Matuya Hindu religious community, founded by Sri Sri harichand thakur of Gopalganj. The word 'matuya' means to be absorbed or remain absorbed in meditation, specifically to be absorbed in the meditation of the divine.

The Matuya sect is monotheist. It is not committed to Vedic rituals, and singing hymns in praise of the deity is their way of prayer and meditation. They believe that salvation lies in faith and devotion. Their ultimate objective is to attain truth through this kind of meditation and worship. They believe that love is the only way to God. The Matuya have no distinctions of caste, creed, or class. They believe that everyone is a child of God.

The Matuya believe that male and female are equal. They discourage early marriage. Widow remarriage is allowed. They refer to their religious teachers as 'gonsai;' both men and women can be gonsai. The community observes Wednesday as the day of communal worship. The gathering, which is called 'Hari Sabha' (the meeting of Hari), is an occasion for the Matuya to sing kirtan in praise of Hari till they almost fall senseless. musical instruments such as jaydanka, kansa, conch, shinga, accompany the kirtan. The gonsai, garlanded with karanga (coconut shell) and carrying chhota, sticks about twenty inches long, and red flags with white patches, lead the singing.

Shrishriharililamrta is the principal religious scripture of the Matuya. Apart from praising Hari and meditating upon him, the Matuya believe in kindness to the living. In order to stress the importance of all living creatures and the equality of all life, they say that the remains of what a dog has eaten are holy food and that what is upheld as holy by the vedas and orthodox religion is to be violated. These ideas are expressed in the following lines of verse:

Hari dhyan Hari jnan Hari nam sar

Premete matoyara matuya nam yar

Jibe daya name ruchi manusete nistha

Iha chhada ar yata sab kriya bhrasta;

Kukurer prasad pele khai

Veda-bidhi shauchachar nahi mani tai.

The Matuya are found in Bangladesh and west bengal. Their principal temple is at Orakandi in gopalganj, where a fair is held every year on the 13th day of the lunar month in Falgun, on the birth anniversary of Harichand Thakur. Thousands of devotees from all over the country gather on the occasions, bringing rice, lentils, and vegetables as token of their devotion and love. [Monoranjan Ghosh]

Matuya Sangit spiritual songs of the Matuya sect, containing praises of the god Hari and their gurus, Harichand Thakur and Guruchand. Composers of Matuya songs include Aswani Gosai, tarak chandra sarker, Manohar Sarker, Mahananda Sarker, Rasik Sarker, Prafulla Gonsai, Surendranath Sarker, and Swarup Sarker.

Composed in the manner of baul songs, these songs are predominantly about love (prem) and devotion (bhakti). The closing lines of the songs mention the name of the composer. Musical instruments such as the drum, shinga, and kansa are used as accompaniments. The devotees dance while they sing.

Matuya songs describe the longing of the soul for the divine. As in other religious poetry, the desire of the human soul is imaged in terms of human love as in the following songs: Hari tomar namer madhu pan korla na man-bhramara (The honey-bee mind has not drunk the honey from your name, oh Hari), Kabe tanre pab re, paran kande Harichand bali (When shall I meet Him, my soul cries for Harichand), Amar ei akinchan, he Guruchand tomay ami bhalabasi (Listen to me, O Guruchand, I love you).    [Wakil Ahmad]