The " Konkani Muslim” is also another moderate minded community either speaking the Marathi language or a dialect which is a mixture of Marathi and Hindi or Urdu. They normally have fair skin, and light eyes.
Topmost in the hierarchy are those who distinguish themselves from the rest because of purity of descent and ancestral nobility. Families with surnames like Faqih, Farid, Khatib, Patel, Burbere, Narvil, Hani, Qazi, Tase, [among some others] and Muallim belong to this category.
Similarly the Brahmans will have different dialect the speech is nasal and a few words may be called typical chitpavani. There are also the daivadnya Brahmins who are goldmiths and the saraswat Brahmins coming specifically from rajapur area and goa. The kavale math prominently attached to this community. The chitpavans and the saraswats are mostly an educated and well earning community consisting of the intellectual strata of the region.
There exist certain traditions and rituals in Konkan. For example 'Mahar Muth'(symbolically giving some share of corn to Mahar as the first 'Mankari'(authority or owner of the land), 'Mahar dhan'(symbolically giving some money to mahar and buy some land for funeral rites) etc.
Gabits or Aarmari Maratha, Bhandari, Kumbhar, Madwal etc are some of other castes especially in South Konkan and Goa. The traditional profession of Gabit people is fishing and working on the ships. They are also one of the ancient dwellers in Konkan, living with the help of the sea.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Konkan … heaven of greenery ….contd.
This was just background of this region. Now we the visitors to this region after completing our tour at gopuri returned, yes of course we did not forget to purchase a few dozen alphonso mangoes, cashew nuts at the gopuri counter. And those mangoes were a la-treat to our palates. Any city dweller has to keep a restrain on the food for the first two or three days of the travel. The reason for this is that the fruits specifically jackfruit, mangoes, cashew nuts are so yummy that one tends to eat a little beyond the boundaries of the digestion system.
After tea, the same evening we i.e. our entire group left for poip. Poip is a place around 55 minutes drive from kankavli. It is equi-distant from kudal. Kudal is the next station after kankavli on the konkan railway track.
Piling our luggage and ourselves in two 6-seater cars, we drove towards poip. On the way, we watched the trees and grass, the vast expansion of land the smell of the earth.
We reached poip late evening the village seemed ready to go to bed, but one has to know that in a village whatever happens anywhere any corner it reaches the ear /eyes of all villagers. It looks silent on the outside. The house we lived was small ground floor house with a courtyard (padvi) a large hall with sofa chairs a dining table in one corner then a kitchen having gas, a bathroom, and a room for the gods. Three bedrooms, but as it was the summers we all slept in the open in the outside yard under the skies.
It was a very new experience to all. The chirping of the birds, the cuckoo singing. The clear blue sky the vast farm land with all the trees of mangoes, coconut, beetle nut, berries, the earth below without the touch of cement, experiencing all this we were happy to have taken the decision to come and stay here.
Earlier we had thought that we would be staying in a hotel at malwan and giving this place a day visit. But it has to be noted that many of the lodgings are very old fashioned but in places like malwan, ratnagiri etc one does find a few hotels good for your stay and for the pocket. After dinner, we all settled for a song performance by our cousin (house we had settled) and 3 members from our group. It should be observed here that people pf konkan have an inborn affiliation for the art like singing the tabla, the harmonium dancing and talking endlessly for hours on topics close to his heart like politics and social on goings in the surrounding. A Konkani will always discuss the most serious topic with a blend of humour.He will criticize, appreciate, Comment, everything with a pinch of humour. So the tabla harmonium was all set and the party continued until the wee hours of the morning.
We slept around 3.30am but in a village one always gets up with the first break of the sun’s rays.
The people of this region are Konkani. The language they speak is Konkani but the major portion of the Maharashtra konkan region speaks the malwani language. This malwani word derived from the “malwan” region. Malwan is a prominent and advance place/city in this region. .
People living in this area are of various caste sub caste and religion. The original residents are gramins or the Gramit or Gamit tribals of the Maharashtra Konkan; they live in the forestlands, now reduced to tribal, and "low caste. Gramit gramin originates from the word gramin, which means Grama or a village-
Another prominent caste of this region is the Marathas and the chittapavan kokanasth Brahmins. There are three subgroups among the Konkani Marathas - the Shahnav Kuli Marathas, the Kunbi Marathas and the Gomantak Marathas. The Marathas of this region are coming from different social strata the very rich, the rich and the lower middle class. People are quite friendly and hospitable They are happy with whatever they have ,are very peace loving and satisfied lot.
Now regarding our journey the next day, we toured the entire village and the surrounding area. There is a school primary and secondary. There is a church, could not find any mosques as I think there were no Muslims residing, but quite a few houses of the Christian community are found.
