Matua Mela, Thakurnagar

"Matua" is a religious movement in Bengal, in the same spirit of the "Bhakti" movement of Sri Chaitanya. It strives to address the issue of out-castes within the realm of Hinduism and preaches not to discriminate among people on racial ground. Thakur Harichand (1811 - 1877) was the founder of the "Matua" sect, who is considered as an incarnation of Vishnu by his followers. The movement soon became popular among the people from lower strata of the society and it is now one of the important facets of Dalit movement in India. The sect has a huge base of Dalit devotees all throughout India at present. This has made the sect quite attractive to the political parties aiming to bank on the huge base of Dalit voters to wrest power.