Odhavram

Who is Odhavram?

Odhavram was an Indian religious teacher and a follower of Mohandas Gandhi. He campaigned for education, the poor, and the rights of Dalits.

He was born in Jakhau, a small village located on the west coast of Gujarat, India in District Kutchh. He was born in a Bhanushali family on the auspicious day of Hindu festival of “Ram Navami” in 1889, he was named Udhav. His parents were mother Chaagbai & father Hemraj. Udhav had one elder brother & two sisters.

As a kid Udhav was special. He did behave kiddish but was more inclined towards spirituality. He loved Music and Bhajans from the age of 5 and when he grew 9, he always carried the Bhagwad Geta to school and at play too. He used to narrate single liners from the sacred Geeta to his friends and at times discuss the same with Pandits too. It looked like he knew each and every chapter of the Bhagwat Geeta and was just revising them.

Udhav got his first Guru at the age of 9, Shanakaranand from Mandvi Takula in Kutch. Udhav learnt Sanskrit and the Vedas from Shankaranand for 6 months and following a life scaring accident in the ashram was returned to Jakhau. Later, Udhav came to Bombay and worked as a gunny bags laborer for 8 years but finally left Bombay dedicating his life for the mankind and for the up-liftment of Kutch and Gujarat.