to address the issue of out-castes within the realm of Hinduism and preaches not to discriminate among people on racial ground. Thakur Harichand (1811 - 1877) was the founder of the "Matua" sect, who is considered as an incarnation of Vishnu by his followers. The movement soon became popular among the people from lower strata of the society and it is now one of the important facets of Dalit movement in India. The sect has a huge base of Dalit devotees all throughout India at present. This has made the sect quite attractive to the political parties aiming to bank on the huge base of Dalit voters to wrest power.

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Faith

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The Father Loves the Son

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"Pir Gorachand Er Mela" is the biggest mela celebration at Harua, a village in North 24 Parganas. The three days long celebration commemorates death anniversary of a Muslim saint "Pir Gorachand" and it starts on 11th day of the month Falgun of Bengali calendar. People from both Hindu and Muslim communities participate in this mela and pay homage to the saint. However, according to the historians "Pir Gorachand" is more a mythical character, as no historical evidence can be found about his activities in the region. The stories that run in his name speak about the conflicts and struggles that Islam has to endure during its initial period in India and how people at lower rung of the society embraced Islam to escape torturous hands of upper class rulers.

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