Rajapur Saraswat Brahmins

ethnic group
group = Rajapur Saraswat Brahmans
सारस्वत ಸಾರಸ್ವತ್
poptime = 75000 (approx)
popplace = Primary populations in:
*Karnataka
*Kerala
*Goa
*Maharashtra

Populations in:
*United Kingdom
*United States
*Arab States

langs = Konkani , Marathi,Kannada
rels = Hinduism
related = Konkani people , Brahmin , Indo-Aryans , Arya
related=
*Chitrapur_Saraswats
*Saraswat
*Goud Saraswat Brahmins

Rajapur/Bhalavalikar Gauda Saraswat Brahmans (RSB), as they are known, belong to the "Pancha (five) Gauda Brahmana" groups or "Gaudadi Panchakas". Rajapur Saraswat Brahmins are a branch of the saraswat brahmins, who were supposed to have resided on the banks of the legendary Saraswati River. They migrated to Goa region in around 700 BC from the banks of river Saraswati. They got their name from their village of origin namely Rajapur/ [http://wikimapia.org/324715/ Bhalavali Village] in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra state in India, where they had migrated from Goa. Rajapur/Bhalavalikar Saraswat Brahmins were called as Gowd Saraswat Brahmins, before they migrated from Bhalavali/Rajapur to various other places.

Many Goan Gaud Saraswat Brhamins fled from from Goa, a section of them went to Bhalavali, Rajapur villages in Ratnagiri district in order to save themselves from forced conversions by Portuguese in Goa and also attacks from Muslim rulers.Later they came to known as Rajapur/Bhalavalikar Gauda Saraswat Brahmins. The members of this community follow the hindu religion and speak Konkani language. The Konkani spoken by them is a mixture of Goan konkani and marathi. They consider the Swamiji of Kavale Mutt of Goa as their spiritual guru.

History

Saraswat Brahmins lived on the banks of Saraswati River, now an extinct river, which used to flow in the northern part of India. Though invisible today, there are numerous mention of this sacred river in Rigveda, Mahabharata and other Hindu holy books. References to river Saraswati has been frequently made in the Rig veda shlokas, praising the river as the mightiest river and describe her as "limitless, undeviating, shining and swift moving". Recent findings by scientists and research institutes have confirmed the existence of Saraswati river.

Saraswat Brahmins derived their name from either the river Saraswati or from their spiritual leader Great sage Saraswat Muni (son of Rishi Dadichi) [ www.gsbkerala.com/gsbhistory.htm, Sub title: Saraswat history.] , who lived on the banks of Saraswati. They belonged to Smarta tradition and primarily worshipped Panchayatana (the five deities): Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha. These Brahmins were one of the Pancha Gouda Brahmin groups who lived north of the Vindhyas.

Saraswat Brahmins mastered the Vedas, and administerd the priestly rites in the temples. The Vedas were passed down to the generations by the virtue of word of mouth, as written records didn't exist at that time. The Saraswat Brahmins had to maintain a very tight hold on their culture to maintain and protect their legacy.

Gomantak Saraswats

The first migration of Saraswats to Goa took place around 700BC. They migrated from the banks of river Saraswati, mostly through sea routes in search of greener pastures. Subsequently, many more Saraswat Brahmins migrated to Goa. They took up farming and trading business in Goa. They settled down peacefully and worked in partnership with indigenous people. At the same time, they kept their ancient vedic way of life alive, performed vedic rituals and retained their cultural traditions. They also brought their Kuladevtas and established temples for their deities. Gomantak region in Goa has many such temples, that testifies this historic fact. These temples facilitated socio-cultural activities of the community.

Another popular belief is that Sage Parashurama brought Saraswats of 10 different Gothras, to the south of Vindhyas to Gomatak, where he asked Varuna to vacate part of the sea-land, which is also called Parashurama Kshetra or Parashurama Shrishti. Then more Saraswat groups followed them. They follow the Shodasha Samskaras with Shrothra-Smartha Chatur Ashrama Karma. These Saraswats are Rigvedi Asulayana Suthra-Shakal Shakha-Adhyayees (student).

Exodus from Goa to Bhalavali/Rajapur

Saraswats prospered for many centuries in Gomantak region. In 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, Saraswats migrated to different places for many reasons. In 1328, army of Tughalaks (Delhi Sultan) captured the Kadamba capital Chandrapur which included Gomantak region and looted it. Gomantak province was also under Khilji (Muslim ruler) rule from 1352 to 1472 AD, and in 1472 Bahamani Muslims attacked and destroyed many temples and forced people to convert to Islam. In 1510 Portuguese established their rule in Gomantak after capturing it from Adil Shah of Bijapur dynasty.

