Dakshina Karnataka is truly Gods own country. It was as if the Gods resided here and blessed this land with bountiful resources, wealth and spiritual leverage.  For all of us Konkani’s Lord Venkatramana is our presiding deity, our guardian and to many our own family member. No wonder, many of us still call Lord Venkatramana “ Amgelo Devu”.

To me I have always been fascinated with Karkal Venkatraman Devasthan and Mulki Venkatraman.  These two blessed areas are actually intertwined in history. I will in this article highlight only the former and Mulki will mentioned in my next E Samachar article. So please read on.

Karkal is situated about 60 kms from Mangaluru. Lord Sree Srinivasa is worshiped as the main and the presiding deity (pattada devaru) of the temple and is popularly known as ‘Chappara Srinivasa’. The daily deity (Uthsava Murthy) Lord Sri Venkatramana is also known as ‘Bhakta Vatsala’ who fulfills our wishes, answers any prayers made with devotion, instances of miracles in answer by the Lord here are cited by many. It has been recorded that the idol of Lord Sri Venkatramana was brought to Karkala by Soma Sharma who is a ‘Vasista Gothreeya’ Gauda Saraswath Brahmin while migrating from Goa along with him. Sohire Prabhu’ family provided him the accommodation. Although the temple was built some time in 1450 AD, the main deity was reinstalled on 15^th April 25^th, 1537.

In those days there were no Vaishnava temples near Karkala and the only Vaishnava temple near by Goa was ‘Tirupati Sri Venkateshwara Temple’. So Prabhu and Sharma family thought of building a temple. People over here motivated them and supported them. They built a temple and installed the idol of Lord Sri Venkataramana and started worshipping. This may actually be the oldest Venkatraman Devasthan in Dakshin Karnataka.

It is recorded in the temple books that a group of dacoits had attacked the temple during 1500 A.D, the priests of the temple had tried to prevent the main idol of the Lord and certain other valuable belongings of the temple from being taken away or destroyed by the invaders, by casting them away into a well near Mulki.

 After the situation cooled down, the priests went back to Mulki and got back all the valuable belongings which they had cast away into the well, except for the main idol of the Lord. One day person from Mulki found the main idol in the well. By knowing this ,the people of Karbala rushed to Mulki to get back the idol. However by the time they reached Mulki, the people over there had installed it in ‘Shree Veera Vittala Temple’. From this incident, the people of Karkala assumed that the Lord wanted to grace the land of Mulki by his presence there. They found themselves in a dilemma as to what had to be done. They found it hard to believe that the Lord wanted to preside over Mulki, instead of Karkala. As if a solution to their dilemma, Lord appeared in the dreams of the people of Karkala and asked them to hand over his idol in Mulki to the people of Mulki. The Lord told his devotees that in the days that would come by a hermit (sanyasi who used to collect Kanika from the devotees to be taken to Tirupati) would come to Karkala and give them another idol of the Lord in which he would have enshrined himself. As per the predictions, a few days later a hermit from Tirupati, who was an ardent devotee of Lord Venkatramana came to Karkala and handed over an idol of the Lord to the people. That idol was installed in the temple. The hermit laid down a condition that the idol would be taken every year to Tirupati along with the Kanika received and the hermit settled down in Karkala itself.

The Kanika received in the name of the Lord of Tirupati is offered religiously to Tirupati Temple, periodically in a pilgrimage called Rama Dandu.So far five such Yatras in the History of the Temple, the latest being in 1970, have taken place. Once a year in a grand and ceremonious procession Lord Shri Srinivasa is taken out in Golden Mandapa and Lord Shri Venkatramana in the Golden palanquins for Vanabhojana which literally means an outing to the forest in a magnificent Hagalu Utsav,to the eastern part of Karkala. Since Tirupati is in the east, Lord Srinivasa is supposed to have been taken to Tirupati. Incidentally, this is the only day in a year when the Lord Srinivasa is taken out of the temple. Thus, the word given to the hermit is symbolically kept up year after year. The presiding deity over here Lord Srinivasa is called the Lord of Tirupati by the devotees, as the daily poojas here are like the ones offered at Tirupati. Therefore, Karkala is also known as “Padu Tirupati” (Western Tirupati). The gold, silver & wooden “Vahanas” and the other paraphernalia of the temple, speak volumes about the glory and the greatness of this temple.

