Thursday, July 15, 2010

Socio-cultural Dimensions of Banaskantha Chaudhari Community:

The Chaudhari community of Banaskantha district slightly differs from other Hindu communities of the district in social customs and traditions. However, there are some differences in dressing, marriage ceremonies, food, life style, and language within the Chaudharies of different talukas in Banaskantha.




Religion:

The district has predominantly Hindu population. Anjana Chaudhari is one of the Hindu Casts. As Hindus, Chaudharies profess both monism and polytheism. The Chaudharies are generally followers of Lord Shiva, goddess Arbuda and it is customary that some members of the family must perform the rituals everyday. Sometimes beliefs in sorcery, witches, and evil eye and bad omens still prevail among them.

Religion plays an important role in the individual and collective life of the Chaudharies. Most Chaudhari homes display pictures of Hindu deities and often reserves a room or corner for daily worship of their chosen deity. The community of this district has established a big temple of their Mother Goddess, ‘Arbuda’ in Mount Abu as well as in Palanpur. Some families organize collective worship and religious discourses at special occasions to which relatives are invited.



Customs and Traditions of Banaskantha Chaudhari Community:



As Hindus, Chaudharies observe important customs relating to ‘simanta’ (pregnancy), ‘upanayana’ (thred ceremony), ‘vivah’ and death. Birth-simanta, which corresponds to the Vedic ‘samskara’ of ‘simantonayana’, is popularly known as ‘kholobharvo’, and is performed at the husband’s house to celebrate the woman’s first pregnancy. On the birth of a child, the mid wife cuts its naval-cord and buries it in the corner at compound in front of the house. Generally, the naming ceremony takes place on twelfth day. The aunty (foi) performs the naming ceremony today and names are kept according to the zodiac signs for which a Brahmin is consulted.

Marriage ceremonies by Chaudharies are traditionally conducted in accordance with Central Asian customs. These customs have evolved since traditional times and differ in many ways. These people attach a lot of importance to weddings and the ceremonies are very colorful and extend for several days. The following steps are involved in a wedding like engagement, ‘Ganeshpujan’, ‘varghoda,’ marriage, reception, etc.

Marriage is considered as ‘samskara’ in the Hindusastra through which a person enter ‘grahasthashrama’ (householder’s stage). When betrothal takes place, the proposal usually comes from the girl’s side, in which social prestige, economic condition and education are chiefly taken into consideration. In Chaudhari community, the father of the girl presents one rupee coin at this time. The marriage generally takes place at the bride’s house. The groom leaves for the wedding venue riding a decorated horse. This is a very colorful and grand ceremony. The groom is dressed in a 'Sherwani' (long jacket) and 'Churidars' (fitted trousers). On his head he wears, a 'safa' (turban) with a 'kalgi' (brooch) pinned onto it. Before he departs, all his relatives apply the ceremonial 'tilak' on his forehead. The ‘barat’ is headed by the dancing of the congregated folks. The ‘Jan’ (barat) starts with the rhythm of the musical band or drummers in front of bridegroom and finally reaches the place of the wedding.

The wedding procession is a grand affair as the bridegroom (Var raja) receives all the attention as if he were a king for that time. Bridegroom is welcomed at the entrance by ‘ponkhvun’ ceremony. When the procession reaches the bride’s place, the bride’s mother waves four times a miniature plough, a grinding pestle and a churning stick, over the head of the bridegroom and places at the bridegroom’s feet a ‘samput’ made two earthen cups or ‘kodia’ painted white and tied together with a string so that their edges touch each other. The bridegroom then trades on the ‘samput’, breaks it to pieces, then enters the marriage booth specially decorated for the occasion. The marriage rites and ceremonies to be performed at the wedding are generally the same like other Hindus.

Then the priest ties the end of the groom's ‘dhoti’ or the ‘kurta’; whichever he is wearing, with that of the bride's ‘sari’, the knot signifying the sacred wedlock. After it the ‘Phera-Ceremony’ is performed during marriage when the couple takes an oath in front of ‘Agni devata’ and ‘Satphera’ (Seven rounds around fire) in which the groom and the bride then circle the holy fire seven times, making seven promises to be fulfilled in the married life, after which they are considered to be 'married' to each other. This ritual is called ‘phere’. The marriage ceremony at the bride’s place ends with ‘kanya viday’ (A send off), which is considered to be the most emotional ritual, when the bride leaves her parents' home and makes her way to her husband's. Family and friends, who so ever her with blessings and gifts, give her a tearful farewell.

