“As you can see, my city is a sea city. Always full of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Persians. My family’s sect was the Pranami. Hindu, of course. But in our temple, the priest used to read from the Muslim Koran and the Hindu Gita, moving from one to the other as if it mattered not which book was read as long as God was worshipped,” said Gandhi, superbly portrayed by Ben Kingsley, in the 1982 film Gandhi by Richard Attenborough.
Much has been written about Gandhi’s childhood and we all know about his favourite bhajan, ‘Vaishnava Jan To’, written by Gujarati poet Narsinh Mehta. But very less is written about the influence of the Pranami sect and its philosophy of syncretism on Gandhi during his childhood.
Gandhi was born in a Bania caste, which traditionally follows the Vaishnava sect of Hinduism. Gandhi’s mother Putlibai was from Dantrana village. She was a follower of the Pranami sect. Gandhi in his childhood, accompanying his mother, had often visited the Pranami temple near his home in Porbandar. “The outstanding impression my mother
— source thewire.in | Mehul Devkala | 02/Oct/2022