Untouchable Lowered Pirali Caste Rabindranath Tagore's Triumph: 'Gora' unravels his battle against Brahminism.

As demanded by the priests of Puri Jagannath temple, the East India Company brought a regulation that barred Rabindranath’s caste, Pirali, and 17 other castes from entering the temple.

(Reference - The Regulation IV and V of 1809, as passed on 28 April 1809 in Governor-General Council quoted from

BAWS)

Rabindranath Tagore belonged to the lowered untouchable Bengali Pirali caste. Even after winning the Nobel Prize, when he visited Puri, he never entered the temple as that would have been like breaking the law.

Despite Sanskritisation, the Pirali caste remained low and polluted.

Kolkata's 'bhadralok' never accepted the Tagores as one of them.

Rabindranath wrote his magnum opus, 'Gora', and settled his score with Brahmin orthodoxy once and for all.

Tagore’s 'Gora' is one of the finest anti-caste books ever written.

Within its pages, the fair-skinned young chap Gora reveled in the cloak of Brahmin supremacy. Yet, fate's cruel twist darkened his life when his father breathed his last.

Denied the sacred rite of Antim Samskara, for his lineage revealed him as not a Brahmin, Gora's world shattered into pieces upon the cold floor of reality.

He was actually the abandoned son of a British family.

Devastation gripped his soul, and he confronted the falsehood of caste pride, a burden or glory he had borne throughout his earthly existence.

It is in these literary moments of grappling with life's deepest intricacies that the true greatness of Rabindranath Tagore emerged.

His unwavering commitment to truth shone as a guiding light in the darkness of societal prejudice.

His literary legacy, enriched by 'Gora' and other profound works, continues to inspire generations, illuminating the path towards a more egalitarian world.

Remembering Tagore on his 82nd Death Anniversary.