OUR ANANDA NAGAR

1. Knowing our History:
2. Knowing Our Geography and Geology:
3. Our Ananda Nagar Dadhicis:
4. Our Water Resources:
5. Our Villages:
   

OUR HISTORY :-

How Land for Ánandanagar was obtained –

In 1955, Ánandamárga Pracáraka Saîgha was formally established at Jamalpur, Bihar. On the very first day, Baba said this about the agenda for the Saîgha —-“Religious practice should not be confined within blind superstition and sectarianism. It should be spread among all men.” He instructed his devotees and disciples that in their particular areas they should pray and meditate together once a week, preferably on Sundays. This collective prayer and meditation is to be called Dharmacakra. He added: —— “Understand the need of men and build a social order accordingly. Do not do anything to fulfill your needs or the needs of your small group. For any effort made with a restricted view without a Bráhmic view will not endure. Look at every living being with real love and sympathy”. He also ordered,: “Do not waste time. Form District Committees in various districts immediately.” The venue for collective prayer and meditation by devotees on a particular day of week is called Jágriti. At the time of making of Jágriti at Jamalpur,  Baba told Áchárya Kuldiipji: — In future you will have to engage yourself in the Yajiòa of action over a wider area. There will be a university, colleges, schools, hospitals and much service –oriented activity. People from all over the world will come to watch your Yajiòa of action.

In 1962, Baba called several followers and told them: “The work of the Saîgha is spreading fast. It is no longer possible to confine your activities within the limits of a small place like Jamalpur. A wide stretch of land is required to give shape to the ideals of Ánandamárga. Find a larger expanse of land.”

In the middle of March in the same year, Baba went to Ranchi. In the course of his return journey to Jamalpur, the train stopped at Muri Junction. He told several Ácháryas of the Saîgha. “In the wide expanse of Rarh, and especially in the areas near the Kansabati, Subarnarekha and Damodar rivers, there is a cultural and spiritual foundation. From long past, Rarh has been the centre of Shivatantra,  Jaenatantra and Baoddhatantra. We will establish the central office of the Ánandamárga Pracáraka Saîgha somewhere near Muri Junction. Please look for land.” After long search and enquiries, under his instructions, Ácárya Pranay Kumar Chattopadhyay, Ácárya Amulyaratan Sárangi and  Ácárya Kedarnath Sharma went to see Rajah Raghunandan Singhdeo of Garjaipur. The Rajah had a very simple and pious nature. At the time, he was in straitened circumstances.  Ácárya Amulyaratan Sárangi writes about this visit in his book “Se Smrti Ájo Amolin:” We reached Garjaipur palace a little before midday. The palace consists of a few brick-built rooms. But even by looking from outside, one could find that all the rooms were dilapidated due to lack of repair. Rajah Raghunadan Singdeo was at home. He wore a coarse dhoti and a fatuá (a kind of loose cotton overcoat). After we introduced ourselves and told him the reason of our visit, he cordially led us into his house. Pranaydá spoke in his habitually soft and sweet manner of the aims of Ánandamárga and humanitarian projects to be taken up in future. After hearing him, the Rajah sadly said: “Your object in noble and it is a matter of pride to be associated with this noble enterprise. They call me Rajah. But I have no kingdom and no capital. There was a time when we had all these. I do not know how I can help you in your work.” After being silent for a while, he continued: “At quite some distance from here, at mouza Baglata, I have some hilly and rocky land recorded in the name of my wife Shriimatii Prafullakumarii Devii. Please have a look at it. I can give it to you if it is of some help to you. Kindly have your lunch at my place and then visit the land. Someone from my side will accompany you.” The land was largely covered by bushes. It was flanked on two sides by rivulets. The land in between was partly plane and partly undulating. A little beyond the rivers, there was dense forest. Even in day time, we saw some jackal-like creatures move about. The place had wonderful natural beauty. If we get such a large parcel of land, it will be possible for us to take up many humanitarian projects desired by Baba. With this in our minds, we came back to Garjajpur in the evening.

In due time, the deed for gift of the land was registered. Our highly revered Baba named that hallowed land Ánandanagar. After formalization of the deed of gift, the work of various projects for service and development began. Baba himself made a plan showing where which house or institution would be located.

Baba again and again praised this generosity and philanthropy of the royal family. On the day of 23 Falgun, 1370, by the Bengali calendar, Baba sent this letter of thanks to Shriimatii Prafulla kumarii Devii. “The auspicious beginning of the vast yajiòa of action at Ánandanagar has been possible due to cooperation from and sympathy of Shriimatii Prafulla kumarii Devii. I convey to her my heartfelt thanks. Let her example be emulated by everyone”.

