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Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins
By: Aarti Maskeri PA USA Source: NAKC 1996 Souvenir
(This original article from Konkani Sammelan
site has been reformatted here for ease of reading)
Gaud Saraswat and Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins of India
The brahmin caste of India consists of a number of regional castes which
are spread out all over the country. Ever since the times of the Puranas,
the brahmin caste had been divided into two groups based on the geographical
origin of the people. The brahmins that lived to the north of the Vindhyas
were referred to as the Gaud Brahmins, whereas the brahmins which lived
to the south of the Vindhyas were referred to as the Dravida Brahmins.
These two Puranic divisions of brahmins were then divided into five subdivisions.
From the five subdivisions of the Gaud Brahmins, the ones which lived to
the west of the Saraswati River were referred to as the Saraswat Brahmins.
According to a brahminical legend, the Saraswati river "flows underground,
from where it loses itself in the deserts north of Rajputana, till it joins
the Ganges and Yamuna at Prayag (Allahabad)". Throughout the course
of history, the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins have migrated to a variety of locations
and are found today in Rajasthan, Western Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Punjab, and Jammu and Kators migrated from Kashmir to Goa via
Bengal.
The Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins represent a relatively small group of brahmins
who firmly established their identity as a unified group in the year 1708.
The history of migration of their ancestors from Kashmir to a variety of
places all over the country of India serves to demonstrate how their strong
religious and cultural beliefs developed into the present century. Today,
the unique members of this group are situated in a variety of places in
India including Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka, and Madras. By tracing
their ancestral heritage, we will see how the cultural history of this
group came to define their remarkable characteristics which have survived
throughout the centuries.
Migration of Gaud Saraswat Brahmins to Goa
Many Gaud Saraswat Brahmins also refer to the legend of Shri Parashurama
to explain how their ancestors arrived in Goa. Set forth in the Skhanda
Purana, it is said that Shri Parashurama was a brahmin lad who was a reincarnation
of Lord Vishnu. To avenge his father's death, Shri Parashurama killed all
the warriors and kings in India during that time period. He then wished
to cleanse himself of this horrendous crime by retiring to a land of peace.
Therefore, the sea granted him a boon: it would recede as far back as he
could throw an ax from the Western Ghats. By receding, the sea would offer
Shri Parashurama the land he had requested. Shri Parashurama then filled
the land with all of the brahmin caste members from the Gulf of Cambay
to Cape Comorin. Part of the land became known as Goa, and the people that
Shri Parashurama placed in this region were referred to as the Gaud Saraswat
Brahmins.
Once the migrants arrived in Goa, they occupied various plots of land
and organized their community. The immigrants were comprised of ten gotras,
or clans. Settling primarily in the Sasasthi (Salcette), Tisrade (Tissuary),
and Bardesh (Bardez) regions of Goa, these founders produced magnificent
fields of rice on their new land. However, the cultivation of the land
was probably forced upon the lower caste natives of Goa who were traditionally
given a percentage of the crops. Some time after these founders developed
the lands and villages of this region, other groups of brahmins left their
homes in the north and came to settle in Goa as well. The second wave of
immigrants were representatives of the Kaundinya, Vatsa, and Kaushika gotras.
For the most part, these immigrants decided to live in two villages of
Sasasthi named Kuthalor or Kushasthat (Cortollim) and Keloshi (Quelessam).
Consequently, the representatives of these two gotras came to be known
as Kushasthalikars and Keloshikars. The exact date of their migration is
unknown, but the representatives of this batch contributed to an integral
part of the history of the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins in Goa. By the eighteenth
century, there were either nineteen or twenty-one gotras in the Gaud Saraswat
Brahmin caste. Therefore, it is presumed that other groups of migrants
arrived in Goa some time after the second batch.
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Migration of Shenvis
The Kushasthalikars and Keloshikars were members of the Gaud Saraswat
Brahmins who belonged to the smarta persuasion. Those who represent this
persuasion primarily engage in the worship of the following five deities:
Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya, and Ganesha. The Kushasthalikars and Keloshikars
of Goa were collectively referred to as the Shenai or Shenvi (learned)
due to their increased interest in pursuing secular employment in addition
to maintaining their land. They primarily sought professional careers in
the fields of teaching, writing, and accounting. It is important to note
that these terms (Shenai or Shenvi) are used in the Maharashtra region
today in reference to any Gaud Saraswat Brahmin; however, in the regions
south of Goa, these terms are generally used to identify only the smarta
Gaud Saraswat Brahmins.
