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This article examines the political deification of Harichand and Guruchand Thakur, the founders of an anti-caste religion called Matua Dharma, in contemporary West Bengal. The religious community of the Matuas, who are mostly Namasudras (an ex-Untouchable caste), have drawn considerable public attention over the last two decades as a politically organised and electorally salient group. Drawing from fieldwork evidence and observations, the article shows that a key strategy behind the consolidation of Matuas as a political public has been the use of symbolic means and projection of Harichand-Guruchand as regional icons of Dalit politics by their community organisation, viz. the Matua Mahasangha, and other political actors. The article explores these processes of deification of Harichand and Guruchand Thakur and the consequent making of a Matua political public by looking at three areas – (a) Matua print literature, (b) community festivals, and (c) commemoration practices at the popular and official-institutional levels.

Harichand-Guruchand Thakur: the emerging icons of Dalit politics in West Bengal