Karkala Venkatraman Devasthan had their Punarpratishtan in 2017.  Late H H Shrimath Sudhindra Thirtha Swamiji of Kashi Math insisted that the temple can be restored provided every detail to the last letter be maintained as it was before. Rs 21 crore was estimated to be the cost of all expenses. People of Karkala and well-wishers donated Rs 42 crore. Such is the love for our Venkatraman Devu our guardian.

Normally I would have provided a brief prelude to our Sri Venkataraman Devasthan – Karkala before writing about the auspicious Theru that starts May 1^st-May 5^th, 2022. That said keeping in mind how big this write-up would be, I decided to first talk about the Theru.

Did you know the Karkala Theru may have started 295 years ago in the year 1827. This is an annual festival that happens during April – May in the Honour of our Lord Srinivasa. It lasts for 6 days with different rituals on each day.

Day 1

The day starts with Vishnu Sahasranamam chanted by the priests followed by Dhwajarohana. Dhwajarohana includes a silver flag that has the Lord’s face on it that is hoisted on the Dhwajasthambha. This marks the start of Theru. This is followed by Suthubali which includes the procession of the idol around the temple. This starts in the evening. The day ends with dinner provided to the whole town after giving offerings to the Lord.

Day 2

Day 2 consists of the same thing except Dhwajarohana. There is Suthubali, Samradhane (the feast to town people) and evening prayers.

Day 3

The day has Suthubali after which the Lord is taken to every house near the temple and placed in front of the Tulsi plant. This is known as Katte pooja. The Lord is brought back to the Temple. The day ends with Samradhane again. These dinners are sponsored by some or the other family every year

Day 4

This day includes Suthubali again. Suthubali happens all the 5 days in the evening. This is followed by Sanmana javan, which translates to honouring the guests. The feast of this day includes special dishes. Every married woman is given Turmeric and Sindoor. Warm sandalwood paste is put on men and kids. While feasting, the people are also fanned with a huge hand fan. This is followed by Mriga bete. Mriga bete translates to deer hunting. People go to Ramasamudra and a man (belonging to the family that has been doing this ritual for years) holds the bow and arrow and hits a wick.(earlier it was supposed to be a deer but now they just hit a wick). After this, before bringing the idol back to the temple, it is placed in Padmavati Temple for sometime. Later after reaching the temple, small chariot (ratha) is pulled for procession with the lord’s idol in it. This day is called “Sanu Theru” or small Theru.

Day 5

This is the most critical day of Theru, hence called the “Hodu” or big theru. After Suthubali, the idol is brought out and is again revolved around the Brahma ratha (the main ratha). The idol is put on the chariot and flowers of gold, silver and bronze are thrown to the crowd gathered near the ratha. The procession starts from the temple and continues only for a few steps. This is followed by the Samradhane. Stalls of food, toys and accessories are put across the streets. Everything from earrings to ice cream is sold at this fair. At midnight, the ratha is pulled by all the people (mostly men) till Gopura and is brought back after Pooja.

Day 6

The most fun of all the 6 days is the last day where people play Okulu. Before this, the Silver flag is brought down from the Dhwajastambha marking the end of Theru. Okulu is the same as Holi. People throw turmeric water on each other and also bathe the idol in it. After playing, everyone goes to Ramasamudra and takes a bath in the water there.

Ref: https://www.svtkarkala.com/

Before I let you know why I am writing about Waman Varde Valaulikar let me first tell you who he is, where did he live and what did he do.

Waman Shenoi was born on 23 June 1877 at Bicholim, Goa. He attended primary school in Marathi till 6th standard and then joined a Portuguese primary school, where he completed Fourth Standard. After discontinuing studies due to financial constraints, he taught himself Sanskrit and English at home. He went to Mumbai in 1893 and continued with his studies there, completing High School in 1898. He was married to Shantabai in Mumbai and had two sons and two daughters.

It is believed that he earned the nickname “Goembab” when he was going along with his uncle Chintamanrao to Mumbai aboard a steamer. A friend on board the ship remarked to his uncle “I hear you are taking this Goembab (Gentleman from Goa) with you to Mumbai.” The young and idealistic Waman later used “Shennoi Goembab” as his penname.

