International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

E-ISSN: 2582-2160   •   Impact Factor: 9.24

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Call for Paper Volume 8, Issue 3 (May-June 2026) Submit your research before last 3 days of June to publish your research paper in the issue of May-June.
Submit Research Paper Join as a Reviewer

Plagiarism is checked by the leading plagiarism checker TurnItIn

Call for Paper

Volume 8 Issue 3
May-June 2026

Submit your research paper

Indexing Partners
Academia Advanced Sciences Index Bielefeld Academic Search Engine CiteSeer DRJI Google Scholar Independent Search Engine & Directory Network ISI (International Scientific Indexing) Issuu Mendeley Research Networks
RefSeek ResearcherId - Thomson Reuters ResearchGate Scirus Scribd Semantic Scholar UTeM - Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka Wiki for Call for Papers WorldCat Zenodo

The Impact of Mahima Dharma on Socio-Religious Life of Rural Odisha

Author(s) Mr. Nisikanta Nayak, Dr. kamal Prasad Mohanty, Dr. Sishir Kumar Tripathy
Country India
Abstract This paper examines Mahima Dharma: an indigenous religious movement in Odisha state, its influence on the socio-religious life of rural population. The movement, which emerged in the late 18th century under the leadership of Mahima Swami and was preached by mystic poet Bhima Bhoi, criticized ritual orthodoxy, caste discrimination and the rule of Brahmanical authority. It supported the formless, all-pervasive God (Sunya Brahma), moral living, plain living and spiritual equality. The key purpose of the study is to examine the process of Mahima Dharma reshaping the religious life of the rural Odisha, social orders, and group thinking based on its egalitarianism ideology and literary religious texts written in vernacular languages. The paper also explores the role of local rituals, oral traditions and community spaces in relation to maintaining the movement. This study attempts to evaluate Mahima Dharma not only as a spiritual movement but as a grass root socio-religious upheaval, using the historical evidence, textual interpretation, as well as ethnographic understanding. It makes a durable case about the sustainability of the movement over the years in raising social exclusion related issues, especially among the Dalits and Adivasis, and provides a case study detailing the ways indigenous religiosity can be used as a means of social empowerment and as a means of ethical resistance among the rural Indian populace.
Keywords Sunnya Purusha, Sarana, Darshana, Mahima Maha Meru, Maha mahi Mandal, Sadguru, Gruhi Sannyasi, Bhekabana.
Field Arts
Published In Volume 7, Issue 4, July-August 2025
Published On 2025-07-08
DOI https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i04.50276
View / Download PDF File

Share this



E-ISSN 2582-2160
CrossRef

CrossRef DOI is assigned to each research paper published in our journal.

IJFMR DOI prefix is
10.36948/ijfmr

Downloads
Research Paper Format Copyright Permission Form and Undertaking Form Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 2Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 1Cover Page Vol 7 Isu 6

All research papers published on this website are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, and all rights belong to their respective authors/researchers.

CC-BY-SA Open Access

About IJFMR
Fees & Payment
Current Issue
Publication Archive 		Submit Research Paper
Track Submission Status
Publication Guidelines
Publication Ethics
Peer Review & Plagiarism 		Join as a Reviewer
Editors & Reviewers
Reviewer Referral Program
Get Reviewer Membership Certi. 		Website/Journal Policies
Usage Policy
Content Policies
Privacy Policy
Contact Us +91-9687-828-838 editor@ijfmr.com
Powered by Sky Research Publication and Journals