There is a big dam built with mud but it had no water in it (it was summer), also visited the mandir (temple) of gram devta (god of the village) on our way to the dam we notice that an entire jungle had been turned into ashes. This had happened due to a jungle fire (always a problem) due to scorching heat of the sun. The Konkani muslim.israelis Catholics are other such people living a peaceful life.
There are wadas or wadis in each village and people following a particular religion will prominently live clustered together in their own wadas /wadis. Like we have Brahman Wada (Hindus) kazi Wada (Muslim) teli wada (considered of a lower caste than Brahmans do) etc. In general as a village, they all share a good rapport with each other. The entire village celebrates urus, mela, bhandara, dashavtar etc,
Then there are the kolis (fisherfolks), gabits, aagris, mahaars, chambars, Buddhists, etc.
Let us take a break and happy blogging until next.
This was just background of this region. Now we the visitors to this region after completing our tour at gopuri returned, yes of course we did not forget to purchase a few dozen alphonso mangoes, cashew nuts at the gopuri counter. And those mangoes were a la-treat to our palates. Any city dweller has to keep a restrain on the food for the first two or three days of the travel. The reason for this is that the fruits specifically jackfruit, mangoes, cashew nuts are so yummy that one tends to eat a little beyond the boundaries of the digestion system.
After tea, the same evening we i.e. our entire group left for poip. Poip is a place around 55 minutes drive from kankavli. It is equi-distant from kudal. Kudal is the next station after kankavli on the konkan railway track.
Piling our luggage and ourselves in two 6-seater cars, we drove towards poip. On the way, we watched the trees and grass, the vast expansion of land the smell of the earth.
We reached poip late evening the village seemed ready to go to bed, but one has to know that in a village whatever happens anywhere any corner it reaches the ear /eyes of all villagers. It looks silent on the outside. The house we lived was small ground floor house with a courtyard (padvi) a large hall with sofa chairs a dining table in one corner then a kitchen having gas, a bathroom, and a room for the gods. Three bedrooms, but as it was the summers we all slept in the open in the outside yard under the skies.
It was a very new experience to all. The chirping of the birds, the cuckoo singing. The clear blue sky the vast farm land with all the trees of mangoes, coconut, beetle nut, berries, the earth below without the touch of cement, experiencing all this we were happy to have taken the decision to come and stay here.
Earlier we had thought that we would be staying in a hotel at malwan and giving this place a day visit. But it has to be noted that many of the lodgings are very old fashioned but in places like malwan, ratnagiri etc one does find a few hotels good for your stay and for the pocket. After dinner, we all settled for a song performance by our cousin (house we had settled) and 3 members from our group. It should be observed here that people pf konkan have an inborn affiliation for the art like singing the tabla, the harmonium dancing and talking endlessly for hours on topics close to his heart like politics and social on goings in the surrounding. A Konkani will always discuss the most serious topic with a blend of humour.He will criticize, appreciate, Comment, everything with a pinch of humour. So the tabla harmonium was all set and the party continued until the wee hours of the morning.
We slept around 3.30am but in a village one always gets up with the first break of the sun’s rays.
The people of this region are Konkani. The language they speak is Konkani but the major portion of the Maharashtra konkan region speaks the malwani language. This malwani word derived from the “malwan” region. Malwan is a prominent and advance place/city in this region. .
People living in this area are of various caste sub caste and religion. The original residents are gramins or the Gramit or Gamit tribals of the Maharashtra Konkan; they live in the forestlands, now reduced to tribal, and "low caste. Gramit gramin originates from the word gramin, which means Grama or a village-
Another prominent caste of this region is the Marathas and the chittapavan kokanasth Brahmins. There are three subgroups among the Konkani Marathas - the Shahnav Kuli Marathas, the Kunbi Marathas and the Gomantak Marathas. The Marathas of this region are coming from different social strata the very rich, the rich and the lower middle class. People are quite friendly and hospitable They are happy with whatever they have ,are very peace loving and satisfied lot.
Now regarding our journey the next day, we toured the entire village and the surrounding area. There is a school primary and secondary. There is a church, could not find any mosques as I think there were no Muslims residing, but quite a few houses of the Christian community are found.
There is a big dam built with mud but it had no water in it (it was summer), also visited the mandir (temple) of gram devta (god of the village) on our way to the dam we notice that an entire jungle had been turned into ashes. This had happened due to a jungle fire (always a problem) due to scorching heat of the sun. The Konkani muslim.israelis Catholics are other such people living a peaceful life.
