PDF Archive


Share a file Manage my documents Convert Recover PDF Search Help Contact

utkal brahmin ebook .pdf

Original filename: utkal brahmin ebook.pdf

This PDF 1.4 document has been generated by / Qt 5.6.1, and has been sent on pdf-archive.com on 19/01/2018 at 18:05, from IP address 203.76.x.x. The current document download page has been viewed 545 times.
File size: 1.8 MB (22 pages).
Privacy: public file

Download original PDF file

Document preview



Monday, 21 April 2008

Utkala Brahmin :

UTKAL BRAHMAN:Utkal Brahmins/Brahman: - Research &amp; Encyclopedia.
caste and best in art were known as Utkala Brahman. Now Utkala
Brahmans are found in odisha and its neighboring states border
like, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand
and other part of India and abroad.

Background:The Utkala Kingdom was located in the eastern portion of
the modern-day Indian state of Odisha. This kingdom
was mentioned in the epic Mahabharata, with the names
Utkala , Odra Desha, Oddiyana and Okkali. The name of
Utkal is mentioned in the Puranas, Epics and different
religious text book. According to Skanda Purana, the land
of Utkala is the holy land in Bharata Varsha where
Purusottama Kshetra is situated. The Utkala Kingdom
was also known as Kalinga, Kangoda, Odra Desha,
Mahakantara, Dakhina Koshala, Danda Bhukti, Uddisa
Subah etc, in different time period.Suryavanshi emperor
of Orissa Gajapati Kapilendra Dev renamed his kingdom
from Utkala to Orissa Rastra.
It is pertinent to mention here that the boundary of
Greater Utkala region was from mouth of river Ganges in
the north to river Godavari in the south and Amarkantak
hills in the west to Bay of Bengal in the east and its focal
point was Utkala kingdom.

History of Utkala Brahmins/Brahman: In India there are four abodes of God widely known as

Char Dham. Char Dham as defined in modern days are
the names of four pilgrimage sites in India that are widely
revered by Hindus. It comprises
Badrinath,Rameswaram,Dwarka and Puri. It is
considered highly sacred by Hindus to visit Char Dham
during one's lifetime. These destinations are spread
across four different directions of the country – Badrinath
Dham is located in the north,Rameswaram in the south,
Dwarka in the west and Puri in the east. Jagannath Dham
Puri is located in the state of Odisha. The entire monarch
of Odisha were devotee of lord Jagannath, they invited
Brahmans from various part of India and dedicated the
ritualistic responsibility of Jagannath temple and other
temples of erstwhile Odisha. All the monarchs of Odisha
and their feudatories and also Queens constructed
temples, roads, Ghats, tanks and established settlement
for Brahmans with tax-free home &amp; land and agricultural
holdings. Due to this reason Odisha was one of the
favorite destinations of Brahman community of India.
The Sailodbhava dynasty (6th - 7th century AD) rulers
made arrangements for the study of Vedic wisdom and
an Ashwamedha sacrifice( ) was performed by King
Madhab Barman in 7th century he invited Brahmans
from Gangetic Valley for performing a yajna( ) when the

