Saurashtra (alternative spelling: Sourashtra, Sowrashtra, Sourashtri) or Patn? lkarar refers to the Saurashtra-speaking South Indian ethno-linguistic Hindu community, most of whom live in the state of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka in India.
Saurashtrians are Brahmins, and are also referred to as Saurashtra Brahmins . They were a prominent and prosperous community of merchants and weavers in south India until the twentieth century.
Saurashtrians are generally vegetarian and wear more sacred threads like all orthodox traditional brahmins, they are also classified based on their gotra, or patrilineal descendants, the vast majority of the population is Vaishnava, although there is a significant proportion of Shaivas as well. They are known by their unique family names and also use the titles of Sharma, Rao, Iyer and Iyengar as their surnames but belong to the linguistic minority.
Video Saurashtra people
Etimologi
The name Tamil where these people are also known in Tamil Nadu is Patn? Lkarar, meaning silk-thread people, mostly silk merchants and silk weavers who speak "Patun? Li" or "Palkar" or "Saurashtra", a dialect from Gujarati.
These people were first referred to as Pattavayaka , Sanskrit equivalent to Patn? Lkarar in the Mandasor inscription (present Madhya Pradesh) Kumaragupta I which was included in the 5th century. They are also mentioned by the same name in the Patteeswaram inscriptions from Thanjavur which included the mid-16th century AD and in the Rani Mangammal of Madurai inscriptions belonging to the 17th century.
Maps Saurashtra people
Origin
Bhagavata Purana mentions that ancient Abhiras were rulers of the Kingdom of Saurashtra and the Avanti Kingdom and they were followers of the Vedas, who worshiped Vishnu as their highest deity. These ancient provinces as depicted in Mahabharata's epic literature are roughly in line with the present Saurashtra region in southern Gujarat and Malwa in Madhya Pradesh.
Their origin is Dwarka, Lord Krishna's land, the origin of the name dates back to a time when the ancestors of these people inhabited the Lata Saurashtra region in southern Gujarat. Saurashtrians belong to the Pancha-Gauda Brahmana and are called Saurashtra Brahmins. They have their original home in Gujarat today and migrated to South India for a millennium ago. They are currently scattered in various places in Tamil Nadu and mostly concentrated in the Madurai District, Thanjavur and Salem.
History
Saurashtrians migrated from southern Gujarat in the 11th century after the fall of the Somnath Temple when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India. It is said that the Saurashtrians lived in Devagiri, Daulatabad in present-day Maharashtra during the regime of the king of Yadava until the 13th century. After the fall of Yadavas in the 14th century AD they moved to the Vijayanagar Empire with the invitation of Kings. The expansion of the Vijayanagar kingdom brought Saurashtrians to South India in the 14th century, as they were a highly skilled silk apparel manufacturer and protected by Kings and their families. After the fall of the Vijayanagar empire, they were greeted by Nayak Thanjavur Kings during the mid-16th century and Madurai in the 17th century and were allowed to settle near Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace.
Social Division
Jobs, sects and gotras
From the point of view of outsiders, the community can be seen as a homogeneous community. However, in reality many subdivisions exist between them at various levels. In general, Saurashtrians can be broadly classified as priests, traders, and weavers.
Sect
Saurashtrians can then be divided into three sects based on religion. ie,
- Vaishnavites, who use the vertical Vaishnavite sign, and call themselves northers;
- Smarthas, with a horizontal mark;
- Madhvas, who use gopi (Sandal paste) as a sign of their sect.
All above the three divisions of inter-marriage and interdine, and religious differences do not create differences in society. Saurashtrians classify their ancestors as originally belonging to two lines of Thiriyarisham and Pancharisham descendants. Their religion is Hindu, they follow the Yajurveda, and they were originally Madhva. After their settlement in South India, some of them, because of Sankaracharya and Ramanujacharya sermons, were converted into Saivites and Vaishnavites.