Waman Varde had started writing in Konkani at the time he was working in Mumbai. His wife was illiterate but had a very good knowledge of Konkani language and folklore. He made her recite the tales and proverbs and put them in writing which were published later. “Goenkaaranchi Goianbhaili Vosnook” (Goan migrants outside Goa) was a series of history lectures given by Shenoi Goembab at the Saraswat Brahman Samaj, Mumbai, in 1927. Another historical book he wrote was “Albuquerquan Goen Koshem Jiklem” (How Albuquerque Won Goa).

“Mhoji Baa Khuin Gelli?” is regarded as the first modern Konkani short story. It was published in “Gomantopnishat”,   which is a two-volume collection of fiction and non-fiction. The second volume contained “Sonvsar Budti” (The drowning of the world). It used the story of the Great Flood to discuss various philosophies and includes parts from various religious works.

According to him the only way Konkani language can be popularized is, if it is brought about by its youth. This was revealed in his essays “Amrutacho Pavs” (The Rain of Nectar) and “Konkani Vidyarthiank” (For Konkani Students) Infact one of his major contributions was towards children’s literature. “Bhurgianche Vyakran” (Children’s Grammar) was written in a series of question-answers that he used to teach his son and “Bhurgianlo Ishtt” was a collection of short stories.

He also translated many works into Konkani the chief among them being Molière‘s Le Médecin malgré lui, which he translated as “Mogachen Logn” (Love Marriage) and Shakespeare‘s Othello, Hamlet and King Lear.  He is most remembered for his translation of the Bhagavad Gita into Konkani: “Bhagwantalem Geet“.

In an autobiographical reference, Goembab credits the Barão de Cumbarjua (Baron of Cumbarjua), Tomás Morão, with opening his eyes to the fact that it was Konkani, and not Marathi, which was the mother-tongue of Goans. In anecdote he recounts in Konkani Bhashechem Zoit, Goembab indicates that in about 1899, he had written a book “O Mestre Portugués” for use in the Marathi-Portuguese schools that had been established by the Estado da Índia in Goa since 1871. In that book, Goembab indicates that he had introduced lessons covering grammatical rules, meanings of words and sentences for teaching the art of translation.

He had observed how Konkani had diminished in status among Goans and Marathi and Portuguese had taken the place of respect among the educated, upper class Hindus and Christians respectively. Konkani was used only to communicate with their employees, the poor and downtrodden castes.

He believed that no matter how many languages a person could communicate in to earn a living, he was lost if he could not communicate in his mother tongue, the “language of your soul” as he called it.^[1] “We have been shining under others’ lamps”, observed Shenoi Goembab. He began telling Konkanis about the sweetness of their mother tongue and of its rich past. He started writing books to propagate his views. Not only did he see the Konkani language as an inseparable part of every Goan’s and Konkani’s identity. He also saw it as a movement against Portuguese rule in Goa. Shenoi Goembab wrote 7 books in the Roman script and 22 in Devanagari. This included short stories, dramas novels, poetry, essays, linguistics, philosophy history.

Konkani language was in decline, due to the use of Portuguese as the official and social language among the Christians, the predominance of Marathi over Konkani among Hindus, and the Konkani Christian-Hindu divide. Seeing this, Vaman Raghunath Varde Valaulikar set about on a mission to unite all Konkanis, Hindus as well as Christians, regardless of caste or religion. He saw this movement as a nationalistic movement against Portuguese rule. Almost single-handedly he crusaded, writing a number of works in Konkani. He is regarded as the pioneer of modern Konkani literature.