Ánandamuurti

Ánandanagar, 26 Falgun, 1370.

Ánandanagar — Geography and Geology

If we look at the political map we will find that Ánandanagar is situated in District Puruliya of  West Bengal and is adjacent to West Bengal’s border with the state of Jharkhand. There was no district called Puruliya before 1956.  The area was within the district of Manbhúm. We know that there was a tendency among the ancient inhabitants of Rarh to suffix ‘bhúm’ to the names of special regions. With the exceptions of a few old principalities, the names of all principalities there ended with ‘bhúm’ e.g. Manbhúm, Singbhúm, Vyaghrabhúm, Dhalbhúm, Varahabhúm, Senbhúm, Mallabhúm, Samantabhúm, Gopabhúm, Shabarbhúm, Shikharbhúm etc.             Shortly after independence, there was a demand for reorganizing states on the basis of language. There was a strong movement for inclusion in West Bengal of the district of Manbhúm, then in Bihar. Basically, cent per cent of the people of Manbhúm were Bengali- speaking. This area is also culturally akin to Bengal. So this demand was fully justified. But the Central Government was then under influence of the Hindi belt. So they did not accept the demand readily. Therefore, a commission was set up. The chairman of the commission was not a Bengali-speaking person. So, after much hemming and hawing the commission agreed to append a truncated. Manbhúm to West Bengal. Dhanbad subdivision of Manbhúm was retained in Bihar on the plea that many non-Bengali labourers working in its collieries would be inconvenienced if it was appended to West Bengal. Many non-Bengalis resided in Dhanbad town. The fact that villages in the subdivision were peopled exclusively by Bengali-speaking persons was overlooked.

Garjaipur is a police station in the district of Puruliya: Ánandanagar was first established in that area. Later, it spread to Jhalda police station. Recently, Jhalda police station has been divided and a new police station called Kotshila has been carved out of it. Ánandanagar is partly within this new police station. As one goes to the west from Maòikaròiká Ánandanagar, one reaches West Bengal’s border with Jharkhand after two kilometres. Again, as one proceeds towards north, one reaches Jharkhand border after three kilometres. Towards the south, Jharkhand is somewhat more distant.  The border is about 39 Kilometres away. In the east there is only Rarh, with no trace of Jharkhand. Both Bengal and Jharkhand are parts of Western Rarh and the culture in both places is entirely Bengali. The entire western Rarh  can be brought within a circle centred in Ánandanagar. Due to want of political far sight, the cultural life of some human groups is in its death throes. There is no escape from this situation. The only remedy is adaption of the socially oriented system of state advocated by the philosophy of Prout.

Ánandanagar is situated in the Damodar valley. Though that river is far from Ánandanagar, excess rain water from Ánandanagar is discharged into tributaries of the Damodar and thus ultimately into the Damodar. It is interesting to note that though the source and course of the Kansabati, a river of Rarh, is quite near Ánandanagar, Ánandanagar is not within the basin   of that river. This geographical fact is of great importance. Subarnarekha is also not very far from Ánandanagar. The Muri Railway Junction is 39 kilometres from Ánandanagar. The Subarnarekha flows by Muri. So it is also 39 kilometres away from Ánandanagar. Thus we find that the watersheds of the Subarnarekha, the Kansabati and the Damodar are very near one another. Therefore this place is the richest in fossils. So Baba has called the place the birthplace of civilization.       Two rivers, the Uttara and the DakSiòá, flow in two sides of central Ánandanagar. (Their old names are Cutki Goyái and Barki Goyái respectively.) They merge into each other after running some distance eastwards near the Amitananda Memorial and the combined stream assumes the name of Goyái. Baba has thrown light on the origin of the name Goyái. The water of Goyai tastes somewhat like betelnuts (supári in Bengali). The word Supári was not current in ancient Rárh. The word Govakii was used instead. Guya and Goyái are derived from that word.

There are many mounds and hillocks at Ánandanagar and its neighbouring areas. In the past, they were linked to the Vindhya range. The links on the surface are lost. But they are still connected by an underground water system. It is said that this area was once included in the state of Pancakot, ruled by kings of Kashipur. It is also said that the area was divided into twenty-two parganas. Ratu Maharaj, king of Chotonagpur, seized the five parganas on the south of the Subarnarekha from the king of Kashipur. From then onwards, these parganas did not return to any ruler in Rarh. This seized area is still called Pancparganiya (the area with five parganas –tr.). The dialect of Bengali spoken in this area is called the Pancparganiya dialect.