Although the lifestyles of the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins could have continued
in this manner, it was not able to due to military forces outside of Goa.
The Bahmani raids in 1351 apparently encouraged several Shenvi families
to migrate to the Kanara district in Karnataka, which is located to the
south of Goa. By the seventeenth century, it was evident that a considerable
number of Kushasthalikar and Keloshikar families had migrated and eventually
settled in Kanara. Once they had migrated to the Kanara district, the Shenvis
were not able to sustain their unity with the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins they
had left behind in Goa. Therefore, this group broke away from the Gaud
Saraswat Brahmins and eventually formed their own caste, called the Chitrapur
Saraswat Brahmins (also referred to as Bhanaps after one of their popular
caste members).
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Formation of Chitrapur Saraswats
However, this distinction between the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins of Goa
and the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins required sufficient time to solidify.
During the reign of Basavappa Nayaka I (1696 -1714), some people of Kanara
accused the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin Shenvis of not being true brahmins. This
accusation is said to have evolved in consequence to two factors: 1) the
Gaud Saraswat Brahmin Shenvis had no guru, or spiritual leader, to represent
their community and 2) since many of the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin Shenvis
were holding impressive administration positions during this time period,
the natives of Kanara were aroused with jealousy which stimulated
them to form this accusation.
Since the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin Shenvis did not have a spiritual guide
to represent their caste, the ruler of the region most probably would not
recognize their brahminical status. Therefore, the Shenvis felt that it
was necessary to seek a spiritual preceptor for their community. Soon after,
the Shenvis prayed to two of their deities, Shri Bhavanishankar and to
Shri Mahabaleshvara, in hope of finding a guru. Some time after their prayers
had been addressed, a sanyassin (one who is in the final stage of life
and completely renounces all worldly possessions) of north Indian Saraswat
Brahmin descent came to Gokarn. At the request of the Shenvis, the sanyassin
accepted the role to guide and represent their community in 1708. This
commenced the development of a new caste known as the Chitrapur Saraswat
Brahmins, who had now firmly differentiated themselves from the rest of
the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins of Goa.
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Chitrapur Saraswat Guruparampara
Shrimat Parijnanashram I
The acceptance of the sanyassin, Shrimat Parijnanashram Swami, as their
guru also started the new smarta guruparampara, or line of gurus. After
Shrimat Parijnanashram Swami consented to guide the community,
his acceptance had to be formally confirmed by all of the other members
of the community. The people of Gokarn sent letters to the members residing
in Mangalore and Vithal to notify them about the guru who would be touring
around the south to give sermons and grant blessings. Some of the Kushasthalikar
and Keloshikar families did not accept the new guru at once. For example,
some families residing north of the Gangavali river decided not to accept
the guru. However, the families who accepted the guru decided to provide
for the living expenses of the swami by offering donations every year.
Whenever the guru would travel among his community members, they also had
the duties of providing him with any necessities.
Next, the Sringeri matha (holy shrine) in the Kanara district was asked
for their consent of the new guru. Basavappa Nayaka, on his behalf of the
matha, granted his consent soon after the request was made. In 1739, Basavappa
Nayaka II gave the Bhanaps land in Gokarn to build a matha in reverence
to their primary deity, Shri Bhavanishankar. This firmly established Parijnanashram
Swami as the guru of the community.
Shrimat Shankarashram I
The guruparampara was continued by each successive gurus adoption of
a shishya, or a disciple. This disciple would then succeed his guru when
he attained mahasamadhi, or final liberation. Before Parijnanashram Swami
attained mahasamadhi, the community members had asked him to adopt a shishya
to continue the lineage of gurus. He then chose a young boy from the Shukla
Bhat family to be his student. Since this family had given up their son
for the community, they were given the duties of maintaining a certain
part of the matha. They would also be given the privilege of helping to
select the future shishyas of the community. The young boy, given the title
Shankarashram Swami, guided the community of Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins
from 1720 to 1757. During his reign, he traveled to many different places
to bless his community members and collect the annual donations needed
to support the matha. He also helped the community by performing the necessary
religious rituals which they had specifically requested. Under his leadership,
the community members also built a matha at the memorial of Parijnanashram
Swami in Gokarn.