The subsequent entry of Christian missionories made the matter worse for Hindus and Saraswat Brahmins. The Hindu temples were destroyed, Hindus were forced to convert to Christianity, Hindu religious functions were banned, people were also forced to eat beef. In 1559 AD, King Joao III of Portugal issued a decree threatening expulsion or execution of non-believers in Christianity. In about 1560 AD, beautiful temple at Keloshi, Kushasthali (Mangesh, Shanta durga) and Gauda Padacharya Mutt, about 280 temples were destroyed in Berdez and 300 temples in Salcette, and many churches were built.

This was perhaps worst and humiliating time for the Saraswat Brahmins. To avoid this humiliation and religious persecution, several Saraswat families fled to different directions such as Mangalore, north Canara in Karnataka, Cochin in Kerala, Ratnagiri District in Maharashtra to name few, some families who could not afford to flee or resist the persecution converted to Christianity, some who could resist but were not willing to abandon their farms and business stayed on and rebuilt their lives.

The families who fled and settled in Rajapur Taluk of Ratnagiri District came to be known as Rajapur Saraswat Brahmins, and who settled down in Bhalavali came to be known as Bhalavalikar Saraswat Brahmins. They built few temples in these places and continued Smartha tradition. They have their surnames like Lotlikar,Tendulkar,Salwankar, Karlekar etc (ref. names given under 'Upanamas' in below table of Gotras) which are the original names of Gomantak villages.

Migration to Karnataka/Kerala

It is believed that in the 17th century, some families of Bhalavalikars/Rajapurkars migrated to Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu Districts of Karnataka and Kasaragod District in Kerala. Rajapur Saraswats settled in Udupi District and Bhalavalikar Saraswats settled in Sullia, Puttur, Bantwal, Kodagu and Kasaragod.

Over a period Rajapur/Bhalavalikar Saraswats went to different places and cities for jobs, education and better living. Apart from the places mentioned before, one can find many members of this community in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Belagavi, Hyderabad. Many Rajapur/Bhalavalikar Saraswats today can also be found in foreign countries mainly in Middle East and USA.

The history of Saraswats is a testimony of their struggle for existence, owing to a chain of migrations. Throughout the course of history, the Saraswat brahmins have migrated to a variety of locations. Despite all odds, they have been successful in preserving their culture and traditions intact to this day. Their traditions are unique and tolerant and they easily adopted to the places they migrated.

Gotras

Rajapur/Bhalavalikar Goud Saraswats are of 10 gotras:
#Atreya
#Bharadwaja
#Dhananjaya
#Gautama
#Jamadagni
#Kaundinya
#Kaushika
#Kashyapa
#Vasishta
#Vathsa (Srivatsa)

Kuldevta, Surnames, Upanamas of each Gotra

Saraswats have a the concept of "Panchayatana", means worshipping five Gods like form of Shiva, Vishnu, Durga, Surya and Ganesha.

Kuladev or Kuladaivat (Family deity) are the deities which a set of families of identical Gotras primarily worship. There will be a main temple for each deity built and maintained by these families. Many Kuladev temples are in Goa. People travel from far away places of settlement to these temples in Goa, normally once in a year to perform pujas and take blessings from Kavale mutt Swamijis, their spiritual guru. It is said that a newly married couple suppose to visit their family deity's temple (Kuladev Mandir) soon after their marriage and take blessings of Kuladev.

Below given table gives details of Gotras and their Kuladevtas, prevalent surnames, Upanamas etc of Rajapur/Bhalavalikar gauda saraswat brahmins. Most of the Upanamas are original Gomantak village names where they used to stay. People use either 'Upanama' or 'Janmanama' as their surname.

Language

Rajapur/Bhalavalikar Gaud Saraswats proudly call themselves as 'Konknay' (Konkanies). Since they migrated from GOA, they continued speaking in Konkani language, the state language of Goa. They lived in Rajapur/Bhalavali for a century and half. The local language - Marathi made heavy influence on their mother tongue. So the language spoken by them is a fine blend of Goan Konkani with presence of many Marathi words. People who migrated to Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu districts in Karnataka even adopted some Kannada/Tulu/Kodava words due to the influence of local language.

Families who continued to live in Rajapur/Bhalavali areas adopted either Marathi or Malwani Konkani Language over a period of time.

