Sourashtras have etched a prominent place for themselves in the city
Newcomers venturing into eastern parts of Madurai, particularly around Thirumalai Naick Mahal, will be surprised by the large number of people speaking a different language among themselves in the area and even switching over to Tamil with equal ease.
They are the Sourashtra people, who’ve made a mark for themselves in a plethora of fields through the past few centuries in this ancient city.
Going towards Vilakkuthoon from Periyar bus stand via South Masi Street or South Gate, one can make inroads into the ‘small Sourashtra country’, choc-a-block with houses and wholesale textile shops spread on the Manjanakkara Street, Panthadi streets and countless other bylanes.
By and by, the areas populated by Sourashtras have extended along both sides of arterial Kamarajar Salai towards Teppakulam. Their population is around 3,00,000 in a city of 12 lakh.
Prominent place in history :
These versatile people have etched for themselves a prominent place in the history of Madurai.
Sourashtras of Madurai can be compared to the Chinese of Singapore. After settling down, there was no looking back for these industrious people.
Nostalgic baggage did not bog them down either.
In fact, most Sourashtras are even unaware of their ancestral land. Unlike several other dominant migrant communities like the Punjabis of Delhi, Gujaratis of Mumbai and Biharis of Kolkata, the Sourashtras of Madurai did not set out in search of El Dorado in the first place.
It is believed that their migration was prompted by Muslim incursion into Somnath to plunder its temple — by Ghazni Mohammed in the 10th century and later by Allauddin Khilji’s troops in the 12th century.
Transformation :
Having settled down en masse in Madurai along with the Nayaks from Vijayanagar, they have been taking part in the development of the city with their intricate weaving skill, business acumen, contribution to arts and education and delectable cuisine.
But for them, the tie-and-dye Sungudi (junnadi) cotton saris, synonymous with Madurai handlooms, would not have become famous.
The language they brought from the Saurashtra (as spelt in Rajkot and also Latha region, north of Surat) of Gujarat, underwent transformation in diction as they started moving southwards in the 12th century through Devagiri in Maharashtra and along the Konkan coast to Andhra Pradesh (the then Vijayanagar) to Madurai. It has little resemblance to what is spoken now in present-day Gujarat.
Having imbibed Marathi, Konkani and Telugu and a heavy dose of Tamil, their language has slightly deviated from its Indo-Aryan roots owing to the influence of the languages spoken where they migrated to.
In fact, it astonishes many visitors from Gujarat to hear their old-world language spoken down-South, since their original language has been overridden by more dominant Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi and Urdu due to commercial reasons.
The zealous community’s resolve to speak their mother tongue at home and with fellow Sourashtras outside has assured not only the preservation of the language but also all their age-old customs and traditions.
Distinctive :
K.R. Sethuraman, Saurashtralogist and a Sakitya Akademi awardee, says, “During betrothal (des) ceremony, we have this ritual called ‘baulas’ when the relatives of the bride and groom exchange information about their ancestry details of three generations to establish their identity (gothra) through a question and answer session.” Through this ritual, knowledge of our passage from one famous temple town of Somnath in Saurashtra (Kathiawad region) to another famous temple town of Madurai is passed on to the next generation.
Another distinctive feature that traces Sourashtras’ cultural roots is the ‘deepakheli’ or ‘brindavana kolattam’ (dancing with sticks), performed during weddings and other important ceremonies. It resembles the more famous ‘dandiya raas’ of Gujaratis.
According to Mr. Sethuraman, though Sourashtras practise distinctive traditions through their lineage, they have absorbed so many local traits as well. “Unlike their counterparts in Gujarat, our women do not cover their head in front of men or inside temples. It is one of the many definitely Dravidian traits followed by our people.”
Though Vaishanavites, they have no qualms about worshipping at Shiva temples. Of deeply religious and charitable disposition, Sourashtras have been patronising many famous temples in Madurai and have built choultries (roadside inns) at numerous places.
Dowry system is also not prevalent among the Sourashtras in Madurai. Generally law-abiding and honest people, they’ve proved their mettle in many spheres to contribute to the overall development of the city.