Other than the information that has been set forth, not much has been
found about the daily rituals and activities of Parijnanashram Swami and
Shankarashram Swami. Apparently, there was a conflagration in the beginning
of the nineteenth century which had ruined many sources of information
from the matha. However, it is known that the Shukla Bhat family was still
managing the matha. Shankarashram Swami attained mahasamadhi in the year
1757 when he was on a visit to Shirali. So a devoted community member,
by the name of Nagarkatte, contributed land for the erection of a matha
in commemoration of the guru. This new matha was given the name Shri Chitrapur Matha,
and it soon came to be "premier religious institution of the Chitrapur
Saraswats and was thereafter the principal seat of the gurus."
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Shrimat Parijnanashram II
Shankarashram Swami had not adopted a shishya during his reign. Since
the community strongly desired the continuation of the guruparampara, they
asked one of their pious members to succeed Shankarashram Swami. Once he
accepted this great honor, he was given the name Parijnanashram Swami II.
His humility and devotion towards his community members left this guru
little time for the administration of the matha.
Shrimat Shankarashram II
Parijnanashram Swami II then decided to adopt
a shishya to help him in the management of the matha. Given the title
Shankarashram Swami II, he succeeded his master and represented the community
until the year 1785. Keshavashram Swami then succeeded Shankarashram Swami II
in 1785 and continued to lead the community for another thirty-eight
years.
From the end of the eighteenth century and well into the nineteenth
century, the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins were experiencing many changes
within their caste. The gurus continued to emphasize the importance of
the Shri Chitrapur matha as a common religious shrine among the caste members.
Many of the community members who were rising in affluence also contributed
the monetary necessities for the maintenance and improvements of the matha.
Many disciples were extremely devoted to assisting their community members
and maintaining the matha. The Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins refer to this
era as the "reaffirmation of ancestral dharma (duties in life)."
The gurus of the community simultaneously endeavored to develop a strong
bond among their devotees by encouraging them to engage in the activities
of matha. Three leaders of the community who are especially accredited
for this accomplishment are: Shrimat Keshavashram, Shrimat Vamanashram
and Shrimat Krishnashram. They held the members of the community together
from 1785 to 1864 and developed many of the strong religious values that
have been passed down to the present generations of the Chitrapur Saraswat
Brahmins.
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Shrimat Keshavashram
Shrimat Keshavashram Swami focused on the wishes of the older community
members. He strongly encouraged the members to join in the rituals of the
matha; by doing so, he brought the community members closer together. Previous
swamis generally visited the towns of Gokarn and Shirali, but Keshavashram
Swami was different in this respect. In addition to visiting these places,
he also ventured out to Bhanap villages that were farther south such as
Kundapur, Mangalore, Bantwal, and Vithal. During these visits, he emphasized
to his community that they should not engage in Vaisnava rituals in their
daily lives.
Although the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins were smarthas, allowing them
to worship Lord Visnu, they "were not to wear Vaisnava sectarian marks."
Although we may interpret the reasoning behind this ordinance in a variety
of ways, we will never know for certain why and how he had made these statements,
for there are no written documents of Keshavashram Swamis teachings. In
any event, he also advised the members to only make monetary contributions
to the Shri Chitrapur matha. Because of his strength and perseverance,
the community started to obtain more land for the matha. The donations
of the community members were utilized to improve the maintenance to the
memorials of the previous swamis.
Keshavashram Swami visited the memorial of his master in the town of
Mallapur in the year 1816. Many of the community members also came to the
location of the memorial to obtain blessings from their guru. Before leaving
the cite, he gave funds from the matha to renovate the memorial of his
master. He also visited the Shrimat Ananteshwara temple at Vithal during
on their holy ceremonies. During the visit, he encouraged the community
members to contribute money towards the matha. Prior to attaining mahasamadhi,
Keshavashram Swami utilized these funds for a very important purpose: the
erection of a new Shri Chitrapur matha at Shirali.
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Shrimat Vamanashram
Vamanashram Swami was formally invited to be a shishya of Keshavashram
Swami in 1804. He began his training at Mangalore with certain brahmin
teachers; however, once he succeeded Keshavashram Swami in 1823, he focused
his time and energy in the southern region of the Kanara district. During
his reign from 1823 to 1839, one of his most important tours was to the
sacred shrine at Tala Kaveri in Coorg. Bhanap tradition maintains that
Vamanashram Swami focused more of his attention on the spiritual and religious
aspects of the matha and left less time for its actual management than
Keshavashram Swami. However, the documents that have survived clearly show
that guru ardently sought donations from the members of the community in
order to maintain the matha and purchase more land for the matha. One of
the documents demonstrating this fact is a letter that the guru himself
wrote to his laity requesting payments for this very purpose.