Temples

Rajapur/Bhalavalikar Saraswat Brahmins have built many temples, some of them are :

# Shri Bhavani-Shankar Kavle Mutt, Ponda(Goa).
# Shri Narasimha, Narasinghe, Post Parkala, Udupi Dist, Karnataka, Pin:576 107.
# Shri Durgaparameshwari, Montimaru, Post Manchi, Bantwala Taluk, Dakshina Kannada Dist., Karnataka, Pin:574 323. (Established in 1833)
# Shri Adishakti Mahalaxmi, Laxmipura, Hirgana, Karkala Taluk, Udupi Dist. Karnataka, Pin:574 127. (Established in 1891)
# Shri Durgaparameswari, Post Bantakal, Udupi Dist, Karnataka, Pin:574 115. (Established in 1942)
# Shri Durgaparameshwari, Mogeru, Post Katukukke, Via Perla, Kasaragod Taluk, Kerala, Pin:670 552. (Established in 1884)
# Shri Rama Bhajana Mandira, Kodange, Parkala, Karnataka, Pin:576 107.
# Shri Bhavani Shankar Mandir, 24, Ronak Bhavan, Bachani Nagar Road, Malad East, Mumbai, Pin:400 097.
# Shri Datta Mandir, Kodvali.
# Shri Gajanana Mandir, Rajapur.
# Shri Navadurga Temple, Bhalavali.
# Shri Ravalanath, Bhalavali.
# Shri Lakshmi-Madhav, Bhalavali.
# Shri Bhagavathi, Bhalavali.
# Shri Mukhyaprana, Rajapur.
#Shri Durgaparameswari Temple, Adpadi-Kodi, Post Palli, Udupi, Karnataka.

Institutions

Saraswats are known to be experts in finance and book keeping. Following are the some of financial, educational institutions started by Samaj for helping poor and needy of the community memebrs as well as general public.

# [http://rsbankltd.com/ Rajapur Saraswat Co-operative Bank Ltd.] ,103-105, Swapna Siddhi, Near Kandivalli Railway station, Akurli Road, Kandivili east, Mumbai, Pin:400101.
# Shri Durgaparameshwari Co-Operative Credit Society Ltd., 12 Saraswat Sadana, 3rd Floor, 92 Hospital avenue Road, Parel Mumbai - 12.
# Rajapura Saraswath Credit Co-Operative Society Ltd., Saraswatha Soudha Jodu Rasthe, P.O.Kukkundoor, Karkala Taluk, Udupi Dist., Pin:576117.
# Shri Durgaparameshwari Credit Co-operative Society Ltd., Main Road, Parkala, Udupi, Karnataka, Pin:576107.
#Rajapur saraswat co-operative society ajekar,Karkala, Udupi District, Karnataka.
#Shri Saraswathi credit sauharda sahakari nidhi Puttur, D.K., Karnataka.
#Shri Saraswathi Education Society Regd., Sachidananda Seva Sadana, Vinayaka Nagara, Darbe, Puttur, D.K. - 574202

External links

* [http://www.shrikavalemath.org.in/ Official Website of Our Kavale Math Samsthan]
* [http://www.rsbnet.com/ Rajapur Saraswat Brahmin Website]
* [http://www.saraswath.org/ Saraswat Learning Foundation, An non-profit organization initiated by overseas RSBians]
* [http://konkanimirror.com/ Konkani Mirror Quarterly Magazine from RSBians.]
* [http://gsbkonkani.net GSB Konkani Homepage]
* [http://gsbkerala.com Kerala Saraswats information]

Famous RSBians

* Kuntikana Ramachandra Nayak (Toppi Master), Author of 'Saraswat Sudha', a comprehensive research book on history of Rajapur/Bhalavalikar Saraswat Brahmanas.
* Sachin Tendulkar- World famous Indian cricketer
* Vijay Tendulkar - Famous writer from Maharashtra.
* Priya Tendulkar - Consumer activist and actress (Daughter of Vijay Tendulkar)
*Hari Nayak - celebrity chef in the USA
* Daya Nayak - Famous Mumbai Police Inspector
* Suresh Prabhu- Former Union Minister in Vajapayee Government
* Innanje Ramachandra Nayak- Literature
* [http://www.dae.gov.in/heavywaterboard.org/docs/kamath.htm Padmashree Sadananda Kamath] (Research in substitute for heavy water)
* Anna Vinay Chandra, Kilangodi, ex - MLC, Karnataka Government.
* Dr. Vidyadhara S, Parkala, Udupi. - Young scientist award -2006 from the Hon President APJ Abdul Kalam at the 94th session of the Indian Science Congress
* Narayan Krishnarao Sinkar - Former Chairman Life Insurance Corporation of India.
* Shrikant Sinkar - Famous writer on Police stories, from Maharashtra.
* Sudeep - Famous Kannada Actor from Karnataka.

ee also

*Forward Castes
*Brahmins
*Saraswat cuisine
*Konkani words from other languages

Links to some Kuladev temples

* http://www.mahalasa.org
* http://www.shrimangesh.org
* http://mahalaxmidev.com
* http://shreeshantadurga.com

Reference

# [http://www.gsbkerala.com/gsbhistory.htm/ GSB Kerala website, Title: Saraswat History]