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Saraswat Brahmin
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Saraswat Brahmin
Saraswat Brahmins are spread over widely separated regions spanning from Kashmir and Punjab in North India to Konkan in West India to Kanara (coastal region of Karnataka) and Kerala in South India. In places such as western and southern India, the claim of Brahminhood of some communities who claim to be Saraswat Brahmins is disputed. The word Saraswat is derived from the Rigvedic Sarasvati River.
Saraswats Brahmins are classified under the Pancha Gauda Brahmin classification of the Brahmin community in India.
In Western and South India, along with the Chitpavan, Karhades (including Padhyes, Bhatt Prabhus), and Konkani-speaking Saraswat Brahmins are referred to as Konkani Brahmins, which denotes those Brahmin sub-castes of the Konkan coast which have a regional significance in Maharashtra and Goa.
In Karnataka and Kerala, Majority of Gaud Saraswat Brahmins are followers of Madhvacharya, while the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins are Smarthas, followers of Adi Shankara. Writer Chandrakant Keni and former I.C.S officer V. N. Kudva say, "The majority of the Saraswats, including those in Goa, are now Vaishnavas".
The Saraswat Brahmins originating in Balochistan were called sindhur and were considered a low caste. They have a legend of origin related to Lord Ramachandra (not the same as Parashurama), who could not find a priest in Balochistan and applied a Tilaka on the head of some Mleccha. Jürgen Schaflechner cites the historian Rowe who states that such "low ranking Brahmins" formed a symbiotic relationship with Vaishya castes such as Khatris, Lohanas, etc. who were trying to raise their varna status - which in turn would benefit the Saraswats as well. For this purpose, certain religious texts were written during the British Raj era.
Saraswats of western India claim to be part of the Saraswat brahmin community of the north based on the Sahyadri Khanda of Skanda Purana. As per the Purana, Parshurama brought Saraswats to Konkan. However, Sanskrit scholar Madhav Deshpande, Indologist and Sanskrit Scholar Stephan Hillyer Levitt and historian O'Hanlon consider the portion of the Sahyādrikhaṇḍa that describes Saraswats to be corrupted and recently interpolated by Saraswats themselves in order to improve their status.
The southward migration of Saraswat Brahmins is explained in the Skanda Purana. The Sayhadrikhand of Skandapurana narrates the founding myths of various Brahmin communities.In the text, Shiva narrates the following founding myths to Skanda: Parshurama brought Saraswatas from Tirhut to Konkan, settling them in the villages of Kelosi and Kusasthal. These settlers were "attractive, well-behaved, and skilled in every rite". The deities Shantadurga, Mangesh, Mhalsa, Nagesh and Mahalakshmi accompanied them to Konkan.
According to Rosalind O'Hanlon, the core of the text was likely written around the end of the 1st millennium, it contains stories about Brahmin village settlements that have fallen from virtue. The remaining text appears to have been written later, as it describes the Pancha Gauda and Pancha Dravida classification of Brahmins, which became popular during the 13th-14th centuries.
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Saraswat Brahmin
Saraswat Brahmins are spread over widely separated regions spanning from Kashmir and Punjab in North India to Konkan in West India to Kanara (coastal region of Karnataka) and Kerala in South India. In places such as western and southern India, the claim of Brahminhood of some communities who claim to be Saraswat Brahmins is disputed. The word Saraswat is derived from the Rigvedic Sarasvati River.
Saraswats Brahmins are classified under the Pancha Gauda Brahmin classification of the Brahmin community in India.
In Western and South India, along with the Chitpavan, Karhades (including Padhyes, Bhatt Prabhus), and Konkani-speaking Saraswat Brahmins are referred to as Konkani Brahmins, which denotes those Brahmin sub-castes of the Konkan coast which have a regional significance in Maharashtra and Goa.
In Karnataka and Kerala, Majority of Gaud Saraswat Brahmins are followers of Madhvacharya, while the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins are Smarthas, followers of Adi Shankara. Writer Chandrakant Keni and former I.C.S officer V. N. Kudva say, "The majority of the Saraswats, including those in Goa, are now Vaishnavas".
The Saraswat Brahmins originating in Balochistan were called sindhur and were considered a low caste. They have a legend of origin related to Lord Ramachandra (not the same as Parashurama), who could not find a priest in Balochistan and applied a Tilaka on the head of some Mleccha. Jürgen Schaflechner cites the historian Rowe who states that such "low ranking Brahmins" formed a symbiotic relationship with Vaishya castes such as Khatris, Lohanas, etc. who were trying to raise their varna status - which in turn would benefit the Saraswats as well. For this purpose, certain religious texts were written during the British Raj era.
Saraswats of western India claim to be part of the Saraswat brahmin community of the north based on the Sahyadri Khanda of Skanda Purana. As per the Purana, Parshurama brought Saraswats to Konkan. However, Sanskrit scholar Madhav Deshpande, Indologist and Sanskrit Scholar Stephan Hillyer Levitt and historian O'Hanlon consider the portion of the Sahyādrikhaṇḍa that describes Saraswats to be corrupted and recently interpolated by Saraswats themselves in order to improve their status.
The southward migration of Saraswat Brahmins is explained in the Skanda Purana. The Sayhadrikhand of Skandapurana narrates the founding myths of various Brahmin communities.In the text, Shiva narrates the following founding myths to Skanda: Parshurama brought Saraswatas from Tirhut to Konkan, settling them in the villages of Kelosi and Kusasthal. These settlers were "attractive, well-behaved, and skilled in every rite". The deities Shantadurga, Mangesh, Mhalsa, Nagesh and Mahalakshmi accompanied them to Konkan.
According to Rosalind O'Hanlon, the core of the text was likely written around the end of the 1st millennium, it contains stories about Brahmin village settlements that have fallen from virtue. The remaining text appears to have been written later, as it describes the Pancha Gauda and Pancha Dravida classification of Brahmins, which became popular during the 13th-14th centuries.