Some of his notable works are as under:

1. Goenkaaranchi Goianbhaili Vosnook (Goan migrants outside Goa)
2. Albuquerquan Goen Koshem Jiklem
3. Mhoji Baa Khuin Gelli?
4. Sonvsar Budti
5. Amrutacho Pavs (The Rain of Nectar)
6. Konkani Vidyarthiank (For Konkani Students)
7. Bhurgianche Vyakran (Children’s Grammar)
8. Bhurgianlo Ishtt was a collection of short stories.
9. Mogachen Logn (Love Marriage) and 
10. Shakespeare‘s Othello Hamlet and King Lear.  
11. Bhagwantalem Geet (Bhagwat Geeta in Konkani

Shenoi Goembab was ahead of his time and often stressed on the need to eliminate caste barriers and get the lower castes educated. He said, “let’s make Pandits (scholars) out of Gawdes (farmers)”. In a short span of about 69 years Waman Shenoi did so much for Konkani’s. No other Amchigello has ever achieved so much for Konkani’s as him. Kudos to his dedication and a spark of activism that stayed on during his entire life.

Despite all the financial hurdles he faced, his efforts for the language of Konkani are why we all are still speaking this beautiful language. It has also been the precursor for being recognised as the State language in Gomantak or Goa today. One can also say that all this and more resulted in Konkani being recognized as one of the 29 official languages of India.

His death anniversary, 9 April, is celebrated as World Konkani Day (Vishwa Konkani Divas. So this April 9^th don’t forget to cherish these memories.

Shenoi Goembab was posthumously awarded the Konkani Person of the Millennium award by Mandd Sobhann (a Mangalore based Konkani organisation), on his 54th death anniversary.

Proud to be a Konkani

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In Hindu society, the term gotra means clan. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. However, all families having same gotra need not be cousins. Based on our ancient scriptures people’s castes (Brahmin, Kshatriya Vaishya, Shudra) were never determined based on lineage instead was based on the person’s abilities. That said this system of Gotras were started as a way of identifying one’s lineage from the 8 great Rishi’s of Sanatan Dharma. They can be descendants of sons or disciples or even adopted sons of the Rishi, who is the root and whose name is used as Gotra. For example, if a person says that he belongs to the Kashyap Gotra then it means that he traces back his male ancestry to the ancient Rishi Kashyap.

Gotra means cowshed (Go=Cow, tra=shed) in Sanskrit. Pāṇini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram (IV. 1. 162), which means “the word gotra denotes the progeny (of a sage) beginning with the son’s son.”

The assumption that this system was started by Brahmins for Brahmins needs to be looked into deeper and to assume that this system with a purpose to classify and identify the families in their own communities not amongst other castes is erroneous. Even the Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra all have own Gotras although many of them do not identify themselves. For examples the system of Gotras was probably forgotten amongst the Sri Lankans as they never mention this during their marriage ceremonies and priests often classify them under Shiv Gotra if one does not know their Gotras.

Hindu Brahmins identify their male lineage by considering themselves to be the descendants of the 8 great Rishis. So, the list of root Brahmin Gotras is as follows:

• Angirasa
• Atri
• Gautam
• Kashyapa
• Bhrigu
• Vasistha
• Kutsa
• Bharadwaja

The offspring of these eight are gotras and others than these are called gotrâvayava. These eight sages are called gotrakarins from whom all the 49 gotras (especially of the Brahmins) have evolved. For instance, from Atri sprang the Atreya and Gavisthiras gotras.

In almost all Hindu families, marriage within the same gotra is prohibited since people with same gotra are considered to be siblings. There are medical reasons for this, and this will be addressed in my next article.

Gotra is always passed on from father to children among most Hindus, just like last name(surname) is passed on worldwide. However, among Malayali’s and Tulu’s it is passed on from mother to children. Additional rule in the Gotra system is that, even if the Bride and Bridegroom belong to different Gotras, they still cannot get married even if just one of their Gotra Pravara matches.

Keep in mind the Gotra is a lineage, akin to a family name, but the given name of a family is often different from its gotra, and may reflect the traditional occupation, place of residence or other important family characteristic rather than the lineage. People belonging to a particular gotra may not be of the same caste in the Hindu social system. People of the same gotra are generally not allowed to marry. At weddings, the gotras of the bride and the groom are read aloud to verify that they are not breaking this rule.

Relevance of Gotra’s: The reason why these Gotra’s become more important for all of us is its deeper medical reasons why this needs to be followed. One must acknowledge the depths to which our Ancient Rishi’s have studied this system.

In my next article I would like to address the medical reasons why the Gotra classifications need to be followed especially during marriage.

About the author…
Compiled from various sources by Niranjan Kamath