yajna( ) ended the invited Brahmans settled there. In
the time of Keshari rulers, Shaivism gained importance.
In 9th century Utkala adhipati Yajati Keshari, to preserve
the sanctity &amp; purity of Brahmanism, brought 10,000
Brahmans from Gangetic valley and Kannauj and settled
them in his capital Yajati Nagar or Yajna pura(modern
day Jajpur). The Jajpur area was once famous for
organizing Somayajna, Shrauta karma. It’s a famous site
for the performance of ancestral rites, known as Nabhi
Elite Brahmans were brought by Sri Anangabhim Dev
III,kings of Eastern Ganga dynasty in 1230 A.D from
Kanyakubja , Ujjain and dedicated the ritualistic
responsibility of Jagannath temple and some other
temples .The king bestowed them with land and other
endowments for living a dignified life. They were settled
at some villages near Jagannath temple &amp; in and around
Puri district; such Brahman villages were called 'Sasanas.
Sasan villages were autonomous community with
revenue, judiciary and law and orders. Each such village
had a kotha comparable to a trust board and Mahajan
mela comparable to Gramsabha of the modern days/in
the present day. Due to withdrawal of royal patronage
and some other reasons some of these Brahmans later
migrated to various other parts of present day Odisha and
its neighbouring states. Some were settled in ex - Princely
states being invited by Rajas of those states.Many Utkala
Brahmans also migrated to present day lower Bengal/
Eastern Ganga dynasty (1078–1434 AD) brought more
number of Brahmans from all over North India,
especially from Kannauj ( presently in Kannauj district of
Uttar Pradesh)Ujjain (Ujjain is an ancient city located in
the bank of Shipra river in the state of Madhya Pradesh)
and Ahichchhatra .(Ahichchhatra or Ahi-Kshetra (
was the ancient capital of Northern Panchala, a northern
Indian kingdom mentioned in Mahabharata present-day
Ramnagar village of Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh). As
Orissa then Utkala grew to an effluent kingdom, many
Brahmans of Godavari delta region also migrated to settle
in Mahanadi basin. Many Brahmans like Mishra, ,
Chaturvedi, Tripathy, , Dwivedi, Trivedi, Upadhyaya,
Sharma,Joshi along with some Mahant from Kashi,
Hastigram, Takari of Magadha (Bihar) and upper
Gangetic plain (West Uttarpradesh &amp; Uttarakhand) also
migrated to coastal districts of Odisha from time to time.
Six categories of duties were assigned to themstudy(
), teaching(
), performing Yagna( ) and
help in organising Yagna( ), donate and to receive the
Several Brahman villages were established by the Surya
Vamsi king of Orissa, Gajapapati Kapilendra, in the 15th
century A. D. Each village devoted to a hundred Brahman
families with adequate tax free land.
*It is pertinent to mention here not only Utkal Brahmans

migrated to Odisha various other people from other
community who had ability in their field migrated to
Odisha at times.
Origin of Utkal Brahman:Utkala Brahmans are consisting of various Brahmans
who were considered one of the best among Brahman
community of India to preserve the sanctity &amp; purity of
Brahmanism and matter related with, who later grouped
under Utkala Brahmans.
Utkala Brahmans is a part of Pancha-Gaur Brahmans.
Utkal Brahmans were brought by kings of Utkal / Kalinga
/ dynasty from various part of India at times as they were
considered one of the best among Brahman community
of India to preserve the sanctity &amp; purity of Brahmanism.
Kapila Purana says

Utkal Brahmin occupy 9% of the total Oriya Speaking
population of Odisha, beside this neighbouring states
border districts Utkal Brahman occupy considerable
percentage of the total population of district.
Utkala Brahmins are responsible for priestly and related
functions at the Jagannath Temple in Puri also known as
Jagannath Puri,where Lord of the Universe Shri
Jagannath deity is installed and it is one of the four
holiest religious places of Hindus and other temples in
erstwhile Odisha rulers and their feudatories. They are
responsible for priestly functions of other religious places
of the state of Odisha and of neighbouring states.
Mukti Mandap of Jagannath temple, the seat of learned
Utkala Brahmans.
Mukti Mandap (the platform for salvation or
congregation hall of the holy seat of selected learned
Brahmins) is situated at the southern side of the
Jagannath temple of Puri. Sankaracharya of Govardhana
matha is the permanent president of Mukti Mandap. He
is entitled to sit on Mukti Mandap on Asan or floor mats
which is not allowed to any other person. Ramchandra
Dev, the first king of Bhoi Dynasty installed as Raja of
Khurda is said to have renovated the Mukti Mandap with

16 pillars. He recognised 16 Brahman villages (Known as
Shohala Sasan Village) and the learned and leader
Brahmans of those villages seat in the Mukti Mandap.
Kashyapa gotri Nanda, Bachchas ( ), Bhatta Mishra and
Goutamatreya gotra- Brahmans were taken as the
Rajguru of Gajapati kings and they were allowed to sit on
the Mukti mandap to adjudicate inter caste and inter
village disputes and other matter
Composition of Utkala Brahmin/Brahman:Utkala Brahmans is a part of Pancha-Gaur Brahmins and
it is consisting of Various Brahmans like Saraswatas,
Kanyakubjas , Goudas etc. It is pertinent to mention here,
Panch-Gaur and Panch-Dravida are two chief divisions of
Brahmans, as per the shloka from Rajatarangini of Kalhan
/ Kalhana:

