Panchayati Hall

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Panchayati Hall is a Hindu temple devoted to the goddess Durga and Lord Shiva, located in Jaipur, India.

History

Post Partition

After Partition of India (1947), most of the Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankar families migrated from Pakistan and settled in Jaipur, India. In early 1948, Shri Jhamandas F. Purswani and Shri Tikamdas Bhojraj Purswani of Khudabadi Sindhi Swarankar came to know that there was a Nawab Moassam Ali Khan's stable for his horses, in Nawab Ki Haveli at Vidyadhar Ka Rasta (Jaipur). It was being used by a local who had started operating a small flour mill there; the Nawab fled to Pakistan, immediately after partition. Although, the whole property including the stable was taken over by then Deputy Custodian of Evacuee Property and the Nawab was declared "Evacuee", his relatives were harassing the mill operator. Shri Jhamandas Purswani and Shri Tikamdas Purswani contacted him, gave him 500 rupees (a laruge amount at that time) from their pockets and got possession of the premises.

They shifted the ten families from refugee camp to the stable. Afterward, they acquired the whole stable through the Department of Custodian Evacuees Properties to avoid any harassment. In 1950, the Department fixed the rent ranging from Rs. 0.25 to Rs. 1 per month, which the refugees started paying after obtaining the official receipt of the payments. The ground floor of the haveli was the stable, consisting of about thirty rooms of comfortable area and a huge open ground in the center. Steadily, Khudabadi Sonara families of weaker section started occupying the rooms one by one until all the rooms were in community possession.

All of a sudden, the whole property (including the stable) was released from the Department of Custodian Evacuee's possession in 1957-58, and the Nawab again became the full owner on the pretext that he had given his property to his adopted son, Abdul Kader, around 11 January 1961. Again, the refugee residents of the stable through the president of Puj Khudabadi Sonara Panchayat (Jaipur), Shri Manghoomal Kimatrai Ganvani and leaders of the community submitted their petition to the Minister, Relief and Rehabilitation on 7 January 1963 arguing that the whole property of the Nawab was gifted to Nawab Mumtaz Uddolah through a covenant of the Ruler of the erstwhile Jaipur State in lieu of his services rendered to the Ruler of erstwhile Jaipur for his residence only (this stable being part of this residence), and non-transferability was one of the pre-requisite conditions. The residents won the case and lived there peacefully since then.

Construction of Panchayati Hall

In the meantime, Shri Jhamandas Purswani, Shri Tikamdas Purswani and Shri Parmanand Menghraj Vasnani started thinking about the construction of a panchayati hall. In 1951, they started sending messages for this to the community members who were living in overseas. The response was very positive, but they had problems sending the funds due to foreign exchange restrictions and advised discussing the matter with their embassies in New Delhi. Shri Jhamandas Purswani went to New Delhi and approached the Sindhi leader Dr. Choithram Gidwani, who knew him very well since the days of freedom movements, in Hyderabad. Choithram solved the problem with the assistance of Ministry Of External Affairs of India. Khudabadi Sonara community members who were living overseas gave their contributions to Indian embassies in their countries and Shri Jhamandas Purswani collected the funds from the ministry. Three thousand rupees came from Indonesia and about 2,000 came from other countries. A small portion of the collection was used in construction of the Panchayati Hall and the temple of Goddess Durga at open ground of Navab Ki Haveli, Vidhyadhar Ka Rasta (Jaipur), where a deity of Lord Shiva was placed. The balance amount of collection was kept for helping widows and weaker section of the community.

Handing over of Panchayati Hall

Shri Jhamandas F. Purswani, Shri Tikamdas B. Purswani and Shri Parmanand Menghraj Vasnani handed over the Panchayati Hall and the Temple of Goddess Durga and Lord Shiva to Dr. Udharam Jhamandas Purswani, the president of Puj Khudabadi Sonara Panchayat, Jaipur for the activities of Puj Panchayat and other social functions. Earlier, Gursahib Jealal and (after his demise) his son Gursahib Devidas used to perform Navratra Jagran and Havan in the temple of Goddess Durga, in the Panchayati Hall. This Panchayati Hall and the temples are still in existence at Navab Ki Haveli, Vidhyadhar Ka Rasta, Jaipur. The Khudabadi Sonara community looks at the Panchayati Hall with reverence and respects it as a Hindu temple devoted to Goddess Durga and Lord Shiva. The Panchayati Hall is a Heritage and a Memorable Treasure of Khudabadi Sonara Community and Puj Khudabadi Sonara Panchayat (Reg.), Jaipur.

Sources

Hindu Genealogical Registers in Haridwar
Watumal Purswani. Biography of Shri Jhamandas F. Purswani. Jaipur, India 18 Feb. 1962

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