Shops or temples, food or festivals, they have brought their world to Madurai and settled well here
Madurai’s reputation as a commercial hub is accentuated by the presence of the large number of wholesale merchants, majority of them north Indians who started settling down in the city from the 1930s.
Among them, Rajasthanis form the bulk, with a population of 25,000. Since most of them hail from Marwar region (Jodhpur area), they are collectively called ‘Marwaris’, though some are natives of other parts of Rajasthan.
A majority of Marwaris in Madurai are Jains who run about 400-odd shops. The Hindus from Rajasthan — Raj Purohits, Choudharys, Rajputs (once the ruling class and the only non-vegetarian sect) and others — run another 500-odd shops.
These shops are situated around Meenakshi temple — on Valayalkara Street (old and new), Hanumantharayan Koil Street, West Avani Moola Street, West Masi Street, Netaji Road, West Vadampokki Street, Vilakkuthoon, Lakshmipuram and Khanpalayam.
Variety business
While Jains are always the owners of the shops, they employ Hindus from their State and sometimes locals too. Marwaris dabble in a variety of wholesale businesses such as electric goods, bangles and cosmetics, fancy goods, stainless steel utensils and sheets, readymade garments … the list is long.
But not pawn broking! According to U. Hari Singh, a metals trader whose native place is Vandar in Pali-Marwar district, “In Tamil Nadu, you will find Marwari pawn brokers only in Chennai and northern districts where the locals are docile. Beyond Vriddhachalam down south, it is tough to do business with some communities. The very few shops that were running in the southern districts downed their shutters more than a decade ago.”
“Unlike other migrant communities in Madurai, we rely on integrity and never change our line of business,” asserts Mr. Hari Singh.
According to Vimalchand Jain, who hails from Siwana, Barmer district, “We act as a bridge between factories in north India and consumers in south India. They give us goods on credit which cannot be availed by the locals.”
Strict vegetarians
Being strict vegetarians (they do not even eat root vegetables such as onion, garlic, potato and carrot), the Jains have a bhojanalaya near the Main Guard Square exclusively meant for their travelling folks.
The Hindu Marwaris have a temple, Ramdev Mandir on Velliambalam lane off South Chithirai Street.
The Hindus run many eateries in Madurai. While Sankhwala on Jadamuni Koil Street, Mohan Bhojanalaya on Dhanappa Mudali Street and Ramdev Bhojanalaya opposite Central Theatre are popular among the locals as well, there are many other rustic joints which cater to the migrant populace, mostly workers at shops, with typical Rajasthani fare.
Another favourite with the locals is the Choudary’s milk shop near Arya Bhavan on West Masi Street. One cannot get the sort of lassi the Sawai Madhopur men serve in the day and hot badam milk at night anywhere else in the city. This shop and the paan shop on Netaji Road serve as late night meeting places for the migrants.
Two sects
Among Jains, there are two sects — Digambars (conservatives, the ones who run marble business in Madurai) and Shwetambar, who form the majority. While a Digambar temple is in Gomathipuram, Shwetambar temples can be found in Main Guard Square, near Iyer Bungalow (both built in Shikarbandh style with vimana), Jadamuni Koil Street (Ghar Mandir style), Appavu Pillai Lane and Mela Gopura Vaasal.
The Jains celebrate Paryusan, an eight-day festival that culminates after a fast to coincide with Vinayakar Chathurti. On that day, they take out a procession from their temple in which the deity is any one of the 24 tirthankaras, the enlightened ascetics (there is no temple dedicated to the 24th tirthankara, Mahavir, in the city).
The Marwari Hindus, so also the Jains, celebrate Deepavali, Navaratri and Holi.
The Jains and Hindus share a common language, Marwari, and mingle with each other during festivals.
At times of crisis, Marwaris help one another through loans with very low interest, but only once.
Their only grouse is: with so many Marwaris in Madurai and down south (5,000 in Tirunelveli and 2,000 in Nagercoil), there is no direct train to Rajasthan. At least, the Chennai Egmore-Jodhpur weekly express can be extended to Nagercoil or Madurai. It will also be useful to Tamilians who serve in the massive military base in Jodhpur, they say.