Translation: The Karnatakascha, Tailangas, Dravidas,
Maharashtraka and Gujjars, these five types who live
south of Vindhya mountains are called &quot;five Dravidas&quot;
Brahmans.The five Dravidian Brahmans are as under.
1. Gurjara (Gujarati Brahmans)
2. Maharashtraka (Maharashtrian Brahmins)
3. Karnataka (Kannada Brahmans)
4. Talianga (Telugu Brahmans)
5. Dravidian (Brahmans of Tamil Nadu and Kerala)
The Saraswatas, Kanyakubj , Goudas, Utkalas, and
Maithili, who live north of Vindhya mountains are known
as &quot;five Gour&quot; Brahmans. The five Gaur or Gaud
Brahmans are as under.
1. Gaud Brahmans
2. Kanyakubja Brahmans
3. Maithil Brahmans
4. Utkal Brahmans (consisting of various Brahmans)
5. Saraswat Brahmins (Who lives near Sarasawati
river,including Gaud Saraswat Brahmans, who have
migrated to the south of Vindhyas).

Genetics of Utkala Brahman:In the phylogenetic tree, the Utkala Brahmans showed
close affinity to populations of North India.

Classification of Utkala Brahmans:The Utkala Brahmins are of three classes
• Shrauta/Vedic ( /
) Brahmanas.
• Sevayata/Purohita ( /
) Brahmans.
• Halua Brahmin (
) (Agrarian Brahmans. )
Again there are sub-classes in these three classes:

1.&quot;Shrauta/Vedic (


) Brahmans':-

The Vedic Brahmans are those who follow Vedic rule &amp;
regulation. They are the ancient Brahmans and
interpreters and teachers of Vedas &amp; author of Vedic other
religious books. They are called Shrauta Brahmans as
they teaches Vedas.(The teachings of Veda by eminent
rishis are called sutras) . They do Yajna(&quot;yaj&quot; which
means to worship), Yajana, Adhyayana, Adhyapana,
Daana, Pratigraha. They are also known as Kulina
Brahmans. They give more importance to Veda, daily
Upasana and agnihotra. Only these group of Brahmans
have right to conduct Yagyas.

Sub classes:

A) Kalinga Shrauta Brahmins:The Brahmans who have come from undivided regions of
previous Dhenkanal, Sambalpur, Cuttack, Puri and
Ganjam. They stay south of Brahmani River.They marries
among themselves .Others Brahmans avoid to marry
B)Jajpuria Shrauta Brahmins:-The sub-class which has
come from Jajpur and north Odissa area. They stay north
of Brahmani River. First they settled in areas around
Baitarani River.
These above two sub-classes are eligible to perform
Shrauta rites, they abstain from doing temple services
and they seldom intermarry with other Brahmins.
2.&quot; Sevayata/Purohita (

) Brahman&quot; :They are also known as Sevaka, Sarua, Purohit or
Pushpalak Brahmans; they follow the Karmakanda and
sometimes act as priests for social as well for some
temple functions. They give more importance to temple
worship, and priesthood.

They don't have right to organise Yagya. They can read
Sevayata (

) sections of Brahmans are divided
into three sub-classes which are as follows
A) Devalaka(Deyulia)Brahmins: [Surnames:- Badapanda, Pujapanda etc]. Their main
occupation is the service of the temple Gods and
Goddess. Many of them expertise in Vedic
Karmakanda(rites for marriage, upanayan etc) as well as
temple worship.
Most of the Daitapati sevayatas of Jagannath Temple,
Puri and Lingaraj Temple belong to this sub class. Most of
the temple in Orissa have this sub class of Brahmins as
chief priests..They marry among themselves.Others
Brahmans avoid to marry them.
b) Paniyari(Panda)Brahmins:- [Surnames - Panda]. They
are also from the priestly section, some do rites and some
do temple services, some of them are cooks in temples
and even in religious organizations, and some travel all
around India for pilgrims to visit the temples of
Jagannath/Narayan. Some of them are engaged in
business and trade of Agricultural products. They have
high percentage of population among all Utkala
Brahmans. They have power to populate very fast and
spread everywhere.
c)Jhadua(Aranyaka)Brahmins:- [Surnames - Dash].They
are also known as Panchadesi Brahmins.They constitute
good number of population of Utkala Brahmans in
odisha and its neighbouring states. They are the Brahman
of Kannauj of (Uttar Pradesh) north India
3.&quot;Halua Brahman (Agrarian Brahmans) (
[Surnames: - Thakur,Naik,GramPradhan or
Pradhan,Choudhury,Samantray,Sabat,Dalbehera etc].
That who cultivates in their own field and agriculture is
their main occupations are called Halua. Those who are
halua by occupation and Brahman by caste are called
Halua Brahman.

