A brief on the origins and progress of the Chitrapur Saraswat community

1. Who are We ??
Lit
Little know facts about a lesser known community –
Chitrapur Saraswats
By Ashwin Panemangalore

2. Why am I doIng thIs
presentatIon ?

3. Because…..
• We are a small, little known community of
<25,000 across the globe
• We are confused with Maharashtrians and
other South Indians though we have our own
distinct
- language
- food ( you will simply love it !)
- customs and religious practices
- little known coastal region where we come from

4. Who We are..
We belong to the Saraswat community from coastal
Karnataka

5. Where Is KarnataKa ?

6. our orIgIns
• From the banks of the river Saraswati
• Now no longer in existence Ground faults in the
earthquake prone region sent the river underground
• Saraswati started in the Har ki Dun glacier in West
Gharwal near Yamunotri
• Flowed through Punjab, Haryana to join the Ghaggar
• Was the greatest river in Vedic times Had scholars and
learned people on its banks
• It is said that the Vedas were written on the banks of
this river
(source India directory )

7. rIvers of north IndIa

8. our mIgratIon
• The Saraswats migrated from the valley in early AD following
the disappearance of the river
• The migrations spread across Kashmir, Jammu, Punjab,
Haryana, UP along the rivers and parts of Gujarat and Goa
over a period of 1000 years
• Hence you find Saraswats in various parts of India
called Gowd,Punjabi,Kutch,Chitrapur and Rajapur
Saraswats.The Kashmiri Pandits are also migrants from this
region
• Our ancestors settled in Goa We are called Chitrapur
Saraswats
( source: Avtar Kaul in ‘The Saraswat Brahmins’)

9. preservIng the tradItIon
• Saraswats carried their traditions with them in
the migration
• They preserved their culture through the
maths and temples that they installed
wherever they settled across India
• Every Saraswat family God is a mandal of 5
Gods with the kuladevata at the center

10. preservIng the tradItIon
• Our ancestors caried their kuladevata to Goa
• They built the Mangesh and the Shantadurga temples
sometime in the 14th century
• Following the occupation of Goa in the 15th century by the
Portuguese our ancestors fled with the idols.
• These were shifted to a remote location outside the hands of
the Portuguese and the temples rebuilt in 1723

11. mangesh temple
1723 1943 1973
Toda
y

12. shanta durga temple

13. movIng south of goa
• With continued Portuguese domination and large
scale conversion our ancestors moved further south
towards the coastal region which now is called Uttar
Kanara,Udupi and and Dakshin Kanara
• This is a vast, green region with rolling hills and rivers
flowing into a crystal clear sea hugged by white
sands
• Except for the railway line built 10 years back this
region is underdeveloped even today.

14. Konkan Rail,Waterfalls on the
way

15. L-R cwise Murdeshwar,Manjeshwar, Murdeshwar
Netravati river between Panemangalore & Bantwal,

16. L- R cwise Gersoppa,Gokarn lagoons,Sharavati at

17. River Sirsi,,Belthangady,

18. Where We settled

19. settlIng on the coast
• They built their own math at a village called Shirali
on the coast line between Goa and Mangalore
• Owing to their erudition some were appointed
sarpanchs and hence adopted names of the villages
they were responsible for as family names
• They carved out their own dialect ( a version of
Konkani) and took up jobs as teachers and
government officials
• Very little trade and commerce existed. These were
conducted by the other communities

20. What maKes us dIfferent
• The dialect is unique and distinct from its
neighbours, Marathi, Tulu and Kannada and hence
not easily absorbed
• The food too is distinct from the food one gets in
Karnataka or in Kanara district
• Owing to their ancestry the physical appearance is
distinct from the population of the region they
settled in
• The customs and religious ceremonies have been
preserved from migration

21. another mIgratIon
• They struggled to eke out an existence. So, many started
another migration in search of economic well being to
Bombay and Bangalore
• They carried their maths with them to these and other cities
across India
• The head of our community who binds us together is the
head of the math based in Shirali. The current head is an
authority on the Vedas, a karate black belt and modern in
outlook. He gives regular discourses to interpret them in
simple language to the young
• He is young ( in his 40s) and upto date while being deeply
steeped in the tradition

22. the shIralI math

23. today We are
• About 25,000 across the globe
• 100% literacy
• 100% over 23 are graduates
• Over 80% of these are professionally qualified
• Many have carved a niche for themselves in various
professions
Our close cousins the Gowd Saraswats ( called GSBs) are a
dynamic, enterprising group of 30,000 who have carved a
niche in areas of education, business, engineering, medicine
and other vocations

24. We are proud of
The Arts Statesmen
• Guru Dutt B N Chandarvarkar
• Shyam Benegal B N Rau
• Girish Karnad Community Service
• Suman Kalyanpur Dr Sheela Basrur
• Anuradha Paudwal Sports
• Deepika Padukone Prakash Padukone
• Amrita Rao Business
• Isha Koppikar Nandan Nilekani

25. are We closed ?
• We welcome girls and boys who are brought
in as life partners from outside our small
community
• The cultural bonding ensures that the girl or
boy soon integrates and becomes a part of us
…………..WIthout losIng her or hIs
IdentIty