Ghaduli village is located in the remote area of the Kutch district in the north-western part of Gujarat state. This area is considered Sukko and backward. Rainfall is negligible, with only two to four inches falling on rare occasions, and sometimes not even that. In those days, the main occupation of the elders was agriculture. They farmed year-round, even during drought years, by using camel or bullock carts to travel through the desert region to work the fields and labor in Sindh. When news of rain in Kutch arrived, the mothers would return to their hometowns to farm.

Ramji Kanji Chaudhary (Salat), the head of Ghaduli village, left for Karachi to work in construction since childhood. Pujya Naran Ramji Limbani started a campaign to bring the entire society out of half-baked Khichdia Satpanth Dharma. The campaign was also heard in Karachi, where the brothers wanted to leave Satpanth (Pirana) and follow Sanatan Dharma. However, due to the rule of oppressors, they could not leave Pirana for Sanatan Dharma. At that time, an uncle came from Pirana in Karachi and gathered the brothers, ordering them to shave their mustaches and start wearing beards. Ramji Bapa opposed it, saying that they wanted to make them Muslims. He refused to remove his mustache and beard. The uncle from Pirana threatened to expel them from the society and ostracize them. About 80 elders were present at the time, including Lalji Sokhji from Rawapar. All these elders opposed the uncle.

Ramjibapa came to Ghaduli from Karachi because his father-in-law was living in Siot. After arriving in Kutch, he started propagating Sanatan Dharma, which caused his father-in-law’s godmother, Mataji Kanbai, to disapprove of him. However, Ramji Bapa’s sister-in-law came up with a clever plan to help him. She sent him a message to come to their area, promising to secretly bring Kanbai along. Her brother-in-law then secretly sent away Kanbai from the area. In short, Ramji Bapa and Kanbai had a similar event to Lord Krishna and Mother Rukmini’s deer event in the Mahabharata, where Rukmini was accompanied by her mother Kanbai.

After some time, Ramji Bapa went to Mumbai to earn a living doing construction work. There he met Pujya Naran Ramji Limbani and became fully immersed in the teachings of eternity. His dream was finally realized when he married his wife Mataji Kanbai on July 16, 1923, in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, on Ashad Sud-3, which was a Monday in Samvat 1979. He was freed from the torture of the tyrants by performing the Dahshuddhi atonement with Kesharben. After paying homage to the sinful Khichdia Satpanth, he took initiation into the pure Vedic religion and assumed Janoi.

Shivdas Karsan Bhadani from Ramji Bapa’s sadhu village Ghaduli also moved to Mumbai for work. He had no tolerance for the apostate Satpanth religion and on Sunday, Samvat 1980, Kartak Sud-3, on the 19th of November 1923, between Mumbai and Ghatkopar, Shukla Chhaganlal Kanji, a monk, underwent purification and took initiation into the pure Vedic religion.

When elder Ramji Bapa returned to Kutch after adopting the pure Vedic Sanatan Dharma, his mother complained, “Son, Ramji, you live abroad forever. When will you be able to eat milk and ghee? I want to feed you milk and ghee.” In response, Ramji Bapa said, “Mother, from today I will not have ghee and milk from your matla. I will not eat ghee and milk from that twisted bowl. For you, there are watlalyana (abhadyalana).”

As Ramji Bapa propagated the pure Vedic religion, the tyrannical Geheras issued a fatwa to break the kinship of his children. As a result, his children were cast out, and Ramji Bapa’s family was ostracized. They fled to Mandvi (Kutch), where they stayed with their family for seven years. During this time, their children were married to the families of Sanat.

Ramji Bapa, who was a pioneer of revolutionary ideas, cut off all ties with his in-laws. He never visited his father-in-law’s house during his entire life and never even drank water from them. His wife Mataji Kanbai gave him full support. Ramjibapa’s sister was married in the village of Ugedi, but since her family followed the Satpanth religion, Ramji Bapa severed his relationship with his sister-in-law as well. He never visited her house and never drank water from her house until his dying day.

On May 20, 1923, which was Jeth Sud-5, in the presence of Pujya Naran Ramji, 161 people underwent mass purification and accepted the Sanatan Dharma at Dayapar. This included 9 members of Ramji Ratanshi Bhavani’s family from the village of Akri, including his wife Hirbai, sons: Ch. Dhavji, Ch. Kaya, Chi. Ranmal, daughters: Ch. Hansbai, Ch. Lalbai, nephew Natthu Mandan Bhavani, and niece Mawji Mandan Bhavani. A few years later, the village of Chakri was destroyed and the family moved to Ghaduli.

Thanks to the preaching and dissemination of these elders, the awareness of Sanatan Dharma gradually spread among the common people. People left the Khichdia Satpanth Dharma and started following the Sanatan Dharma. In the village of Ghaduli, Parbat Khima Sankhla, late Dhanji Mavji Ramani, Sr. Ramji Kanji Chowdhury, and other vigilant elders installed the Pan Murthy of Lord Lakshminarayan in the Dela of the temple in the year of Samvat 2004. Today, every family in Ghaduli village follows the pure Sanatan Dharma.

These revolutionary elders, who loved the Sanatan Dharma, kept the flame of the religion burning by struggling and suffering a lot in their lives. Now, it is our responsibility to keep the flame of Sanatan burning forever. Shree Ghaduli Patidar Lakshminarayan Sanatan Samaj pays a heartfelt tribute to such brave and courageous elders.