Form of words:
DAccording to the Hindi calendar, on the day of Kartik Amavasya, the Epa Daan festival is celebrated by the Neo-Buddhists. While it is celebrated across India as ‘Diwali’ or ‘Festival of Lights’, its history is a conflict one, torn between myth and appropriation. The practices surrounding the festival of lights may seem pan-India, but there are several historical vantage points from which to watch Diwali.
Neo-Buddhists claim that 84,000 stupas were completed by King Ashoka on this day. According to Hindu myth, this day is celebrated to commemorate the victory of Lord Rama and his return to Ayodhya. This festival is also associated with the agricultural society to mark the completion of Kharif season. The rise of globalization and the marketization of festivals have given completely new meanings to festivals.
However, it is important to note that both the Deep Daan festival and Diwali reflect historical differences marked by a series of controversy and appropriation.
read also: From Ashoka Vijayadashami to Dhola – National Archives, Central Library Failed Dalit-Bahujan History
What is Deep Daan Utsav?
The Deep Daan festival is an acknowledgment of King Ashoka’s attempt to revive Buddhism in India by Neo-Dalit Buddhists. Buddhist history says that after Buddha’s Mahaparinirvana, his relics were distributed in eight kingdoms – Ajatashatru of Magadha, Lichchavi of Vaishali, Shakya of Kapilvastu, Bulli of Allakappa, Kolia of Ramagrama, Brahmana of Veda, Malla of Pava and Kushinagar.
King Ashoka brought these relics back to Pataliputra. He further ordered the construction of viharas, chaityas and hospitals in 64,000 different cities to ensure the spread of Buddhism. Dr. Balmiki Prasad in his work Deepavansho, discusses Ashoka’s efforts, especially at Pataliputra and Vaishali where he founded a Buddha Mahavihara called Ashokarama.
Rahul Sankrityayana talks of the construction of 84,000 sites of Buddhist chaityas, viharas and stupas. It is said that after the completion of the construction, King Ashoka celebrated this day as Deep Daan Utsav on Kartik Amavasya. it was marked by the light of Deep or lamp, and give Grain Or grains to Buddha monks.
Dr Vijay Kumar Trisharan has argued that the Deep Daan festival, now popularly known as Diwali, was actually a festival of the natives, who were Buddhists. He says that Brahmanical forces appropriated the festival, which undermined Buddhist ideology. For example, 64,000 Buddhist sermons were converted into 64,000 yonis, one of several ways to Brahminize the Deep Daan festival, which helped King Ashoka invent Diwali through myths to counter the Buddhist legacy. helped. In recent times, the revival of Buddhism by the Bahujan community through its cultural practices is an important aspect of opposing and contrasting Hindu myths with historical facts.
The Bahujan community who accepts Buddhism celebrates this day as the lamp donation festival. They claim the authenticity of the festival through the last words of the Buddha as Buddhists-“Flour Deepo Bhava“, which means “be your own light.” Therefore, dark light is rooted in the Buddhist philosophical tradition.
read also: From King Ashoka’s ‘Hospitals’ to Rural Health Mission – How the Indian System of Medicine Developed
Everyday Practices of Fighting History
The revival of the festival of Deep Daan Utsav is the result of the rise of anti-caste consciousness among Bahujan communities. The retelling of myths and re-reading of history are important cultural practices, which have historically been important to allay the shame and resentment that shook Bahujans. Works of Jyotirao Phule, such as GhulamgiriHave reflected on mythological practices from Hindu scriptures to reclaim an iconic identity.
Among Buddhist Bahujan communities, the festival of Deep Daan is celebrated with the same enthusiasm as Diwali. The practices include lighting houses, listening to Buddhist verses, visiting viharas, donating to monks, etc. These practices are attempts by the Bahujans to revive and claim historical glory. Significance lies in tracing the history of Buddha and Ashoka, an anti-caste practice of thinking of a casteless society that Buddhist philosophy discussed.
Within the intellectual traditions, the works of Sankrityayana, Bhadanta Kaushalyayan, Vincent Smith, Gail Omvet et al have been important in discussing the revivalism of Buddhism through these cultural practices. Most of his works are also part of popular fiction, which are disseminated through booklets, social media and everyday conversations.
Read also: Black lives mattered to Phule and Ambedkar. He had seen caste discrimination in India
contemporary practice
The revival of Buddhism, especially after Dr BR Ambedkar’s conversion in 1956, has opened up space for a critical rethinking of the disputed history. Dr Ambedkar in his work victory of brahminism (Vol. 3, p. 275), says, “It is generally held that the culture of India has remained the same throughout history; that Brahmanism, Buddhism, Jainism are simply distinct phases and that there has never been a time between them.” There has been no fundamental conflict… In the first place, it must be recognized that there has never been a common Indian culture, historically there have been three Indias, Brahmin India, Buddhist India and Hindu India, each with its own culture. “
The contemporary practice of projecting festivals as homogeneous and away from competition is about praising the Hindutva agenda which seeks to disregard historical wrongs. Even within mainstream controversial practices, cultural resistance is largely ignored by the Dalit Bahujan community through re-reading of history.
It is important to note that cultural features, such as the celebration of a festival, are important reflections on the historical paths through which cultures have emerged. For the Dalit-Bahujan community, festivals are an important aspect to remember and reconsider history. The celebration of the Deep Daan festival is rooted in the Buddhist tradition of Ashoka, something that has been kept away from mainstream historiography, which never accepted the competition between myth and history. The celebration of cultural events are important social norms through which social history is contested.
Kalyani is a PhD Scholar at the Center for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). She tweets at @FiercelyBahujan. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Likes)
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