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Every Family Has a Story

Chitpavan Kashyapagotri
Jog kulvruttant 1910

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Welcome To Our Pratishthan

The idea was readily accepted by a well-known industrialist Shri. Sureshbhau Marathe of ‘Marathe Udyog’ who shouldered the responsibility to fund the activities and took initiative in formation of a trust called ‘Marathe Pratishthan’. Without any waste of time, a standing committee designed the ‘Constitution’ and ‘Manual’ of the Pratishthan. The constitution was unanimously adapted vide a meeting in October 1980. The herculean efforts of Sureshbhau, Va.Ga, Na.Ba, and Ka.Ba. bore fruits and the legal entity called ‘Marathe Pratishthan’ was finally born. Needless to say, the registered office of the Pratishthan was ‘Marathe Udyog Bhavan’ proudly standing on the road named after Industrialist father of Sureshbhau, Late. Shri. Appasaheb Marathe, at Prabhadevi, Mumbai.

Kuladaivate

The concept of Kul Devata is prevalent not only among the Chitpavans of Maharashtra. It is widely accepted concept among most Hindu castes. Kul Swami is the one who protects the Kul (Clan). Chitpavans are worshipers of Lord Shiv and Lord Vishnu . Surprisingly however, the deity Parshuram who was supposedly the originator of the Chitpavans is not the Kul Daivat of any Kul . Chitpavans being intellectuals, quickly adapted to the changing social structure and advancements in industrial sector at the start of the 20th century, particularly after the Second World War. The urge for prosperity and comforts of life by better earning led to migration to the cities and industrial hubs. Consequently the religious rituals were rarely performed and relegated to oblivion. The Kulavruttants of various Chitpavan clans have well documented the information about the Kuldaivats Over a period, the information may have been lost or even distorted a bit, however the efforts of refinement and updation of such information are still vigorously on.

Kulachar The Chitpavans celebrate at least one festival a month. Why? There would always a reason behind it. It could be expressing gratitude towards the mother nature and always get showered upon with the blessings of the gods. Such celebrations also necessarily result into fruitful interactions between individuals resulting into cohesion among various sections of the society. Some of the not so important festivities celebrated by the Chitpavans are as follows: Chaitrangan, Chaitragauri (Gajagauri), Divyachi Awas (Ashadh Amavasya), Shravani, Avidhva Navami, Mahalaya Shraddha, Vaikunth Chaturdashi (Kartik Shuddha Chaturdashi), Tripuri Paurnima, Devdiwali, Rathasaptami, A close look at the list of festivals would confirm the widely held premise that the Maharashtrian festivities mainly pertain to the Females of the clan. Though, over a period many of these festivals have been adapted by other states and are celebrated with vigor there.

Kulachar The Chitpavans celebrate at least one festival a month. Why? There would always a reason behind it. It could be expressing gratitude towards the mother nature and always get showered upon with the blessings of the gods. Such celebrations also necessarily result into fruitful interactions between individuals resulting into cohesion among various sections of the society. Some of the not so important festivities celebrated by the Chitpavans are as follows: Chaitrangan, Chaitragauri (Gajagauri), Divyachi Awas (Ashadh Amavasya), Shravani, Avidhva Navami, Mahalaya Shraddha, Vaikunth Chaturdashi (Kartik Shuddha Chaturdashi), Tripuri Paurnima, Devdiwali, Rathasaptami, A close look at the list of festivals would confirm the widely held premise that the Maharashtrian festivities mainly pertain to the Females of the clan. Though, over a period many of these festivals have been adapted by other states and are celebrated with vigor there.

Chitpavans

The very peculiarities of the Chitpavans namely their bluish green eyes and their fair skin branded them to be from either of the following: a) erstwhile Persia b) Greeks who accompanied King Alexander, c) Egypt, d) The Shaka’s from Afghanistan, e) The Jews or f) The Germans. Some call them as ‘Sashtik Brahmins’ of the’Hiranyakeshi Branch’ based on the recent history. The tales of Puranas, historical evidences, various myths and their origins, the resemblance to manners of living, food habits, languages and rituals prevalent in other Indian provinces can be of help in the task of determining the origin of the Chitpavans. It is also possible to emphatically conclude about their settlement in various places in Konkan, from the research by some Chitpavan Clans, which is well documented in their Kulavruttants, mythological tales and the notes in historic documents and deeds of gift by erstwhile rulers.

 A place called ‘Roopkund’ at an altitude of 5540 m, in the Garhwal region in Himachal Pradesh is always well covered with snow. It came into limelight in the year 1942 due to the most conspicuous reason. Many human skeletons were found buried under the snow in this place in 1942. The experts from the University of oxford carried out many tests likeCarbon dating on these skeletons to finally arrive at a conclusion that the skeletons were of persons living during year 850 AD. The Centre for cellular and molecular biology at Hydrabad carried out DNA tests on the skeletons only to conclude that these skeletons belonged to the Chitpavan Brahmins. The settlements of the Chitpavans near the seashores are much clean and neat as compared to the other villages. Their settlement is normally surrounded by the coconut and Pofli or mango and jackfruit trees. The houses are well designed and are built using uniformly shaped stone blocks. The frontage of the house would have a barn for the milch cattle, a well a small puddle and a small temple.

 A place called ‘Roopkund’ at an altitude of 5540 m, in the Garhwal region in Himachal Pradesh is always well covered with snow. It came into limelight in the year 1942 due to the most conspicuous reason. Many human skeletons were found buried under the snow in this place in 1942. The experts from the University of oxford carried out many tests likeCarbon dating on these skeletons to finally arrive at a conclusion that the skeletons were of persons living during year 850 AD. The Centre for cellular and molecular biology at Hydrabad carried out DNA tests on the skeletons only to conclude that these skeletons belonged to the Chitpavan Brahmins. The settlements of the Chitpavans near the seashores are much clean and neat as compared to the other villages. Their settlement is normally surrounded by the coconut and Pofli or mango and jackfruit trees. The houses are well designed and are built using uniformly shaped stone blocks. The frontage of the house would have a barn for the milch cattle, a well a small puddle and a small temple.