Shrimat Krishnashram
To ease the gurus anxieties over the maintenance of the matha, however,
the community then requested that he adopt a shishya to help him. This
request was strongly suggested again to the guru by forty-eight Bhanap
families of Kundapur when they heard that his health was deteriorating.
The Bhanap families assured their guru that once he selected a shishya,
the donations would be sent to the matha. An influential man of the community,
named Yellur Devapaya, suggested that the guru should adopt a young boy
from the Nagar family. The young boy, Parameshvara, was a servant to Devapaya
in his house. Devapaya had taken the boy to an astrologer who assured him
that the child was suited for a life beyond the tasks of a servant. This
question was also put forth to the spirit medium oracle at Shrimat Ananteshwar
temple at Vithal. The oracle also suggested that Parameshvara had been
ordained for more spiritual duties in life.
However, there was one problem with the acceptance of this child as
shishya: the family of the Shukla Bhats were supposed to be given the first
option in the selection of the shishya (since this family had offered their
son to the community to be a shishya and then a guru). They also had been
given the right to nominate any other child as a substitute candidate for
the shishya position. However, the people of the Chitrapur Saraswat community
who lived in Gokarn, Bantwal, Manjaeshvar, Ullal, and Bhatkal all strongly
supported Devapaya's suggestion to adopt Parameshvara as the shishya. In
this situation of such a large portion of the community favoring the adoption
of one particular child, Shrimat Vamanashram Swami finally selected Nagar
Parameshvara in 1836. During the formal initiation ceremony in Mangalore,
he was given the name Shrimat Krishnashram Swami.
Therefore, the Shukla Bhat family was not given preference in the selection
of the shishya in this case. Since they had felt that they had not been
given their due consideration, some members of this family wrote a letter
from Shirali to Vamanashram Swami in Mangalore. In the letter, they stated
that since the shishya Krishnashram had been selected from another family
without their formal consent, they should be given something of monetary
value in return. They felt that they should receive certain supplies, such
as rice and donations, for maintenance of the matha as well as for the
Shukla Bhat family. Unfortunately, the contributions from the laity at
that time were so small that it is questionable whether the Shukla Bhats
request was immediately met or not. In response to the low level of funds,
the community members urged Vamanashram Swami to allow Krishnashram to
go on tour to request contributions for the matha.
Shrimat Vamanashram Swami was better at encouraging the community members
to donate money to their own towns or villages. For example, there was
a town named Bantwal which had no temple for the Bhanaps. Shrimat Vamanashram
Swami felt that a temple in this location would benefit the community in
a variety of ways, and it would also serve as place for the swami to stay
there on his way from Mangalore to Vithal. Therefore, he initiated a plan
which would allow for the building of a center that would serve this dual
purpose. So in 1836, Nagarkatte Manjappaya (a judge in the town of Bantwal)
and Kombrabail Subraya (an accountant) began the construction of the Shri
Sitarama temple. Due to the Coorgi invasion, the construction of the temple
was delayed in 1837, but it was finally completed by the year 1838. At
first, the expenses for the daily rituals were paid for by donations from
members of the community. However, a judge named Venkappaya insisted that
the donations be invested so that the necessary funds would be available
when the community would want to purchase more lands for the shrine. Therefore,
Shrimat Vamanashram Swami successfully initiated the construction of a
caste temple for the members of his community. Vamanashram Swami attained
mahasamadhi in November of 1839 at Mangalore. The members of the community
donated a substantial amount of money in order to cover the costs of the
rituals of his memorial.
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Shrimat Pandurangashram
In 1858, Krishnashram Swami decided to adopt his nephew, Nagar Kalappa,
as his shishya. During his initiation ceremony, he officially assumed the
title of Shrimat Pandurangashram Swami. Some members of the community criticized
the young boy for not completely renouncing some of his materialistic pleasures
upon his initiation. Consequently, Pandurangashram Swami gave up all of
his worldly pleasures in exchange for a life of complete asceticism immediately
after these complaints had been voiced.
