HARI TEMPLE, AN EMBODIMENT OF MATUA UNITY: A CASE STUDY OF KANCHAN NAGAR, PURBA BARDHAMAN

After the partition of India in 1947, the refugees from East Bengal who came to different district of West Bengal. The large number of East Bengalis who were subsequently forced to migrate was mostly 90% of the lower caste Namashudra community. The lower caste refugee Hindu communities follow with major importance is the Matua religion. universal temples of these Matua's were established in various slum areas of Burdwan city. A universal temple of Hari Chand Thakur builds in Kanchan Nagar. The committees of this temple tried to conduct their activities under the control of this organization by getting approval from the secretary of All India Matua Sangh of Thakur Nagar. The annual religious program of this temple is held on Tritiya, five days after the event of Tagore Nagar. Our temple program is going on for three days. Apart from this area, more than 30 Matua groups from different areas participate in the program. They are given food and travel expenses by the temple. Also, every year on the 10th day of the month of Paush, the foundation day of the temple, Janmashtami, first Wednesday of the month of Agrayon in Bengali Calendar. The presence of this Hari Chand Tagore in the form of the devotional Tagore of the lower castes can be seen very deeply. Although they remembered another thakur with respect. With the combined efforts of many of us, the Universal Matua Mandir was established in Kanchan Nagar in 2010. We built this temple by pooling donations among ourselves. The work of the temple is not yet complete. In 2017, we, on behalf of the committee of this temple, applied to the secretary of Sara Bharat Matua Sangh for permission to open a branch of Sara Bharat Matua Sangh. The presence of this Hari Chand Tagore in the form of the devotional Tagore of the lower castes can be seen very deeply. Although they remembered another thakur with respect.