Gotras
They are further subdivided into Gotras and each Gotra consists of different surnames. The entire community consists of 64 Gotras. Marriage in the common stock is strictly prohibited.
Culture
Sa? sk? race, ritual, and Festivals
Saurashtrians have traditionally been an orthodox and familiar community. They are basically north in their habits, manners and social structure. Traditionally, a common family is a social and economic unit for them. In addition, the common family pattern helps them transmit their traditional culture to the younger generation.
Sa? sk? race
Saurashtrians strictly obey all ? O? A? A sa? Sk? Ra or 16 Samskaras Hindus, from which, the main social custom between them consists of six social ceremonies in one's life. (1) naming ceremony; (2) the sacred thread ceremony; (3) puberty; (4) marriage; (5) achievement of sixty years; (6) funeral ceremony.
The ritual performed after the birth of a child is known as jathakarma . The naming ceremony is specifically known as namakaranam . The main purpose of performing this birth ceremony is to purify and to protect the child from the disease. This ritual is believed to examine the adverse effects of the Planetary movement. The above ceremony was performed on the eleventh day after the birth of the child. The grandfather's name is preferred for boys and the name of the female god is recommended for girls.
The ceremony of vaduhom (the ceremony of the Sacred Throne) of Saurashtrians is essentially a ceremony of upanayanam . This ceremony is very important among them. This was done between the seventh and thirteenth years. In rare cases when a sacred thread ceremony is not held at a young age, it will be done at the time of marriage. The purpose of this ceremony is to highlight their Brahmin status. During this ceremony there are many parties and entertainment that last for four days.
Among Saurashtrians, reaching puberty is the greatest event in a girl's life. They also do pre-puberty weddings.
The wedding ceremony lasts 11 days with as many as 36 rituals. All these rituals are performed by the Saurashtrian priests who are separate clans in the community. Saurashtrians have their own wedding arrangements. Before the marriage was corrected, a long negotiation took place between the parents of both partners. Being traditional orthodox Hindus they are very specialized in matching horoscopes of couples. A man can claim the maternal uncle's daughter as his wife, and polygamy is allowed. Girls get married at an early age. Marriage in the common stock is strictly prohibited among them.
The death ritual is referred to as abarakkirigai or andhiyaeshti in the Saurashtrian community. Andhiyaeshti means last or last fire. This ritual is performed by the deceased's eldest son. In the case of no sons, the family performs the last ceremony. Kartha is the name given to the person performing this ritual. The performance of the rite signifies the belief that life is continuous and does not end with the death of a person. Furthermore, the deceased is believed to reach the gods level. The mourning period lasts for ten days, but it repeats annually in the form of a sraddha ceremony. Festival
Saurashtrians have a religious mind and they value high morality and character. The main divinity of Saurashtrians is Venkateshwara from Tirupati. Among other gods they worship the God of the Sun, Rama etc. They make regular visits to the Meenakshi temple. They celebrated Kolattam, the Chithirai festival and Ramanavami with enthusiasm, and observed Deepawali, Ganesh Chathurthi, Dussehra, Vaikunta Ekadasi, and Avani Avittam as important religious days. Their social habits are now very different from the traditional patterns and have similarities to the Tamil people. Only a few orthodox and wealthy merchant families retain their older customs.
Demographics
There are three groups of Saurashtrians living in Tamil Nadu. The first migrants came to Salem and settled there, the second group of migrants settled in Thanjavur and the surrounding places and then the third group of migrants settled in Madurai and the surrounding places. Saurashtrians maintain a dominant presence in Madurai, a city, also known as the 'Temple City' in the southern part of Tamil Nadu. Although official figures are hard to come by, it is believed that the Saurashtrian population is between a quarter and a fifth of the city's total population.
