Goud Saraswat Brahmin

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Goud (also written as Gowd, Gowda or Gaud) Saraswat Brahmins are a Konkani (or Marathi) speaking Hindu Brahmin community in India. They are popularly referred to as GSBs.

Contents

[edit] History

Saraswats are people of Aryan descent who had settled down on the banks of the Saraswati River. The river Saraswati eventually dried up and this led to the migration of the Saraswats to the plains of northern India. Though the exact dates of this migration are unknown, the Rig Veda eulogies the river Saraswati was huge. It is believed that Lord Parshuram, a Brahmin, also counted as an avatar of Lord Vishnu brought the Saraswats from the northern Indian plains to Goa for the purpose of religious functions.

96 families of Goud (meaning northern) Saraswats came to the southern half of India and hence carried the appelation of 'northern' in the form of the word Goud. In view of the 96 families who formed 96 settlements in Goa - Sasashti (66) (Salcette) + Tissuari (30) (Tiswadi), they were also called as shenvis. There were further settlements in Baradesh (12 settlements) (Bardez) , Goa.

The Gowd Saraswats built many temples in Goa like the Ramnathi temple in Loutolim, and the Mangueshi and Shantadurga temples in Kushasthali and Quellosim along with people from the other Hindu castes. Muslim raids in the 14th century began to destroy their peaceful existence. However, peace was regained when Goa came under the sway of the Hindu Vijaynagar kingdom. This period lasted for about 150 years. The Portuguese, for religious and political motives annexed Goa in 1510. During the Portuguese rule, due to forcible conversions to Christianity and extreme oppression by the Jesuits and the Franciscans, the Gowd Saraswats along with their kunbi and gavde Hindu bretheren fled to safer places in Canara (in Karnataka), Kerala and Maharashtra. The temples of the Saraswats were destroyed by the Portuguese; however, some courageous people carried the idols of their deities across the Agranashini river (Zuari) into the territory of the Sonde Rajas. Here, they were slowly rebuilt. The Portuguese eventually took over these territories of Antruz Mahal, but their religious zeal had weakened and the temples stood firm.

The Gowd Saraswats have sub-communities such as the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins, who were Saraswats from the villages of Kushasthali and Quellossim in Goa. They follow the Chitrapur Mutt. Rajapur Saraswat Brahmins/Balavalikar Gauda Saraswat Brahmins from Rajapur and Balavali village who follow the Kavle Mutt (Ponda,Goa), they are spread over costal Karnataka, Coorg and Kasaragod taluk in Kerala.

The Gowd Saraswats have Konkani as their mother tongue, though their generations of sojourn in Maharashtra (Marathi), Karnataka (Kannada) and Kerala (Malayalam) territories have made them experts in the major languages of their adopted provinces.

[edit] The sub-sects of the Goud Saraswats

  1. Shenavi and Sasashtikars
  2. Shenavi Paiki
  3. Bardeshkars
  4. Pednekars
  5. Lotlikars
  6. Kudaldeshkars
  7. Rajapur Saraswat Brahmins/Bhalavalikar Gauda Saraswat Brahmins

Rajapur-Bhalavalikars call themselves RSB's. Kudaldeshkars call themselves Kudaldeshkar Brahmins.

[edit] GSB Mutt's

  • Sri Goudapadacharya Kavale Mutt (Kavlem, Goa)
  • Sri Kashi Mutt (Varanasi, Uttara Pradesh)
  • Sri Gokarn Partagali Jeevottam Mutt (Partagali, Poinginim, Goa)
  • Sri Chitrapur Mutt (Chitrapur, Bhatkal, Karnataka)


[edit] Present

There are about 0.28 Million GSB's in India and world,GSB is declining at a ratio of 14% in India and World. Extreme orthodox in the family may be the reason for this. High number of marraiges with the people outside the caste led the GSB to decline like other sects in konkani speaking people.

It has been believed that there were about 0.34 Million GSB's in early 2000. Now it has been about 0.27 Million. GSB is alive in the parts of Karanataka, Kerala.

[edit] Famous GSB's

[edit] Kuldevs of GSBs

Normally Saraswats have the concept of "Panchayatan" - worshipping 5 gods like form of Shiva, form of Vishnu, Durga, Surya, and Ganapati. Some GSB Temples still have this concept, while many have a single deity instead of five. Kuldev or kuldaivat are the deities which a set of families primarily worship. Their temples are built and maintained by these families, also called Mahajans (or Kulavis) of their respective temple.

Many Kuldevs/Kuldevatas are in Goa. However, during early Portuguese persecution, many GSBs and Saraswats fled from Goa along with their Kuldevs to nearby states like Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala. Hence, besides Goa, there are many GSB Temples in Karnataka (South & North Canara), in Maharashtra (Konkan side like Malwan, Vengurla, Savantwadi, Kudal, Ratnagiri, etc.), in Kerala (Purakkad, Cochi, etc.).

The Popular kuldev's of Saraswats are:

1Mangesh (Priol,Goa)

Shantadurga (Kavale & Many more places in Goa)

Navadurga (Madkai,Kundai,Bori,Adkolna,Surla,Poinguenim,Pale -all Goa , Redi-Vengurla in Maharashtra,Rajapur in Maharashtra)

Aryadurga (Ankola, Kankavli-Maharashtra)

2Mahalasa (Ponda,Goa)

Sharvani-Vetal

Nagesh (Ponda,Goa)

Ravalnath (Goa)

Ravalnath (Valawal, Kudal)

Devaki-Krishna (Mashel,Goa)

3Saptakoteshwar(Narve,Goa)

Ganapati(Khadole,Goa)

Damodar (Zambauli,Goa)

Kamakshi (Shiroda,Goa)

Ramnathi-Santeri-Kamakshi (Ponda,Goa)

Mahalakshmi (Goa)

Vijayadurga (Goa)

Lakshmi-Narasimha (Veling,Goa)

Mahamaya

Durgaparmeshwari

Vitthal

Venkatramana (Mangalore)

Vetal or Vetoba (Goa & Maharashtra)

Katyayani-Baneshwar (Ankola (Karwar),Karnataka)

Kaleshwar (Nerur,Sindhudurg Dist,Maharashtra)

Aadinarayan (Parule,Taluka Vengurla,Maharashtra)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saraswat_Brahmin"

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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