Source - The Hindu Metroplus
Newcomers venturing into eastern parts of Madurai, particularly around Thirumalai Naick Mahal, will be surprised by the large number of people speaking a different language among themselves in the area and even switching over to Tamil with equal ease.
They are the Sourashtra people, who’ve made a mark for themselves in a plethora of fields through the past few centuries in this ancient city.
Going towards Vilakkuthoon from Periyar bus stand via South Masi Street or South Gate, one can make inroads into the ‘small Sourashtra country’, choc-a-block with houses and wholesale textile shops spread on the Manjanakkara Street, Panthadi streets and countless other bylanes.
By and by, the areas populated by Sourashtras have extended along both sides of arterial Kamarajar Salai towards Teppakulam. Their population is around 3,00,000 in a city of 12 lakh.
Prominent place in history :
These versatile people have etched for themselves a prominent place in the history of Madurai.
Sourashtras of Madurai can be compared to the Chinese of Singapore. After settling down, there was no looking back for these industrious people.
Nostalgic baggage did not bog them down either.
In fact, most Sourashtras are even unaware of their ancestral land. Unlike several other dominant migrant communities like the Punjabis of Delhi, Gujaratis of Mumbai and Biharis of Kolkata, the Sourashtras of Madurai did not set out in search of El Dorado in the first place.
It is believed that their migration was prompted by Muslim incursion into Somnath to plunder its temple — by Ghazni Mohammed in the 10th century and later by Allauddin Khilji’s troops in the 12th century.
Transformation :
Having settled down en masse in Madurai along with the Nayaks from Vijayanagar, they have been taking part in the development of the city with their intricate weaving skill, business acumen, contribution to arts and education and delectable cuisine.
But for them, the tie-and-dye Sungudi (junnadi) cotton saris, synonymous with Madurai handlooms, would not have become famous.
The language they brought from the Saurashtra (as spelt in Rajkot and also Latha region, north of Surat) of Gujarat, underwent transformation in diction as they started moving southwards in the 12th century through Devagiri in Maharashtra and along the Konkan coast to Andhra Pradesh (the then Vijayanagar) to Madurai. It has little resemblance to what is spoken now in present-day Gujarat.
Having imbibed Marathi, Konkani and Telugu and a heavy dose of Tamil, their language has slightly deviated from its Indo-Aryan roots owing to the influence of the languages spoken where they migrated to.
In fact, it astonishes many visitors from Gujarat to hear their old-world language spoken down-South, since their original language has been overridden by more dominant Indo-Aryan languages such as Hindi and Urdu due to commercial reasons.
The zealous community’s resolve to speak their mother tongue at home and with fellow Sourashtras outside has assured not only the preservation of the language but also all their age-old customs and traditions.
Distinctive :
K.R. Sethuraman, Saurashtralogist and a Sakitya Akademi awardee, says, “During betrothal (des) ceremony, we have this ritual called ‘baulas’ when the relatives of the bride and groom exchange information about their ancestry details of three generations to establish their identity (gothra) through a question and answer session.” Through this ritual, knowledge of our passage from one famous temple town of Somnath in Saurashtra (Kathiawad region) to another famous temple town of Madurai is passed on to the next generation.
Another distinctive feature that traces Sourashtras’ cultural roots is the ‘deepakheli’ or ‘brindavana kolattam’ (dancing with sticks), performed during weddings and other important ceremonies. It resembles the more famous ‘dandiya raas’ of Gujaratis.
According to Mr. Sethuraman, though Sourashtras practise distinctive traditions through their lineage, they have absorbed so many local traits as well. “Unlike their counterparts in Gujarat, our women do not cover their head in front of men or inside temples. It is one of the many definitely Dravidian traits followed by our people.”
Though Vaishanavites, they have no qualms about worshipping at Shiva temples. Of deeply religious and charitable disposition, Sourashtras have been patronising many famous temples in Madurai and have built choultries (roadside inns) at numerous places.
Dowry system is also not prevalent among the Sourashtras in Madurai. Generally law-abiding and honest people, they’ve proved their mettle in many spheres to contribute to the overall development of the city.
Source - The Hindu Metroplus
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