Sarawagi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Khandelwal Jains are also known as Sarawagi or Saraogi, meaning a Jain shravaka [1]. They originated from Khandela, a historical town in northern Rajasthan.
The Sarawagi community owes its name to a strong historical association with Jainism. Also technically the term Sarawagi or shravaka is applicable to all Jains, the Khandelwal Jains is the only community that has used it extensively.
The Khandelwals have 84 divisions. The legendary origin of these divisions is given in a 17th century book "Shravakotpatti Varnanam" [2]. It mentions how a the ruler Girakhandel of Khandela was planning to sacrifice one thousand Jain monks in a naramedh yajna. However with the assistance of goddess Chakreshvari, muni Jinasena persuaded the ruler to give up violence. The ruler along with his 83 chiefs became Jain shravakas, giving rise to the 84 gotras.
[edit] Prominent Khandelwal Jains
- Jivaraj Papriwal (who installed 100,000 pratimas during 1480-91)
- Pandit Todalmal (1719-1766) [1]
- Poet Bhudhardas (Samvat 1750-1806) [2]
- suraj barjatya] ] {famous indian film director}
- let seth hiralalji badjatya [jewellery shop owner]
- let sir seth hukamchandji kaslivas[famous cloth merchant & industrialist ]