Pandurangashram Swami supported the technological advances that had
been made during his reign in order to promote the dharma of the members
of his community. When the Southern Maharatta Railway had been built, connecting
Hubli to Poona, Pandurangashram Swami encouraged his devotees to travel
on this train to help his disciples make pilgrimages to far-off shrines.
To demonstrate his acceptance of the new railway, he took a train to Benares,
first going through Hubli and Allahabad. He stopped to visit the members
of the community situated in Hubli, Dharwar, Gadag, and Bijapur. Although
the railway did connect to a town near Bombay, he did not stop there to
meet those representatives of the community. He may have done this because
there was not an organized Bhanap community established there at that time.
Nevertheless, the omission of Bombay from his itinerary created a rift
in the relations between urban and rural members of the community.
During Pandurangashram Swami's visit to Benaras, he participated in many
important activities that benefited the community. First, he performed
many special rituals for people who had especially requested him to do
so during his trip. He also joined several Pundits during there usual discussion
sessions. Topics of discussion were the Veda, Paniniis grammar, nyaya shastra,
and Mimamsa. These examples symbolize the developing relationship between
the guru and his devotees.
After returning from his trip to Benares, he wrote two books which were
then immediately published for use within the community. The first book
explained the rituals and prayers to be used in honor of each deity on
specific holidays; the second book was a Sanskrit book with a Kannada translation
of morning, evening and special prayers for the Saraswats. He devoted the
preface of his second book to a lecture on advaita (nondualistic) philosophy.
In this introduction, he expounded that true happiness would be understood
only by those who realized that Brahman was the central principle of the
universe.
Perhaps the most remembered aspect of life under the guidance of Shrimat
Parijnanashram Swami dealt with the resistance of social reforms. In Mangalore,
one religious controversy erupted in the year 1870 when several men began
to revive the beliefs of the Arya Samaj. The most active advocate among
this group of men was one named Gulvadi Venkatrao. After reading Swami
Dayananda Saraswatiis Satyarth Prakash, he wrote and Arya Samaj magazine
in Kannada. Pandurangashram Swamis reaction to this uprising of Arya Samaj
ideas was not favorable. After reading about the principal views of this
group, he announced them to be against the dharma of the Saraswats. Fortunately,
this controversy did not disrupt the lives of the Saraswats by any great
measure since most people agreed with their guru.
This was not to be the case in the controversy of 1888, however. This
controversy questioned whether young widows of the caste could be allowed
to remarry. Traditionally, the brahmin caste had never allowed a woman
to marry more than once, and the Saraswats were no exception to this rule.
If a woman was to become a widow, she was to then immerse herself in her
devotion to god. This had been done in the past by brilliant Bhanap saints
such as Jognani (in the seventeenth century) and Nadghar Shanti Bai (in
the 1890's). Social reformers, however, argued that young widows who were
still virgins should be allowed to remarry if they wished to do so. Therefore,
in 1884, a group of Madras Bhanaps initiated a widow-marriage group and
requested that the Saraswats of South Kanara join them. Before doing so,
the South Kanara Bhanaps sought the advice of their guru, Pandurangashram
Swami. He rejected the plan pointing out that the dharmashastra did not
cite enough cases of widow marriages for it to be acceptable in the culture
of the Saraswats. The Bhanaps of South Kanara did not want to oppose the
wishes of their guru, so many maintained indifferent views on the issue.
However, the Madras Bhanaps still strongly justified the propriety of young
widow marriages. Another form of opposition stemmed from Shamrao Vithal
Kaikini who wrote a brief excerpt favoring widow marriages. These events
should not be viewed as an urbanized revolt against the matha, however.
For it was merely a time marked by great changes and technological advances.
This was simply one example of how the Bhanap community and their guru
tried to adapt to these developing trends of society.
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Shrimat Anandashram
Nevertheless, Pandurangashram Swami was dissatisfied with the opposition
he had encountered in this matter, and he endeavored to emphasize the Saraswat
tradition that had been maintained by their ancestors. His tension rising,
he told the community that he would not adopt a shishya because he thought
" that too many disciples of the matha were not prepared to follow the
dharma of their caste. " The members of the community pleaded with
him eight times to adopt a shishya, but he was adamant in his decision.
