Who are we ??Who are we ??

Lit

Little know facts about a lesser known community –Chitrapur Saraswats

By Ashwin Panemangalore

Why am I doing this Why am I doing this presentation ? presentation ?

Because…..

• We are a small, little known community of <25,000 across the globe

• We are confused with Maharashtrians and other South Indians though we have our own distinct

- language - food ( you will simply love it !) - customs and religious practices - little known coastal region where we come from

Who we are..Who we are..We belong to the Saraswat community from coastal

Karnataka

Where is Karnataka ?

Our origins• From the banks of the river Saraswati• Now no longer in existence Ground faults in the

earthquake prone region sent the river underground• Saraswati started in the Har ki Dun glacier in West

Gharwal near Yamunotri• Flowed through Punjab, Haryana to join the Ghaggar • Was the greatest river in Vedic times Had scholars and

learned people on its banks • It is said that the Vedas were written on the banks of

this river

(source India directory )

Rivers of North India

Our migration

• The Saraswats migrated from the valley in early AD following the disappearance of the river

• The migrations spread across Kashmir, Jammu, Punjab, Haryana, UP along the rivers and parts of Gujarat and Goa over a period of 1000 years

• Hence you find Saraswats in various parts of India called Gowd,Punjabi,Kutch,Chitrapur and Rajapur

Saraswats.The Kashmiri Pandits are also migrants from this region

• Our ancestors settled in Goa We are called Chitrapur Saraswats

( source: Avtar Kaul in ‘The Saraswat Brahmins’)

Preserving the tradition

• Saraswats carried their traditions with them in the migration

• They preserved their culture through the maths and temples that they installed wherever they settled across India

• Every Saraswat family God is a mandal of 5 Gods with the kuladevata at the center

Preserving the tradition

• Our ancestors caried their kuladevata to Goa• They built the Mangesh and the Shantadurga temples

sometime in the 14th century• Following the occupation of Goa in the 15th century by the

Portuguese our ancestors fled with the idols.• These were shifted to a remote location outside the hands of

the Portuguese and the temples rebuilt in 1723

Mangesh Temple

1723 1943 1973

Today

Shanta Durga Temple

Moving south of goa

• With continued Portuguese domination and large scale conversion our ancestors moved further south towards the coastal region which now is called Uttar Kanara,Udupi and and Dakshin Kanara

• This is a vast, green region with rolling hills and rivers flowing into a crystal clear sea hugged by white sands

• Except for the railway line built 10 years back this region is underdeveloped even today.

Konkan Rail,Waterfalls on the way

L-R cwise Murdeshwar,Manjeshwar, Murdeshwar Netravati river between Panemangalore & Bantwal,

L- R cwise Gersoppa,Gokarn lagoons,Sharavati at Honavar,Honavar beach and temple

River Sirsi,,Belthangady,

Where we settled

Settling on the Coast

• They built their own math at a village called Shirali on the coast line between Goa and Mangalore

• Owing to their erudition some were appointed sarpanchs and hence adopted names of the villages they were responsible for as family names

• They carved out their own dialect ( a version of Konkani) and took up jobs as teachers and government officials

• Very little trade and commerce existed. These were conducted by the other communities

What makes us different

• The dialect is unique and distinct from its neighbours, Marathi, Tulu and Kannada and hence not easily absorbed

• The food too is distinct from the food one gets in Karnataka or in Kanara district

• Owing to their ancestry the physical appearance is distinct from the population of the region they settled in

• The customs and religious ceremonies have been preserved from migration

Another migration• They struggled to eke out an existence. So, many started

another migration in search of economic well being to Bombay and Bangalore

• They carried their maths with them to these and other cities across India

• The head of our community who binds us together is the head of the math based in Shirali. The current head is an authority on the Vedas, a karate black belt and modern in outlook. He gives regular discourses to interpret them in simple language to the young

• He is young ( in his 40s) and upto date while being deeply steeped in the tradition

The Shirali Math

Today we are

• About 25,000 across the globe • 100% literacy• 100% over 23 are graduates• Over 80% of these are professionally qualified• Many have carved a niche for themselves in various

professionsOur close cousins the Gowd Saraswats ( called GSBs) are a

dynamic, enterprising group of 30,000 who have carved a niche in areas of education, business, engineering, medicine and other vocations

We are proud of

The Arts Statesmen • Guru Dutt B N Chandarvarkar • Shyam Benegal B N Rau • Girish Karnad Community Service• Suman Kalyanpur Dr Sheela Basrur• Anuradha Paudwal Sports• Deepika Padukone Prakash Padukone• Amrita Rao Business• Isha Koppikar Nandan Nilekani Apart from officers and VSM winners in Defence

Are we closed ?

• We welcome girls and boys who are brought in as life partners from outside our small community

• The cultural bonding ensures that the girl or boy soon integrates and becomes a part of us

…………..without losing her or his identity