Source - The Hindu MetroPlus
Madurai’s reputation as a commercial hub is accentuated by the presence of the large number of wholesale merchants, majority of them north Indians who started settling down in the city from the 1930s.
Among them, Rajasthanis form the bulk, with a population of 25,000. Since most of them hail from Marwar region (Jodhpur area), they are collectively called ‘Marwaris’, though some are natives of other parts of Rajasthan.
A majority of Marwaris in Madurai are Jains who run about 400-odd shops. The Hindus from Rajasthan — Raj Purohits, Choudharys, Rajputs (once the ruling class and the only non-vegetarian sect) and others — run another 500-odd shops.
These shops are situated around Meenakshi temple — on Valayalkara Street (old and new), Hanumantharayan Koil Street, West Avani Moola Street, West Masi Street, Netaji Road, West Vadampokki Street, Vilakkuthoon, Lakshmipuram and Khanpalayam.
Variety business
While Jains are always the owners of the shops, they employ Hindus from their State and sometimes locals too. Marwaris dabble in a variety of wholesale businesses such as electric goods, bangles and cosmetics, fancy goods, stainless steel utensils and sheets, readymade garments … the list is long.
But not pawn broking! According to U. Hari Singh, a metals trader whose native place is Vandar in Pali-Marwar district, “In Tamil Nadu, you will find Marwari pawn brokers only in Chennai and northern districts where the locals are docile. Beyond Vriddhachalam down south, it is tough to do business with some communities. The very few shops that were running in the southern districts downed their shutters more than a decade ago.”
“Unlike other migrant communities in Madurai, we rely on integrity and never change our line of business,” asserts Mr. Hari Singh.
According to Vimalchand Jain, who hails from Siwana, Barmer district, “We act as a bridge between factories in north India and consumers in south India. They give us goods on credit which cannot be availed by the locals.”
Strict vegetarians
Being strict vegetarians (they do not even eat root vegetables such as onion, garlic, potato and carrot), the Jains have a bhojanalaya near the Main Guard Square exclusively meant for their travelling folks.
The Hindu Marwaris have a temple, Ramdev Mandir on Velliambalam lane off South Chithirai Street.
The Hindus run many eateries in Madurai. While Sankhwala on Jadamuni Koil Street, Mohan Bhojanalaya on Dhanappa Mudali Street and Ramdev Bhojanalaya opposite Central Theatre are popular among the locals as well, there are many other rustic joints which cater to the migrant populace, mostly workers at shops, with typical Rajasthani fare.
Another favourite with the locals is the Choudary’s milk shop near Arya Bhavan on West Masi Street. One cannot get the sort of lassi the Sawai Madhopur men serve in the day and hot badam milk at night anywhere else in the city. This shop and the paan shop on Netaji Road serve as late night meeting places for the migrants.
Two sects
Among Jains, there are two sects — Digambars (conservatives, the ones who run marble business in Madurai) and Shwetambar, who form the majority. While a Digambar temple is in Gomathipuram, Shwetambar temples can be found in Main Guard Square, near Iyer Bungalow (both built in Shikarbandh style with vimana), Jadamuni Koil Street (Ghar Mandir style), Appavu Pillai Lane and Mela Gopura Vaasal.
The Jains celebrate Paryusan, an eight-day festival that culminates after a fast to coincide with Vinayakar Chathurti. On that day, they take out a procession from their temple in which the deity is any one of the 24 tirthankaras, the enlightened ascetics (there is no temple dedicated to the 24th tirthankara, Mahavir, in the city).
The Marwari Hindus, so also the Jains, celebrate Deepavali, Navaratri and Holi.
The Jains and Hindus share a common language, Marwari, and mingle with each other during festivals.
At times of crisis, Marwaris help one another through loans with very low interest, but only once.
Their only grouse is: with so many Marwaris in Madurai and down south (5,000 in Tirunelveli and 2,000 in Nagercoil), there is no direct train to Rajasthan. At least, the Chennai Egmore-Jodhpur weekly express can be extended to Nagercoil or Madurai. It will also be useful to Tamilians who serve in the massive military base in Jodhpur, they say.
Source - The Hindu MetroPlus
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