Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin Explained
| Population: | 25,000 |
| Total Source: | estimate |
| Group: | Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin |
| Langs: | Konkani |
| Rels: | Hinduism
|
Chitrapur Saraswats are a small Konkani-speaking community of Hindu Brahmins in India. They are traditionally found along the Kanara coast and call themselves Bhanaps in the Konkani language.
Susan Bayly says that they were formed from communities engaged in scribal work and commerce and were of "unclear status" until almost the end of the 18th century when they were "Brahmanised" into a caste by some touring Brahmins or gurus. Frank Conlon says they are originally from North India.
Origin
Historian Susan Bayly states that the Ramanandis, who opened up to almost any background were responsible for "Brahmanising" groups of unclear status and Chitrapur Saraswats are one such example.[1] Specifically, she states,
History
This is a small community from India spread the world over. They have taken names of villages in Karnataka as surnames. So, their recent history is associated with the State of Karnataka. But some researchers like Bertrand Renaud and Frank Conlon believe they migrated from the banks of River Saraswati in north India.[2] The estimated population of this community is roughly 25,000.[2] The community members refer to themselves as "Bhanaps". The community also has a magazine published every month called Kanara Saraswat from Mumbai which carries articles by members and other news concerning the community.[3]
Notable people
- Shyam Benegal, Indian film director and screenwriter[4]
- Narayan Ganesh Chandavarkar, Indian National Congress politician and Hindu reformer.[5]
- Guru Dutt, Indian film director, producer and actor.[6]
- Girish Karnad, Indian actor, film director, Kannada-language writer[7]
- Amrita Rao, Bollywood actress[8]
- Karnad Sadashiva Rao, Indian freedom fighter[9]
- Benegal Narsing Rau, Indian civil servant, jurist, diplomat, and statesman known for his key role in drafting the Constitution of India[10]
- Shripad Subrao Talmaki, social reformer and early pioneer of the cooperative movement in India and known as the father of India's cooperative movement.[11]
See also
External links
Notes and References
- Book: Susan Bayly . 22 February 2001 . Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age . Cambridge University Press . 75– . 978-0-521-79842-6 . These Brahmans who Brahmanised others, including people of comparatively lowly or uncertain status, played a crucial role in spreading and stabilising the values of 'traditional' caste in this period. In both north and south India this task was regularly performed by the sampradaya devotional sects. One such case in the Deccan was that of the mixed array of Konkani scribal and commercial specialists who came to be known as members of a single Brahman jati, the Chitrapur Saraswats. Well into the eighteenth century, this group was still in the process of developing a sense of castelike cohesion; this was achieved primarily through bonds of preceptoral affiliation to a line of Brahman renouncer-ascetics with a network of hospices and touring gurus based along the Kanara coast..
- News: Ramanan. Sumana. 31 March 2016. The big footprint of a small community. Mumbai Mirror. 5 August 2020.
- News: Elangovan . Arvind . 21 January 2020 . BN Rau: An idealist and a staunch constitutionalist. 5 August 2020. Hindustan Times.
- News: From Mandi to Welcome to Sajjanpur . 26 July 2023 . Rediff.
- Book: Sins and Sinners: Perspectives from Asian Religions . 17 August 2012 . BRILL . 978-90-04-23200-6 . 361 . en.
- Web site: What Guru Dutt & Deepika Padukone have in common? . Rediff.com . 31 December 2004 . 3 September 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121026130236/http://www.rediff.com//movies/2007/sep/20dutt.htm . 26 October 2012 . live .
- News: Srinivasaraju . Sugata . The untold story of Girish Karnad . 10 July 2022 . Mint . 13 June 2019 . en.
- News: 'We spoke in Konkani but there was no swearing' . 26 July 2023 . Rediff.
- Book: The Illustrated Weekly of India . July 1970 . Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press . en.
- Book: Newbigin . Eleanor . The Hindu Family and the Emergence of Modern India: Law, Citizenship and Community . 19 September 2013 . Cambridge University Press . 978-1-107-43475-2 . 140 . en.
- News: Shukla . Ashutosh M . 13 August 2014 . India's first cooperative housing society starts century celebrations . DNA . 25 March 2024.
