Pathare prabhu
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Pathare Prabhu or Pratihara Prabhu as they are known are one of the Hindu communities in the city of Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). These people are among earliest settlers in the city.
They are Rajput/Kshatriya aristocracy who migrated to Mumbai around the 12th and 13th centuries AD from the regions of North India and Rajasthan after the Turkic attacks in those regions which were ruled by the Pratihara dynasty of medieval India.
They probably derive their community name 'Pathare/Pratihara Prabhu'( transl "Pratihara Lord".) since they served, as nobles under the Pratihara dynasty.
However, according to their own detailed chronicled lineage, they trace their descent much further back in Indian History from King Ashwapati (circa 700.B.C ) who was a monarch from the solar lineage of Lord Ram.
They were associated with Raja Bhimdev who ruled over the islands of Mumbai and during British times, they were absorbed in the administrative and official departments of the British Government.
Throughout the generations, despite their tiny number, the Pathare Prabhu Community has a great impact in the form of many eminent civic leaders, doctors, engineers, judges, actors/actresses, architects, solicitors, industrialists, orators, stage & film artists, musicians and philanthropists.
This community built many of Mumbai's famous landmarks:
Mahalaxmi Temple in central Mumbai
Bhau-cha-dhakka (Ferry Wharf)
Thakurdwar’s Gora Ram Mandir & Kala Ram Mandir
Dadar’s Prabhadevi Mandir
Kalbadevi’s Shri Ram Mandir
Dadar’s Kirtikar Market.
They were amongst the first of the Hindus to be well-educated, occasionally even sending their women to study in foreign universities, and also advocated widow re-marriage—an act considered a taboo in the orthodox Hindu society of those times.
Known for their love of cuisine, arts, religion and philosophy, the numbers of this community are today dwindling in Mumbai with a non-conservative estimate of their numbers being around 15,000-20,000. By the virtue of being a highly educated & broad-minded community, the Pathare Prabhus have been immigrating to UK & US of A, & off-late to Canada & New Zealand.
The Pathare Prabhus were amongst the pioneers in the formation of Mumbai and contributed much to the formation and growth of the city.
The Pathare Prabhus owned places like Fort, Palav Road (present Girgaum Road), Laini (present Princess Street), Girgaon Back Road (present V. P. Road) & Navi Wadi. Likewise places in Malad, Goregaon, Bhayendar, Kashi-Meera, Uttan, Uran, Kelve Mahim (now Mahim), Chene were also owned by them. A major part of present day Khar is still owned by the Pathare Prabhus.
When the social reforms movement started in Bombay (Now called Mumbai), in the mid nineteenth century, young literate 'Parbhi' (colloquial for Pathare Prabhus) were part of the Paramhansa Sabha (present Prarthana Samaj). In fact, for many years its officiating person was Shri Ramchandra Balkrishna Jaykar. In 1852, the founder and president of the Townhall Asiatic library (first native general library of Bombay) was Shri Narayan Dinanath Velkar. Some other distinguished personalities are Magistrate Raobahadur Nana Moroji Trilokekar (first native Magistrate), Bhujangrao Mankar (father of Marathi & Gujarati shorthand) & Gajanan Bhaskar Vaidya (first Hindu Missionary).
The Pathare Prabhu Community has always been known for their luxurious style of living. The typical Pathare Prabhus nick-named as 'Sokajis'. But the true nature of their richness comes from the way they preserve and carry out their traditions. Clannish, traditional and religious, yet possessing a modern outlook at the same time, the Pathare Prabhus are few of the oldest residents of Mumbai and are instrumental in giving Bombay the prominent status, which it enjoys. Hence the Pathare Prabhus enjoy a special position in the History of this great city.
About 150 years ago, a section of the Pathare Prabhus split to form the Somvanshi Kshatriya Pathare.[verification needed] It is reported that the split was on the issue of widow remarriage.[verification needed]
Today's Prominent Pathare-Prabhus include but are not limited to:
Atul Vijaykar
M.V.Jaykar
Pramod Navalkar
Smita Jaykar
Shreyas Talpade
Mahesh Kothare
Nikhil Dhurandhar
[edit] List of Pathare Prabhu Last Names
Agaskar
Ajinkya
Brahmandkar
Desai
Dhurandhar
Jayakar
Kirtikar
Kothare
Mankar
Navalkar
Prabhakar
Pradhan
Rane
Trilokekar
Talpade
Rao
Ranjit
Senjit
Vaidya
Velkar
Vijayakar
Vyavaharkar
Zaoba
Temples Built by Pathare Prabhus
Prabha Devi (Shakhambari Devi) Temple -- (Prabha Devi Road)
Down the road form Siddhivinayak is the 285-year- old Prabhadevi temple that leads its name to the locality. Built in 1715, this 18th century temple has a very interesting history behind it.
Maheshwaridevi Temple (Family Goddess of the Mankars) -- (Navi-Wadi)
Approximately since 1848 the place where the temple stands today and the area behind it belonged to Shri Ramchandra Raghunathji Trilokekar. The northern corner of the temple contains a phallus shaped mound which is supposed to be the self-raised idol of the Maheshwaridevi.
Maheshwaridevi Temple -- (Rajasthan)
The genesis of worship of mother-goddess can be traced to the remote past. The earliest extinct depiction of a group of Matrkas (Divine mothers) in Indian sculpture may be pushed back safely to the Kushana period. This cult, however, became popular during the Gupta and subsequent periods.
The Pathare Prabhu Community Website
[1] An interesting description of pathare prabhu culture as experienced by Helena Blavatsky in the 18th century.
