# Pranami

Pranami (lit. 'Those who bow down') is a sect of Indian origin and also from part of Nepal and Bhutan that worships Krishna as the Supreme God. Adherents follow the teachings of Mahamati Prannath and Devchandra and their holy book, the Tartam Sagar.

## History

The Pranami Sampradaya emerged in the 17th century in Western India, based on the teachings of Bhakti saints, Devchandra, and his foremost disciple, Mehraj Thakur (also known as Mahamati Prannath or Prananath, which gives this tradition the name). The Pranami Sampradaya is also known as the Nijananda Sampradaya, literally, 'nij' meaning, oneself or own and 'ananda' meaning bliss or joy. The Pranami Sampradaya's teachings tries to bridge the gap between the Eastern religions and Western religions together stating that both the Eastern and Western religions talk about the same one almighty god.
The traditions grew after Mughal Empire declined, in the wake of Aurangzeb's religious persecution of non-Muslims, when Hindu rebellion led to new kingdoms. King Chhatrasal of one such kingdom of Bundelkhand patronized Mahamati Prannath Ji. The Pranami tradition welcomed all castes and religions to join their tradition and engage in the worship of the owner of the soul. During the initiation of new converts, Prannath would invite them to dine together regardless of their background. He would also explain the Pranami ideas by citing Hindu and Islamic texts to make his teachings connect with the background of the converts.
The religious center of the Pranami tradition has been in northeast Madhya Pradesh, in the town of Panna. In the contemporary era, other major Pranami religious centers (gaddi) are in Jamnagar (Gujarat), Surat (Gujarat) and Phuguwa (south of Kathmandu, Nepal). Every year, there is a anniversary celebration of their founder, Prannath. This happens around the time in January and the whole town of Panna attracts devotees from around the world including those from the US. Almost an entire month is dedicated to devotional songs and sacred activities. Around this time local tourism also gets boosted, as this area located in Bundelkhand is one of the most economically underdeveloped regions. The Pranami pilgrimage brings much-needed economic relief, although this place also has other very popular Hindu temples, the most famous being the Juggal Kishore.
The Pranami worships that there is a God which has no name that is he is NIJNAM(the who cannot be named or who has no name), it is said that the NIJNAM had entered the body of Shri Krishna and performed its Leela, and they believe in one and only god. Its Hindu includes just the texts. Its theology is contained in 14 religious texts attributed to Prannath, which is known as the Tartam Sagar. The 14 compositions contain 18,758 chaupai (verses). It is, like in other Bhakti movement saint traditions, an eclectic mix of vernacular languages found in central, west and north India: Hindi, Gujarati, Sindhi, and Sanskrit. The Pranami devotees believe that Prannath taught with his text, the essence of all major religious texts of the world, including the Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita, Quran and the Bible. Most devotees believe in no religion but one god and some of them call themselves Hindu but willingly accept teachings found in other sources and texts.

## Traditions

The tradition is strictly vegetarian (ahimsa, non-violence to animals), non-caste tradition dedicated to Supreme Lord whom they also call as "Rajji". Dedicated Pranami temples exist such as in Kathiawar and Gulf of Kutch region, but followers of Pranami traditions substitute it by praying and spiritual pursuits in any nearby convenient temples. There are an estimated 5-10 million Pranamis found primarily throughout North India, particularly the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal (Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Sikkim), and Assam, as well as the eastern half of Nepal.
Mahatma Gandhi's mother was a pious Pranami Hindu. In this religion there is no such absolute statue of the god, as they don't believe in Idol Worship, only Shri Tartam Sagar, the divine knowledge is worshiped. Gandhi in his book My Experiments With Truth mentions about this sampradaya: "Pranami is a sect deriving the best of both Quran and Gita, in search of one goal, and one god."