“The Treasury of the Primordial Light”: A Sacred Text of Punjab’s Dalits

Abstract

The use of own sacred books as an alternative to the Guru Granth - the Sikh scripture - is a rare but a very significant phenomenon among the lower castes (Dalits) of Punjab, which reflects the contemporary conflict in PunjabiSikh society. In the 20th-21st centuries, counter-texts were launched by the Adi Dharmi and Ravidasi religious & caste communities, which mainly unite the Chamars (tanners) of the Land of Five Rivers. In 2001, the Sikh mazhabis (sweepers) - followers of Piara Singh Bhaniara in the Rupnagar/Ropar district - also announced the launch of their sacred text which later proved to be highly controversial. All such alternative scriptures aim at glorifying respective religious communities through their historical or contemporary founders and at distancing ‘own’ religions from mainstream Sikhism. The article discusses aspects of on the semantic, performative and iconic functions of the Adi Prakash Ratnakar scripture (‘The Treasury of the Primordial Light’) compiled by 1960 and published in the 1980s by the Adi Dharm community. Referring to this text - introduced in the research circulation for the first time - allows us to identify the place of Adi Dharmis within the religious and caste landscape of the Indian Punjab and assess the potential of this Dalit community in its complicated relationship with the ‘true’ followers of Sikhism.