There are wadas or wadis in each village and people following a particular religion will prominently live clustered together in their own wadas /wadis. Like we have Brahman Wada (Hindus) kazi Wada (Muslim) teli wada (considered of a lower caste than Brahmans do) etc. In general as a village, they all share a good rapport with each other. The entire village celebrates urus, mela, bhandara, dashavtar etc,
Then there are the kolis (fisherfolks), gabits, aagris, mahaars, chambars, Buddhists, etc.
Let us take a break and happy blogging until next.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The Heaven of Greenary--Konkan
The Heaven of Greenary--Konkan
http://adavait-amibloggingtofame.blogspot.com
http://adavait-amibloggingtofame.blogspot.com
Mythology says Lord Parshuram the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, created the region. After cleansing the world of evil-forces several times, he came and rested in Konkan, blessing the area with his presence. The only Lord Parshuram temple in the country is found in Konkan, near Chiplun, in Maharashtra
There are many a tourist spots in the Konkan, Sindhudurg fort- the name itself denotes as a sea fort built by the great Maratha warrior, Shivaji. The massive walls designed to serve as a deterrent to approaching enemies and to the waves and tides of the Arabian Sea. Shivaji Maharaja’s hand and footprints preserved here. As soon as we reach the fort, we get a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area. One wonders the difficulty faced while constructing this fort. The Yadavas built the Kunkeshwar, a seaside temple in the same region in 1.000 A.D.
Tartaric - A serene beach located eight kms off Malvan town. This beach is a favorite with sand particles devoid of any red tinge and sky reflecting waters. The other tourist attraction is the
• Rock garden
• Chivla Beach
• Aarsse Mahal Beach
• Tondavali Beach (19km North of Malvan)
• Achra Beach (22km north of Malvan)
• Rameshwar Temple (23km north of Malvan)
• Devbaug Beach (12km south of Malvan)
Vangaon, Murud Janjira, Shrivardhan, Harihareshwar, Murud Harne, Anjarla, Ganpati Pule, Ratnagiri, Malvan, Vengurla, Ubha danda, Sagareshwar & tarkarli Devbaug, are just a few coastal towns
Chiplun & Ratnagiri are two fast-developing towns Kudal, Kankavli Mahad are developing towns. However, fortunately, most parts in the districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurga free from commercialization. However, if you can manage to spend a few days living a simple life with not much luxurious expectation from life, then one gets an unadulterated village life at its best.
Konkan, consist of white-sand beaches and palm trees (mostly coconut and betel nut). Konkan has been prime destination among divers all over the world. Sources says that beautiful barrier reef exist just 100 km inside the ocean from the coastline……………..To be contd
There are many a tourist spots in the Konkan, Sindhudurg fort- the name itself denotes as a sea fort built by the great Maratha warrior, Shivaji. The massive walls designed to serve as a deterrent to approaching enemies and to the waves and tides of the Arabian Sea. Shivaji Maharaja’s hand and footprints preserved here. As soon as we reach the fort, we get a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area. One wonders the difficulty faced while constructing this fort. The Yadavas built the Kunkeshwar, a seaside temple in the same region in 1.000 A.D.
Tartaric - A serene beach located eight kms off Malvan town. This beach is a favorite with sand particles devoid of any red tinge and sky reflecting waters. The other tourist attraction is the
• Rock garden
• Chivla Beach
• Aarsse Mahal Beach
• Tondavali Beach (19km North of Malvan)
• Achra Beach (22km north of Malvan)
• Rameshwar Temple (23km north of Malvan)
• Devbaug Beach (12km south of Malvan)
Vangaon, Murud Janjira, Shrivardhan, Harihareshwar, Murud Harne, Anjarla, Ganpati Pule, Ratnagiri, Malvan, Vengurla, Ubha danda, Sagareshwar & tarkarli Devbaug, are just a few coastal towns
Chiplun & Ratnagiri are two fast-developing towns Kudal, Kankavli Mahad are developing towns. However, fortunately, most parts in the districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurga free from commercialization. However, if you can manage to spend a few days living a simple life with not much luxurious expectation from life, then one gets an unadulterated village life at its best.
Konkan, consist of white-sand beaches and palm trees (mostly coconut and betel nut). Konkan has been prime destination among divers all over the world. Sources says that beautiful barrier reef exist just 100 km inside the ocean from the coastline……………..To be contd
Konkan is a region of tropical forest with abundance of flora fauna and mountains. One will find the area covered with trees of jackfruit, mangoes, guavas, berries. Coconuts tamarind beetle nut bamboo etc. the alphanso mango the king of fruits is a gift by the konkan region to the world. One will also find wild animals like the leopards. Lions etc.
There are rivers like the savitri gangavali mayura, vahishthi shastri etc.
There are rivers like the savitri gangavali mayura, vahishthi shastri etc.
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