The Tropic of Cancer passes through Ánandanagar. So the climate here is very warm. The Ayodhya Hills are among the largest in Rárh. They are also known as the Bagmundi Hills. It is at a distance of only thirty kilometers of walk from Ánandanagar. Among the stones and rocks scattered all over Ánandanagar there are some that are powdered at the pressure of a finger. This is due their ancient age.

Bokaro Steel City is only seventeen kilometers from Ánandanagar. Maráphádi was its old name. Maráphádi is a corrupted form of Marápáhádi (meaning dead hillock –tr). In Rárh, many place names are suffixed with páhádi, e.g. Sen páhádi, Pabra páhádi, Bel páhádi, Bansh páhádi. The place with ‘dead stones’ was called Marápáhádi. From this we can easily surmise that Ánandanagar is a part of the land that first emerged on earth.       Scholars call the oldest land mass on earth Gandoana. It was thought that the Gonds of Madhya Pradesh were the earliest inhabitants of this area. That theory has now been abandoned. But the name has not been changed.

Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar has described the process of the formation of this land mass in this book called “Sabhyatár Ádi Vindu Rárh”.  We quote from that book below – : ”It was an ocean agitated by tall waves. The ocean had no name or appellation. Who would give it a name? Who would tell others about it? Man had not yet arrived on earth. It was three hundred million years before our times. There was no vegetation on earth that could identify or give a name to a parcel of arid rocky land. This nameless rocky soil was later given the name of Rárh. Rárh is a word from an ancient Austric language. It means “a land of red soil.” In the earth of those days, there was no Áryávarta; there was no plain of Bengal and the south. Deserts of Rajasthan and Gujarat were also absent. The northern part of the Arabian Sea was also missing. The southern part was there. It joined the Deccan with Andamans, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia, above water at some point and under water at other points. In that manless world, Rárh was even more ancient than other areas. Its snow-clad peaks had given birth to many rivers. These rivers fed by molten snow made their journey into the ocean; some to the east, and others to the south-east. Days passed. Time moved on from beginning-lessness to eternity. The mountains, acted upon by storms and thunderstorms, were slowly eroded. They lost their crowns of snow and were reduced in stature. As the mountains become smaller, the basins between mountains rose. We can see today wavy red soil in Western Rárh — the waves advance towards east o to merge in the distant blue; in their reverse journey, they tell us of a lost address. That undulating land is our Rárh.” The name of Ánandanagar has not been taken. But the description is in its entirety a geological description of Ánandanagar. The Belamu hill on south of central Ánandanagar is the oldest hill in the world. We call it a hill now. But in the past, it was a giant mountain taller than the Himalayas. Its erosion has converted a part of the sea into a valley, Geography tells us — Hills are older than mountains. The soil of Ánandanagar is the most ancient soil in the world. Therefore, it keeps under it plenty of wealth. If this wealth is utilized, men of Ánandanagar will be among the richest in the world. The only creed of a spiritual aspirant is to love the universal consciousness and the creation. One must not be guided by any national, caste, linguistic or religions sentiment and must not tolerate any fissiparous tendency.

OUR DADHICHIS :

5th March is observed as “Dadchi Divas” by Anandamargis all over the world every year. Ananda Marga Pracarak Samgha (formally established on 9 January 1955 at Jamalpur Railway Quarters in Munger District, Bihar). Right from the beginning of the organization, selfish, misguided, opportunistic and people’s blood suckers were bent on destroying and overthrowing Ananda Marga . At that time Ananda Marga had just crossed twelve years and entered thirteen years, the sanyasi (wholetimer) tradition of the mission was then only five years past its infancy. On March 5, 1967, communist thugs, gundas made a planned attack at Anandanagar and brutally killed five devout monks (sanyasi) (then the United Front government in West Bengal – Jyoti Bose was the Home Minister). In a lengthy trial, the judge subsequently convicted and sentenced a total of eighteen people, including local Jaipur block BDO Ashok Chakraborty, to various terms including life imprisonment. Those who sacrificed their lives in the attack of thugs for the establishment of Anandanagar are :

a) Acarya Abhedananda Avadhut (b) Acarya Sachchidananda Avadhut (c) Acarya Abodh Kumar Brahmacari (d) Acarya Prabodh Kumar Brahmacari (e) Acarya Bharat Kumar Brahmacari . In Ananda Marga, 12 hours (sunrise to sunset) fast is observed on 5th March in memory of all Dadhichis.