A person from this cast does not marry in his own ‘gotraj’ and within six degrees of relationship on the father’s side and four or five on the mother’s side. Usually, the ‘gotraj’ of the father alone and not that of the mother is considered when a marriage alliance is contemplated. Even this restriction has been showing songs of relaxation in recent times. It is supposed to marry within the same caste generally. Any marriage outside the cast is considered contrary to the caste custom. These restrictions are gradually loosening and marriages outside the caste are on the increase particularly among the advanced and educated families and among the economically better off castes.

With the spread of education, social legislation and high cost of living, the social outlook of the people, marriage has considerably changed in recent times. A number of undesirable social customs, which were strictly served in the past, have lost their significance under the changed circumstances. Civil marriages, which were unknown in the past, are nowadays on the increase. Inter -cast marriages have also started taking place among younger generations, especially in the urban areas. Widow is considered a curse, and re-marriages take place in many cases. Divorce is permitted under the law of the cast. Remarriages are common in this cast where the custom is known, as ‘natra’ is prevalent. However, widowed re marriages in the form of ‘diyarvatu’ are not permitted in this community.

To sum up, under the pressure of social and economic development and spread of education, cases of civil marriage have recently increased and the ‘sata-system’ is destroyed in 50% cases. Time taken by the marriage ceremonies is being curtailed, the accent being on spending money and time on reception and pretension. Secondly, the widow re-marriages are on the increase, and lastly the marriage bonds are loosened not only by the permissive divorce law but also by the girls gaining economic independence because of spread of education and gainful employment. Today, largely, the attitude towards marriage is undergoing rapid change in the permissive society and a tendency is developing to treat marriage more as a contract rather than a sacrament.

Chaudhari community as the Hindus considers it necessary to perform certain after-death ceremonies to propitiate the death. So when the person is breathing last, a silver coin and holy water of the Ganga are put into his mouth. The relatives and neighbors are assembled and pyre of bamboo is prepared and the dead body is taken to the cremation ground. Females of this cast do not go to the cremation ground but follow the funeral procession up to the corner of the street weeping and return home after taking bath near a well or a pond. Males wait at the cremation ground until the dead body is completely burnt. Ashes (phul/ful) are collected on the same day. Memorial rites or ‘shradhha’ are performed from the tenth and continued until the thirteenth day after death.



Dress:

There are several different outfits that are worn by both men and women depending on the occasion in the Chaudhari community of Banaskantha. Generally, men wear traditional clothes like white shirt, dhoti and white turban, while women of this community wear different colour saris and red or black colour Chaniya. If we glance on younger generation of the community, we find major difference in their dressing. For example, in Palanpur and Vadgam regions, boys generally wear pants, Jeans and T-shirts and girls wear western outfits like skirts, Jeans, etc, while the boys and girls of other regions like Deesa, Tharad, etc. wear traditional dresses in their daily life. If we talk about the marriage ceremonies the boys of Palanpur region wear ‘Shervani’ and Suit, while the boys of Deesa and Tharad region wear traditional dress called 'adhivato' (a dress that includes white ‘Dhoti’ and white shirt) whether he is a doctor or an engineer. The same is the case with the girls as they wear ‘Panetar’ in Palanpur region, while the Deesa region girls wear traditional Sari with veil. In short, the culture of Palanpur region is like urban culture, while Dessa region has traditional culture which is similar to Marwadi culture due to closeness with Rajasthan border.

Women of this community wear Gujarati jewelry like ‘mangalsutras’, necklaces, nose rings, earrings, bangles and rings, toe rings, bracelets, etc. Most of this jewelry is made in 22-carat gold but cheaper jewelry is becoming more common. During weddings, brides wear a lot of jewelry. It is common to see a male wearing a gold chain and a ring.



Language:

However the Banaskantha Chaudharies generally speak Gujarati language, they have different dialects and jargons in particular talukas. For instance, the Palanpur and Vadgam has same lexis of Gujarati language while the Deesa, Tharad-Vav, Dhanera, Kankrej and Deodar talukas have much more influences of Rajasthani vocabulary as well as pronunciation. Higher educated people of this community also speak Hindi and English in their routine life.



Food:

The majority of Chaudharies are vegetarian. It follows the traditional full meal structure of rice, cooked vegetables, curry or ‘daal’ and ‘roti’ or ‘rotala’. Usually they cook ‘roti’ or ‘rotla’ and vegetable for lunch while ‘Khichdi’ - a mix of rice and ‘toor daal’, or ‘rotla’ and milk is the favorite dish for dinner. They usually cook ‘shiro’ (a sweet food made of wheat flour, ghee and sugar) for guest. The different types of ‘rotli’ (breads) that they cook are ‘chapati’, ‘bhakhri’, ‘thepla’ or ‘dhebara’, ‘puri’, ‘maal purah’ and ‘puran-pohli’. ‘Ghari’ and ‘Khakhra’ are also eaten as ‘rotli’, but’ they are usually eaten as a snack. ‘Khaman, ‘Dhokla’, ‘dhokli’, ‘dal-dhokli’, ‘undhiyu’, ‘fafda’, ‘chevdoh’, ‘papdi’, ‘muthia’, ‘bhajia’, ‘patra’, ‘bhusu’ and ‘Sev mamra’ are traditional Gujarati dishes savored by this communities across the district. Use of Ghee in meals is very common among Chaudharies. The meal is usually accompanied with a sweet and a salty snack (farsaan) like ‘Vada’. Having buttr-milk after lunch or dinner is quite common in them.



