Raman Reti: The Land of Lord Krishna (A Sacred Complex)

The concept of ‘Sacred Complex’ was put forth by L.P Vidyarthi in his book ‘The Sacred Complex in Hindu Gaya’ (1961), in which he described three analytical concepts: a sacred geography, a set of sacred performances and a group of sacred specialists. In the present paper attempted has been made to present the religious life of the Raman Reti ashram with the help of the concept of sacred complex. Raman Reti is situated in old Gokul, Vrindavan and is one of the major religious centres in this area. For this research work, the data has been collected through both, the primary as well secondary sources. The saints of the ashram, students and visitors all were interviewed intensively. Along with it, observation, case study and photography have been used extensively for the data collection. The holistic picture of this religious ashram has been drawn in the framework of sacred complex of which their sacred belief, sacred geography, sacred specialists and sacred performances are a few components. The sacred places and symbolic articles or objects representing different supernatural power constitute the sacred geography. Sacred specialists are the persons who propitiate the God/supernatural powers of the group concerned on behalf of the individual worshipper. The sacred performances reflect the method of propitiation, rituals, worship, offering sacrifice, etc. practised by the people. It is concluded that despite the drastic changes due to fast pace of westernization, urbanization and modernization, the Raman Reti ashram is still maintaining its traditional religious culture.