Mereka has been in the jurisdiction of the jurisdiction of Amur, Ammapettai, Ammayappan, Aranthangi, Arni, Ayyampettai, Bhuvanagiri, Chennai, Dharasuram, Dindigul, Erode, Kancheepuram, Kanyakumari, Karaikudi, Kottar, Krishnapuram, Kumbakonam, Namakkal, Nilakottai, Palani, Palayamkottai, Paramakudi , Parambur, Periyakulam, Puducherry, Pudukkottai, Rajapalayam, Ramanathapuram, Salem, Thanjavur, Thirubhuvanam, Thiruvaiyaru, Thiruvarur, Thuvarankurichi, Tirunelveli, Tiruvannamalai, Trichy, Vaniyambadi, Veeravanalur, Vellanguli, Vellore, Walajapet di Tamil Nadu.
They are also present in Kerala, Bengaluru in Karnataka and Tirupati, Vijayanagaram, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Nellore, Srikakulam, Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh are said to house several Saurashtrian families, known as Pattusali.
Language
Saurashtra's mother tongue is Saurashtra (name and alternative spelling: Sourashtra, Sowrashtra, Sourashtri, Palkar), Gujarati dialect with Sanskrit, Hindi, Marathi, Konkani, Kannada, Telugu & amp; Tamil but all are bilingual and can speak Tamil or Telugu or one of the local languages.
Saurashtra, the branch of Sauraseni Prakrit, once spoken in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, is commonly spoken by residents of Saurashtrians who live in parts of Tamil Nadu. The Saurashtrian language is the only Indo-Aryan language that uses the Dravidian script and is strongly influenced by Dravidian languages ​​such as Tamil and Telugu. However, the Indian Census placed the language under Gujarati.
Genetics
Organization
Leading leaders of society emerged in the late nineteenth century and felt the need to organize society. Initially, Madurai Saurashtra Sabha was formed in 1895 and officially registered in 1900 with many goals. This Sabha formation is the first step towards social mobilization. The Sabha government is administered by members of the elected Council and office officials. It has its own rules and regulations on the administration of elections, the rights and obligations of office administrators and the celebration of social functions. The election for Sabha is held once in three years. The social life of Saurashtrians is controlled almost entirely by Saurashtra Sabha. This organization is a committee of prominent people in society, who manage and control all schools and public institutions, temples and worship, and all political, religious, and social questions among Saurashtrians.
Saurashtra Madhya (center) Sabha, based in Madurai now remains the cultural center for all Saurashtrians living in Tamil Nadu. Many good traders and philanthropists in the community have contributed greatly to the growth of these institutions. Today, Saurashtrians are represented in white-collar jobs and professions in large numbers.
In 2009 Narendra Modi, the 16th Prime Minister of India, inaugurated the Saurashtra Heritage and Immigration Research Institute (RISHI), a project in collaboration with Saurashtra University, Rajkot.
Politics
In the second decade of the 20th century, Saurashtrians emerged as the dominant group in the social and political life of the Madras Presidency. Saurashtrians emerged as the dominant social group because of their collective mobilization, intellectual leadership, education, wealth, commerce, and enterprise. There are instances where community leaders organize the weavers and create social and economic protests. Good community traders make donations to TNCC for Salt Satyagraha and welcome all forms of Swadeshi agitation who love Indian fabrics.
Leaders who come to lead the community are not always from the upper classes. L.K. Thulasiram, who leads the community in Madurai, was not born into an aristocratic family. With his own efforts he travels abroad which brings prosperity to himself and to society at large. Thulasiram initially supported the non-Brahmin movement in Tamil Nadu. When he gets the displeasure of his community members who are fighting for Brahmin status, he changes his mind and supports the cause of his own people. He was elected Chairman of the City in 1921 in the midst of a fierce contest. During his tenure he brought many reforms into the community. He introduced a free daytime lunch scheme at a community-owned school for the first time in a country that was later emulated by the Tamil Nadu Government during the K. Kamaraj period in the name of a lunch scheme in public schools. When he lost his power in the City Council, he became a leading organizer of the non-working movement. Later he impressed the Congress Party and became the leader of the merchants. In this capacity he strives to increase the prestige and position of his community.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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