He prayed to Shri Bhavanishankar to help him remain strong in his decision,
but the Lord had ordained otherwise. For in June of 1915, he relented and
selected a twelve-year old boy named Shantamurti, who was to be the last
guru of the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins. He was the son of Haridas Ramachandra
who had been a priest at the matha. A few days after the formal initiation
of Shantamurti, given the title Anandashram, Pandurangashram Swami attained
mahasamadhi. Therefore, the young shishya had been given sole sovereignty
over the community of Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins although he had not yet
had the opportunity to learn from his master.
Fortunately, Pandurangashram Swami had foreseen the difficulties which
his young shishya would encounter; therefore, prior to his attainment of
mahasamadhi, he ordained that his shishya should not be given the duties
of maintaining the matha until he had received his due education and necessary
training. Until that point in time, the Shukla Bhat family would maintain
the matha, and the community members would worship the padukas of Pandurangashram
Swami. Pursuing his education without the help of a guru was one of the
hardships he had to bear. Generally, the priests of the matha tended to
his education with the additional help of tutors. However, as a true scholar,
Anandashram Swami laboriously taught himself most of the time. However,
this was not an easy task to accomplish and frustration overcame him on
two instances. Both times, he left the matha in order to live as a sanyassin,
but he returned upon the urgent requests of his devotees. Upon his return,
he was still frustrated with his life at the matha. So in 1927, Anandashram
Swami set out for Rishikesh with a brahmin friend from the north named
Krishnashrama. On his way, he halted in Bombay to visit his community members;
they were greatly impressed with the inner strength and piety that emanated
from the young boy.
The revival of the urban Bhanap's interest in the matha and their guru
could have evolved from a few factors. Bombay was in the midst of an economic
recession at the time. It had become more difficult for men of the household
to find employment; those who were employed feared that they would soon
be unemployed. This may have caused more Bhanaps to realize their need
for spiritual enlightenment from their guru. Also, many of the families
in Bombay had asked their parents from the rural areas to come and live
with them in the city. Therefore, the older generations may have encouraged
the younger generations to engage in the activities of the matha and religious
services of their community.
During the brief survey of Anandashram Swami's reign, it was mentioned
that many Bhanaps had been living in Bombay. Their migration from Kanara
to Bombay marks an interesting point in the history of the Chitrapur Saraswat
Brahmins. In the year 1860, most Bhanaps resided in Kanara, and most of
them continued to live there even up till the year 1900. Around this time
period, a few Bhanaps slowly began to migrate into Bombay. These small
groups of Bhanaps who set out for Bombay primarily went there for education.
The educational system in India at that time was quite different from today.
In order to graduate from high school, one had to pass an examination conducted by
a university in Bombay, Madras, or Calcutta. Therefore, the students from
the Kanara district had to go to one of these cities to take the examination.
In this time period, most Bhanaps showed a preference for either Bombay
or Madras.
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Bhanap Migration to Bombay
The first Bhanap to migrate to Bombay, however, chose to go there for
employment rather than education. Shamrao Vithal Kaikini (1841- 1905)
was an intelligent and determined young Bhanap who had the courage to leave
the Kanara district, which had been the home of Bhanaps for over a century,
and venture into the modernized city of Bombay. Shamrao had learned English
with a tutor when he was a young boy up until he was eighteen years of
age. In 1859, he passed a test enabling him to seek employment in the field
of public service. The revenue department in Kanara then employed him soon
after he passed the examination. Also working in this department was an
Englishman named William Wedderburn. Wedderburn immediately recognized
the unique abilities that Shamrao possessed. In due time, Shamrao had heard
the magnificent stories about the tremendous opportunities that were awaiting
him in Bombay. So, by the time he was twenty years of age, Shamrao set
off for Bombay by himself to conquer his dreams of becoming a lawyer. Once
in Bombay, his first job was with S. N. Patkar who employed him as a clerk
in his law office. It was not long before Shamrao became frustrated with
this job; consequently, he returned to Kanara to work with his brother
who had just opened his law practice. In 1867, his brother received a case
which had to go to the Bombay High Court. Shamrao was employed by his brother
to translate all the necessary documents. Therefore, when the case was
called to Bombay, Shamrao and his brother set off to the city. Soon after,
Shamrao was recognized for his talents and was employed as the "second
Kannada translator to the Bombay High Court." Shamrao then sent for
his wife in Kanara to come and live with him in Bombay In 1871, Shamrao
passed the Bombay High Court Pleader's examination. This allowed him to
finally establish his profession in the field of law by beginning his practice
with the appellate part of the Bombay High Court.
