The Ramanandi sect is also called RAMAVAT sect and SHRI sect. This Vaishnava denomination has played an important role in shaping the social and spiritual climate of the populous Ganges valley. The Ramanandi movement owes its popularity to the saint Ramananda

Ramananda

Ramananda , also referred to as Sant Ramanand or Swami Ramanand, was a Vaishnava sant. He is considered to be the reviver of the Ramanandi sect. Ramananda for the most part of his life lived in the holy city of Varanasi, and was a pioneer of the Bhakti movement, as well as a social reformer in...

 who lived in Varanasi in the 14th century, and influenced such popular Indian saints like Tulsidas

Tulsidas

Tulsidas , was a Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher renowned for his devotion for the god Rama...

 and Kabir

Kabir

Kabīr was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement...

 among others. Considered as a bifurcation of Sri Vaishnava faith who emphasizes worship of Rama

Rama

Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

. It is one of the largest and most egalitarian Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 sects around the Gangetic plains, and its ascetic wing constitutes the largest Vaishnava monastic order and may possibly be the largest monastic order in all of India.

Guru parampara (Lineage)

The Guru Parampara(the chronological order of the masters) of the Shri sect is as follows -

Lord Rama > Goddess Sita > Lord Hanuman > Lord Brahma > Vashisht > Parashar > Vyas > Shukdev >

After Shukdev the chain stopped for thousands of years when "Bodhayan" (believed to be of 1st or 2nd century) again got the scriptures and doctrines of the sect. From Bodhayan (300 BC-200BC) the chain is unbroken till now. From Bodhayan to Ramananda, the chain is as follows- Bodhayan > Saaran > Purushottam Acharya > Gangadhar acharya > Sadacharya > Rameshwar acharya > Dwaranand > Devananda > Shriyanand > Haryanand > Raghvanand > Ramananda.

Ramananda died in about 1470 and Ramananda’s twelve disciples founded sub-sects known as dvaras.

The Ramanand Sect centre

Although the members of the Ramavat sect worship Lord Rama, his birthplace of Ayodhya has never been a centre of the sect. Until Ramananda the Centre of the Ramavat sect was in Jagannath-Puri. Then during the time of Swami Ramananda Varanasi became the centre. But after the death of Swami Ramananda his main disciple Anantanand ji kept his seat at Mathura and it remained at Mathura until it was destroyed by Aurangzeb. From that time onwards the centre of the sect is Chitrakoot

Connection to Ramanuja

However, it has been argued that Ramananda was initiated in the Ramanuja Sect. This view is held by the Swaminarayan sampradaya (which follows the vishishtadvaita philosophy and vaishnavism) for example.

Currently, sanyasis styled Jagadguru Rāmānandācāryas lead the sect, of which Jagadguru Rambhadracharya is one.

Names

Ramanandi sect was previously known as Ramavat sect or Shri sect. But edge and following of the sect was diminished during the 12th and 13th centuries. Then it was strongly revived in the fourteenth century by Shri Swami Ramanand. After that it was named after him i.e. Ramanand Sect. According to the followers of this sect, the sect was started by Goddess Sita whose another name is Shri. Thus the sect was named as Shri sect. In Sanskrit language the word Ramavat means "that which has started from Rama". And as it was the basic preaching of Lord Rama which Goddess Sita has passed on, it is called the Ramavat sect.

Ramavat as a surname

People who follow ramanandi sampradaya for many gentarations are called ramavat. They use the word Ramavat as a surname. In same sampradaya teela ji, peepa, agrachrya, kuba ji etc. were some famous saints. And their descenders use the surnames such as teelavat and peepavat, agravat, kubavat respectively. These generations also part of ramananda vaishnava sampradaya but use tiltle as teelavat and peepavat agravat, kubavat because they are not only spiritual followers of the above Ramanandi Saints but also are the biological descendents of them.

Traditions

All Ramanandis bear the distinguishing Vishnu sect mark, the Trifala, on their foreheads. The Trifala consists of three upright lines. There is a red line in the center and a white or yellow line on either side of the red line. All Ramanandis also wear necklaces and rosaries that are made of wooden tulasi beads.

None of the sub-sects of the Ramanandis eat meat or drink alcohol, yet many of them are addicted to bhang yet not permitted by the sect.

There are four sub-sects of Ramanandis, and all of the sub-sects are celibate. The sub-sects are named the Achari, the Sanyasi, the Khaki, and the Bairagi. The bairagi are by far the largest group of people. The Acharis wear garments made of silk and wool, the Sanyasis wear salmon colored clothes made out of cotton, while the Khakis usually go about without any clothes. The bairagis do not wear colored clothes and they do not cut their hair or nails.

Literature and art

Although many books were written by various saints of Ramavat sect but most of them were destroyed. And in the presently available literature RamCharitManas of Tulsidas

Tulsidas

Tulsidas , was a Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher renowned for his devotion for the god Rama...

 is considered to be the most descriptive and most respectable book of Ramavat sect.

Declarations

In the beginning of 19th century, this sect declared the Kurmi

Kurmi

The Kurmi are a Hindu agricultural Jāti in India.The group has been associated with the Kunbi, though scholars differ as to whether the terms are synonymous. In 2006, the Indian government announced that Kurmi was considered synonymous with the Kunbi and Yellam castes in Maharashtra...

 caste to be the descendants of Ram's sons, Kush and Lav

LAV

LAV or Lav may refer to:* Light armoured vehicles** LAV-25, used by the United States Marine Corps** LAV III, in service with the Canadian and New Zealand armed forces...

. This they proved with the scriptures and doctrines of the sect.