Acarya Asiimananda Avadhuta was born near a village near Morang halfway from Rampur to Kalpa in Kinnaur District. He graduated as a Gold Medalist in Agriculture from Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology in Kanpur. He became a strictly honest IAS officer posted in Shimla. In 1963, he was initiated into Ananda Marga. Thereafter he became a sannyasi of Ananda Marga. He was first posted in Hyderabad and created many new margis, some of whom would become future monks of Ananda Marga. He later became the Finance Secretary of the organisation.

In 1980, Baba began a unique plant programme. Firstly devotees brought rare plants from all over the world for Baba’s residence, Madhu Malainca, in Lake Gardens. Missionary workers posted overseas were required to bring 400 plants per month. Baba house became a vertical garden with plants stacked up high. Such a beautiful place not only enhanced the joy of devotees in meeting Baba but won the regard of local agricultural scientists. Baba would visit the plants and scold workers if they were neglected. Baba even wrote poems to certain plants (something He did only for Didi Ananda Bharatiji after her passing).

Secondly Baba gave detailed agricultural plans for every part of the vast area of Ananda Nagar in Northern Purulia District and parts of Bokaro District as well. These plans included new methods of crop production, combination and rotation. Baba also specified which trees were to be planted at specific spots, where ponds or lakes were to be created and what plants should be planted near the ponds and rivers. Finally Baba also laid out where different institutions of the organisation (Children’s Homes, hostels, etc.) and of the Ananda Marga Gurukula were to be located and what plants were to be planted next to them.

Acarya Asiimanandji was put in charge of this vast enterprise – receiving, distributing plants and monitoring their progress. Baba dictated to him many notebooks of practical instructions not just about the plants, ponds and check dams to be created but about many unique industries to be started from these plants in every part of this vast garden city of Baba. All of these plans of Baba, all of the plants received and distributed to different places were all in the mind of Asiimanadaji. This is just one reason why Baba declared that he was the greatest agro-scientist in the world.

It was not just these vast responsibilities that made Asiimanandaji renowned in Ananda Marga. He had a humble, soft personality and was an ardent sadhaka who practiced Vishesh Yoga for a long time but remained humble and ever-ready to affectionately host and serve any visiting monks or margis.

In 1990, the communists who had destroyed all buildings in Ananda Nagar during the Emergency again began a programme of attacking all Ananda Marga schools, medical dispensaries and agricultural projects. They were so determined to drive out Ananda Marga that they even tore out the iron rods from the buildings they destroyed. The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) visited Ananda Nagar and filed a report on the crimes of the communists.

However, the destruction did not stop. Most dadas had fled Ananda Nagar. Asiimanandaji knew every inch of Ananda Nagar and all Baba’s vast plans for its development. He could not bear this destruction. Knowing this, Baba banned him from going to Ananda Nagar. However, he went without permission. He promised Baba’s PA, Acarya Keshavanandaji that he would return to Kolkata on a date after a short time. When Baba found out that Asiimanandaji had left without permission, He gave the order that dadaji should not step outside Central Ananda Nagar. Once again, anguished about the destruction by the communists he went to inspect Dimdiha farm unit in an ancient prehistoric area having dinosaur fossils. On his way back, at Chatka village on April 2nd, 1990, the jeep of Asiimanandaji was attacked. Some people were able to escape but Asiimanandaji and another devotee were brutally killed.

When Baba was informed, Baba said, “Asiimananda was a great agricultural scientist. It is a great loss of the world. He is irreplaceable. Asiimanandji’s body was brought to Kolkata on the exact day he had promised Baba’s PA that he would return. Baba wanted to see the body. When He saw Dadaji’s mutilated body, Baba said that the greatest agricultural scientist in the world had been killed.

As Baba said, “Only those sannyásiis whose minds are deeply pained at the gloomy touch of human sorrow – whose minds sparkle like rubies and emeralds with the tears of joy and laughter of all beings – find success in their vow of renunciation and in their spiritual life.”

Asiimanandaji’s sacrifice can never be forgotten. This day is honoured every year in Ananda Nagar.

The Ánandanagar Diocese consists of Ropo, Sidhi and Ghagra Panchyats of Jaipur block; Citmu and Tatuára Panchayats of Kotshila and eight of the villages of Noahatu Panchayat; all in the district of Puruliya.