Lord Matangdev is the founder of ‘Barmati Panth‘. It is believed that Matangdev was born some 900-1000 years ago near present day Bihar (India)  on the banks of holy river Ganges . His mother’s name is ‘Jasdedevi’ and father’s name is ‘Matra-rakh’ and he is maternal grandson of renowned ‘Gautam-rakh’. He is widely regarded as 10^th incarnation of God in Kalyug.

After attaining spirituality on wearing ‘Karam-Vindhi’ (Gold ring) handed over to him by Aspar Pandya (Satgur), he decided to remove sorrows and sufferings from the life of common man. On his journey towards bringing peace, prosperity and happiness in the life of people of all walks of life, he noticed that a large chunk of Indian Society is deprived of basic necessities of life including religion. He observed that ‘Jhankhriyas’ (untouchables) and ‘Simbhriyas’ (tribals) have been prohibited to profess religion due to religious ban coerced upon them by high caste Hindus. Thus, he determined to devote his life for the welfare and upliftment of downtrodden people and founded a messianic religion called ‘Barmati Panth’ on the solid foundation of equality & brotherhood. His first message was ‘Dharmachar’ and ‘Karamjwar’ which means to practice tenets of religion (Barmati Panth) with utmost faith and devotion. His collections of discourses are known as ‘Genan’.

On his initial solitary journey from Bihar to the western parts of ancient India, he congregated hundreds of thousands of people and assimilated them into his newly formed religion known as Barmati Panth. Presently, lakhs of followers of Barmati Panth are professing religion founded by Matangdev with great enthusiasm and complete faith in his teachings. All his followers, known as ‘Meghwars’, are spread all over India but its population is predominant in Kutch, Saurashtra and Sindh regions.

Barmati religious discourses (Genan) reveals that Lakho Ghuraro, a very first ancestor of Jadeja clan (princely ruling class of Kutch region), urged Matangdev to bless him with supernatural powers to have his own ruling state in Sindh/Kachchh. Revered Matangdev blessed Lakha Ghurara that one day his descendents would be able to form their own princely state in Kutch region. Interestingly, history of Kutch reveals that the descendants of Lakha Ghurara i.e. Jadejas were able to form their own ruling in Kutch for more than eight centuries. It is said that Matangdev performed 12 years meditation at Chandrua Hills (Bhuj).

History of Kutch owes much to Matangdev for his sheer valour and gallantry shown while protecting motherland from brutal attack of ‘Haidarkhan Pastan’ (a Pathan warrior from Sindh). This feat of Matangdev is unparalleled in Indian history as no other religious guru (teacher) has ever attempted to lift sword for safety of its people. Eventually, while fighting with Haidarkhan on the outskirts of Kutch/Sindh region, Matang Dev died a martyr death alongwith ‘Abda-Jiyani’ (a warrior of Kutch). However, before leaving for heavenly abode, he called upon his son ‘Ludangdev’ for timely help in the battlefield. As soon as Ludangdev arrived, Matangdev could not survive longer and this great messiah left this world leaving behind a gigantic task of uniting people and preaching holy sermons.

Witnessing martyrdom of his father and brave Abda-Jiyani, Lord Ludangdev gathered all his strength and attacked Haiderkhan with full force and killed him. Thus, the attacker was prevented from entering Kutch soil else he would have ruined motherland with tears.

Body of Lord Matang-Dev is buried at ‘Seni-Thar’ near Badin-Sindh (now in Pakistan), which is the foremost pilgrimage place of all ‘Maheshwary Meghwars’. Every year, holy pilgrimage is performed at ‘Seni-Thar’ in the month of Vaishakh (Indian Calender) with utmost faith and devotion.

Source: The above article is written on the basis of facts narrated in Barmati Panth religious discourses known as ‘Genan’.

Lunangdev strived hard to unite people from all walks of life. He played a great role in uniting Sama and Sumra clans of Sindh region. He attains very high place in the hearts of Maheshwari Meghwal community. After he left for heavenly abode, his body is buried at “Tharai” (Sindh-Pakistan). Temple of Lord Ludangdev is built at Luni (Mundra-Kutch) and in his fond memory every year pilgrimage is performed at Luni Temple on Chaitra Chaturthi.

He has forecasted the things in a more scientific manner. All Maheshwaris lays supreme belief in the teachings of Lord Mamai Dev with complete faith. He was a visionary religious preacher and realized that after his death, nobody would be able to restrain the sanctitude of the post of Religious teacher. As such, he terminated the hierarchical practice of becoming Religious teacher by birth. Instead, he advocated that after his death, only the ‘Barmati-Panth’ would be regarded as the supreme state of religious affairs. He had six sons namely, Matiyadev, Bhagwant, Lalan, Meghanand, Maade, and Merchant and two daughters namely, Papai and paadhan. He left for heavenly abode and was buried at Makli-Sindh (now in Pakistan).

Original source provided by:
Mohan Devraj THONTYA (Karachi University)

About him
Mohan Devraj THONTYA is currently studying in Mphill/PhD in the Department of General History, University of Karachi working on the subject Thesis: History and Culture of Meghwars: From the earliest times to the modern age under the supervision of Prof Dr Javed Husain. He has published several papers, including “Sammatri” in “Karachi” published by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Chair, University of Karachi, in November,2000. Mohan Devraj Thontya did extensive fieldwork for collecting hundreds of manuscripts from the Maheshwari Meghwars tradition. Thanks to his mastery of many languages, he is preparing a translation in English of the most important pieces.