Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 October inaugurated the Banjara Virasat Museum in Pohardevi at Washim in Maharashtra, celebrating the rich heritage of the Banjara community.
The four-story museum has 13 galleries depicting the Banjara legacy through the portraits of Banjara community leaders and the Banjara movement.
- Prime Minister also paid floral tribute to the memorials of Sant Sevalal Maharaj and Sant Ramrao Maharaj. Sant Sevalal and Sant Ramrao Maharaj are the spiritual leaders of the Banjara community.
Banajara community
- The Banjara are a class of usually ascribed as nomadic people. They claim to belong to the clan of Agnivanshi Rajputs, and are also known as Banjari, Pindari, Bangala etc.
- They are divided in three tribes, Maturia, Labana, and Charan. The Banjara have spread to Andhra Pradesh, Haryana,Karnataka, Maha- rashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and other states of India.
- About half their number speak Lambadi, one of the Rajasthani dialects, while others are native speakers of Hindi, Telugu and other languages dominant in their respective areas of settlement.
- The accurate history of Lambanis or Lambadis or Banjaras is not known but the general opinion among them is that they fought for Prithvi Raj against Muhammad of Ghor.
