Guru Ravidas Jayanti is being celebrated today. Sant Ravidas was a 14th-century saint and reformer of the Bhakti movement in North India.<br />''<br />''On the day, people who follow the Ravidas religion, take out a Nagar Kirtan procession with the saint's portrait while chanting special prayers. <br />''<br />''On the day, lakhs of people converge at Shri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan Mandir, Seer Goverdhanpur in Varanasi, where celebrations are held on a grand scale.<br />''<br />''<br />''President Ram Nath Kovind has greeted fellow citizens on the occasion. In a message, Mr. Kovind said Guru Ravidas was among those who led the Bhakti movement in northern India and gave the message of peace, harmony and fraternity.<br />''<br />''He said, Guru Ravidas made people aware of the evils of discrimination and urged overcoming them. The President appealed to the countryman to follow his teachings, and strive to strengthen the virtues of humanity and social equity.<br />''<br />''Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid tributes to Sant Ravidas on his birth anniversary.<br />''<br />''In a tweet, Mr Modi said, the precious and indelible message given by Sant Ravidasfor harmony, equality and social empowerment will continue to inspire people.<br />''<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><br />''</p><!–[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-IN</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> 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Birthday of guru Shri Guru Ravidas is being celebrated across the country today. Guru Ravidas was born in 15th century in a poor family and dedicated his life fighting against discrimination based on caste and class. His beliefs and teachings are known as 'Ravidasi' beliefs and his followers call themselves as 'Ravidasis'.

The President Mrs Pratibha Devisingh Patil and the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh have greeted the nation on the occasion. In her message, Mrs Patil said, people should derive inspiration from the saint and reformer who devoted his life to the service of the country's suffering humanity. The Prime Minister in his message said that Guru Ravidas was one of the greatest saints of the Bhakti movement whose teachings focused on equality of mankind and universal brotherhood.