As many great leaders in history, Shamrao also pursued many other interests
besides his professional career. He started to help his family members
from the Kanara district to come to Bombay for education in 1869. One of
the people whom he helped was his nephew, Narayanrao Ganesh Chandavarkar.
This boy had passed his high school matriculation test in the year 1871;
he then received an acceptance at Elphinstone College in Bombay. In
1876, he was the first Bhanap to receive a University of Bombay Bachelor
of Arts degree. Shamrao also encouraged other members of his caste to come
to Bombay. The first group of Bhanap men that came to Bombay for their
education established a room club, or a hostel, in an apartment near Shamrao's
residence in Kandewadi to alleviate the financial pressures of securing
independent housing. At any rate, the Bhanaps had finally made their way
into the cosmopolitan city of Bombay by the late 1800's.
Bhanaps had also begun to migrate to the city of Madras in the year
1865. Similar to the reasons for going to Bombay, many Bhanaps originally
went to Madras to take their high school matriculation examination and
then pursue further study at the university. The first Bhanap to matriculate
from the university in Madras was Ullal Baburao in 1869 when he received
his Bachelors degree in law. Soon after, many other Bhanaps received their
college degrees form the university in Madras as well. Madras had earned
an excellent reputation in terms of its educational prospective and its
employment opportunities in the field of administration. However, the weak
point of this city was that it was not very technologically advanced and
thus did not offer many employment opportunities for the fresh graduates
of the university. The Bhanaps who ultimately did settle in this city were
those who had educational backgrounds in administration. Many others were
force to seek employment elsewhere. In this respect, Madras did not become
as popular as a place of migration for the Bhanaps as did Bombay which
was a more modern city. Thus, Bombay attracted more Bhanaps since it offered
more employment opportunities.
One of the major aspects of this unique group that has not yet been
emphasized is that of language. The members of this cast speak Konkani,
one of the Indo-Aryan languages which descended from the Middle Indic Prakrits.
Some Bhanap scholars noticed that the caste continued to become increasingly
confined within their own group as time passed. One of the major contributors
to this developing situation may be the fact that the Konkani language
binds the members of this small caste in a way that is unique among the
Saraswats. Although some ascertain that the Konkani language restricts
the members of the caste from socializing with their Kannada friends in
Karnataka, Tamil friends in Madras, Gujarati friends in Bombay, etc., other
members of the cast maintain that their language is a strong symbol of
their identity and cultural heritage. In fact, many members of the community
fondly refer to their mother-tongue as amchigele meaning of our own. From
either perspective, it is unquestionable that Konkani as a language is
one of the most defining characteristics of the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins
today.
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In Summary
The history of the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins serves to demonstrate
how their religious and cultural views developed into the present century.
Starting from the valleys of Kashmir, the ancestors of the Bhanaps migrated
to all parts of India. As the migrated to new shmir.
Also included in the Saraswat Brahmins are a great proportion of the
Hindus in Kashmir, called the Kashmiri Pundits. These Kashmiri Brahmins
are thought to be the descendants of the Aryans who migrated into India
from Central Asia or Eastern Europe. However, these people differentiate
themselves from the rest of the Saraswat Brahmins in that they identify
their caste with the Goddess Saraswati, who has been mentioned in the Vedas
as the Goddess of Learning. However, the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins residing
on the western coast of India (primarily in Maharashtra, Goa, and Karnataka)
are thought to have descended from these Kashmiri Brahmins. Substantial
evidence has been set forth by several historians relating that the Kashmiri
Brahmins migrated to Goa by the eleventh century AD.
To trace the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins ancestry from Kashmir to Goa, one
must begin with the story of the famous seer, Saraswata. When there was
a famine in northern India, he continued to recite the vedic texts by consuming
the fish that the goddess Saraswati had given to him. The brahmins of later
generations who accepted fish as a part of their diet were often known
to have referred to this story to justify their full-fledged status as
brahmins despite their acceptance of fish. Since the acceptance of fish
was also prevalent in the culture of many Bengali brahmins and because
of the apparent similarities between the languages of the two groups, many
Gaud Saraswat Brahmin scholars suggested that their ancesplaces, they maintained
some of their religious views while modifying others. In the year 1708,
a small group of these migrants had established their own unique caste
and initiated a guruparampara. The teachings of the gurus and their dedication
to the devotees strengthened the unity of the caste members which has survived
till the present day.
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