Joint families:

The Joint family system was popular amongst the Chaudharies and large families use to share the same house and hearth. With the advancement of modern civilization, as people are becoming less dependent upon and less tolerant towards each other, the joint family system is going out of vogue. It is still prevalent in the less advanced areas like Deesa, Tharad and Vav.



Equal social status:

All Chaudharies, irrespective of their religion, official or financial positions in life, have equal social status. The only criterion of superiority is age. Traditionally, if two Chaudharies sit on a bed the elder, even if he is poor, will sit towards the head of the bed, and the younger, even if he is a very well to do, or is a senior doctor, civil or military officer, will sit towards the foot of the bed. If a number of Chaudharies are sharing the same hooka it is the duty of the youngest to hold the 'hooka' and pass it around in turn to the others. The system is, thus, of a very socialistic nature.



Festivals:

Chaudhari people celebrate following festivals with great fanfare –

• Rakshabandhan (the bond of protection) celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. It is celebrated on the full moon of the month of Shravana.

• Diwali is one of the most well known festivals, and is celebrated with great fanfare. Firecrackers and sweets accompany Diwali celebrations. Every house in the state is illuminated with electrical bulbs or candles. The festival continues for four days.

• Holi is a festival of colours and celebrates the arrival of

spring. It is celebrated as victory of the faith of Prahlada over evil designs of Hiranyakashipu, who tried to kill him.

• Navratri is the festival of nine nights in honor of

Goddess ‘Ambaji’. People, irrespective of sex, caste and creed, congregate to perform their traditional dance called Garba and Dandiya Ras.



The Orthodox customs still prevailing in the Banaskantha Chaudhari Community:

Observing their customs and cultural practice, a checklist of the prevailing orthodox customs of the community is given here. Among these, the major issue is illiteracy because the people give up their studies after twelfth standard. Due to illiteracy, the only way left to them to earn their livehood is the traditional businesses like farming, animal husbandry and diamond cutting. Illiteracy has disturbed the birth-ratio of women. There is a marked difference in the population of men and women. Boys are preferred to girls. Child-Marriage is another giant issue that needs to be attended quickly.

In Banaskantha district Chaudhari community, on every occasion even mourning the dead, calls for a toast with ‘Kashumba’, a drink made from opium pods. Every palm holds the opium spiced water proudly and it is treated as a sort of 'Prasad' signifying the blessing of god. Crushing opium pods and soaking the powder in water and then storing it in a pot make the drink. It is served at all social gatherings. The addiction to opium eating has really sucked the health and wealth of the community.

The other dark side of the community is ‘Sata-system’, an enemy to marriage. ‘Sata-system’ means bride Groom has to offer his sister to his brother in law. They are not free to choose their life partners. Unfortunately, it is like fixing a small sized tire to a tractor. In some cases, girls have to marry with the aged and uneducated boys even though she is a teacher or an engineer. The same thing happens in the case of some boys, as they have to marry with uneducated or very younger girl. Today the cases of divorce are increasing due to unmatched couples.



Economic dimension of Banaskantha Chaudharies:

Banaskantha district is one of the hardest hit districts in this respect and continues to be one of the most backward districts of Gujarat. About 90% of the population of Banaskantha (2,162,578 persons in 1991) live in villages which is mainly based on agriculture, animal husbandry, diamond industry, etc.

Banaskantha is rich in Marble quarries and Copper deposits. India’s diamond industry has its origins in Palanpur. It has very big co-operative sector.6



The economy of Chaudharies in the district is mainly based on agriculture, which is also a primary sector for economy of Gujarat state. In spite of it, they are engaged in other sectors like animal husbandry, diamond industry, and other business. They are also professionals like engineers, doctors, teachers, bankers etc. In business, they have covered all fields like diamond, retail, garments, moneylender, dairy products, jewels, hotels, showroom owner, etc.