Halua Brahmans are similar to Bhumihar of Bihar &amp; UP
and Niyogis of Andhra Pradesh. They are also known as
Balaram gotri or Mahasthana Brahmans. History
says,Haluas were the village leaders, administrators of
Brahman ancestry. Once they enjoyed same status as
above Brahmans but later they accepted vocational jobs
for livelihood and gave up their sacred duty of Shrauta
and Smriti. They are engaged in agriculture &amp; business.
Some of them are allowed to do Shraadha and associate
in temples and religious functions. Most of them are
business- oriented, also do cultivation of lands granted
during Eastern Ganga dynasty and they are found in and
around South Odisha. Many of them migrated to
neighboring state of Odisha and other country. There is
also a significant migrant population of Haluas in
Mauritius, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and
some other countries.
Gotra of Utkala Brahmans:The full affiliation of a Brahmans is consists of (1) Gotra,
(2) sutra (vedanga/Kalpa), (3)Shakha, (4) Pravara.
Gotra: The Saptarishis are the main Gotra of Utkala Brahman.
The concept of Gotra was the first attempt among the
Brahmans to categorize themselves among different
groups. At the beginning, these Brahmans recognized
themselves by the names of various rishis like, Kashyapa
Bhardwaj, Angirasa, Atri, Gautam, Bhrigu, Vasistha and
Kutsa. It is to be noted that Vishwamitra was initially a
Kshatriya king, who later chose and rose to become an
ascetic rishi. Hence the gotra was applied to the
grouping, stemming from one of these rishis as his
descendants. Many lines of descent from the major rishis
were later grouped separately. Accordingly, the major
gotras were divided into Ganas (subdivisions) and each
gana was further divided into groups of families. The
term gotra was then frequently started being applied to
the ganas and to the sub-ganas. Every Brahman claims to
be a direct patrilinial descendant of one of the founding
rishis of a certain gana or sub-gana. It is the gana or subgana that is now commonly referred to as Gotra.Over the
years, the number of gotras increased due to descendants
of original rishi also started new family lineage or new
gotras by inter marriage with other sub-groups of the

same caste, and inspired by another rishi whose name
they bear as their own gotra. Gotra&amp; Pravara parampara
are followed in families of Utkala Brahmans. During
Upnayan, Vivaha, Sandhya vandana and other
ceremonies it is revered. Utkala Brahmans avoid
marriages with family of same gotra and
pravara.Different gotras trace to original seven Sapta
Rishis, It is pertinent to mention here that the names of
the current saptarishi are Kashyapa, Atri, Vashista,
Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Bharadwaja. The
Saptarishis keep changing for every Yuga. As per Hindu
Shastras, there are four yugas: Sat / Satya Yuga, Treta
Yuga, Dapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. We are at present in
5109 year now in 2018); Dvapara Yuga is twice Kali Yuga,
Treta Yuga is thrice Kali Yuga and Krita/satya Yuga is four
times Kali Yuga.

Gotra of Utkala Brahmans

Sutra:The teachings of Veda by eminent rishis are called sutras.
Every Veda has its own sutras. The sutras that deal with
social, moral and legal principles are called Dharma
sutras.The sutras that deal with ceremonials are called
Srauta sutras .The sutras that deal with domestic rituals
are called Grihya sutras.The sutras of different shakha
people are as under;• Rigveda:Ashwalayana Shrauta and Grihya Sutra(Shakal
• Shukla Yajurveda:Katyayana Shrauta and Paraskara
Grihya(Kaanva Shakha)
• Samaveda:Drahyayana Shrauta and Gobhilya grihya
(Kauthuma Shakha)
• Atharvaveda: Vaitana Shrauta and Kaushika
grihya(Paippalada Shakha).
Shakha of Utkala Brahmans: Shakha (Sanskrit Shakha means &quot;branch&quot; or &quot;limb&quot;), is a
Hindu theological school that specialises in learning
certain Vedic texts/traditional texts followed by such a

Related documents

utkal brahmin ebook
the 5 yamas of yoga an introduction
travel udaipur to kumbhalgarh with udaipur taxi
resort in himachal pradesh
brahma samhita complete english
ushnisha vimala sutra

Related keywords