Agriculture:

In Banaskantha, most Chudharies are small and marginal farmers. Since their income, and that of the agricultural, depends mainly on rainfall, nowadays they have started to use drip irrigation to save water and get more production. Wheat is the main Ravi crop. In the eastern part, the comprising crops like paddy, sugarcane, tobacco, vegetables, wheat, mustard, gram, isabgul, cumin, etc. are grown due to good irrigation facilities. In Banaskantha, they grow such crops that are less remunerative. They are also engaged with vegetable production as the district contributes 46.80% to the total potato production of the state. Looking to its importance the Gujarat Agriculture University has been headquartered at Dantiwada.



Animal Husbandry and Dairy:

The dairy sector in the India has shown remarkable development in the past decade and India has now become one of the largest producers of milk and value-added milk products in the world. The dairy sector has developed through co-operatives in many parts of the State. Banaskantha District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited known as Banas Dairy is a cooperative organization established by Shri Galbabhai Nanjibhai Chaudhari in the year 1969 under the Gujarat Co-operative societies Act 1961 with the support of NDDB as a part of their Operation Flood Program launched to bring about white revolution in the country.



The Banas Milk Union, having turnover of over rupees 900 Crores, plays a major role in procurement of milk from rural areas through dairy co-operative societies. Banas Dairy also provides various facilities like Animal Health, Artificial Insemination, Cattle Feeds & Fodder and Extension Training, etc. to the milk producers.7



Banaskantha Chaudharies are very much depending on this sector as Banas Dairy (Banaskantha District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union) provides employment to over three lac people in Banaskantha district. Nowadays, it has claimed to become the number one highest daily milk producing co-operative dairy in whole Asia. Banas manufactures a large number of dairy products under AMUL, SAGAR and BANAS brands. Its product range includes Amul Pasteurized Milk, Amul longer Shelf Life Milk, Amul Butter, Amul Ghee, Sagar Ghee, Amulya Powder, Sagar Tea and Coffee Whitener, Amul Shakti Powder, a wide range of Amul Ice-Creams, Banas Penda, and Banas Tea etc. The products of dairy are marketed through Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, Anand. Banas dairy also provides a large number of technical inputs to over 1.8 lack farmer households, organized through 1400 odd village level Cooperative Milk Societies.



If we check any farmer of this community, they have at least one buffalo and cow for the purpose of milk. In some cases, they have made big farmhouses (‘tabelas’) with more than 100 cows or buffaloes. However, they keep some milk for them and give rest of the milk to dairy. They have jobs as professionals, skilled workers, semi-skilled workers as well as labors in Banas dairy.



Diamond industry:

India has continued to maintain its tradition of diamond cutting and polishing, and thousands of people are involved in this skilled occupation. The Indian diamond cutting centres are mostly concentrated in Surat in Gujarat. However, there are many units in other parts of the State viz, Ahmedabad, Mehsana, Palanpur, Patan, Rajkot, Amreli, Junagadh and Bhavnagar. The diamond industry is an employment generating industry in Gujarat.

The Chaudharies of Banaskantha are engaged in the diamond industry traditionally. During 1970-80 many Chaudharies of Banaskantha went to Bombay as workers as well as businessmen and started their own factories there. Later on they moved towards Surat and Palanpur in the same business.



Other Businesses and Jobs:

In spite of these three major sources, today Banaskantha Chaudharies have turned toward different fields to earn money and have covered almost every field due to increase of education ratio. The other reason of their turn toward different fields is the small property due to inheritance. They are hotel owners, showroom owners and have agricultural seeds shops and franchises of different products.

Moreover, they have government jobs as well as private jobs like teachers, lecturers, engineers, bankers, doctors, lawyers, and other skilled and semiskilled jobs. In recent time, many young boys have joined state police, BSF and army. Today women of this community are not only homemakers but also play an important role in the economy of their families.

The scenario in rural economy much has not been changed much in Banaskantha Chaudharies, for whom landholding defines their socio-economic condition and position in society. Although, increase in terms of overall per capita income, the economic future of Banaskantha Chaudharies is threatened by an ever-growing water shortage and draughts. On average, droughts occur in the area every three years. Low-income families are usually the hardest hit by droughts and other natural disasters, which are eroding interim development gains and leaving many trapped in an interminable cycle of poverty.





References:

1. Choksi G.M.; ed., ‘Gazetteer of India, Gujarat State, Banaskantha District’ Govt. Printing Stationary and Publications, Gujarat state, Ahmedabad, 1981, p.15

2. Ramjibhai B Mahival: ‘Anjana Utpati' in ‘Sneh-Sampark”-Parivar Parichay Pustika’, Navyug Press, Palanpur,2007 p.22

3. Ibid, p. 22

4. Ibid, p. 22

5. Ibid, p. 23

6. http://www.vibrantgujarat.com/district_profile’/

detail/banas-antha

7. http://www.banasdairy.coop.in

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