Sacred duties meet modern aspirations in Paurohitya

The most popular festival among the Hindu community in Goa is ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ which is all about welcoming the lord of wisdom in homes with the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony wherein life is poured in the clay idol on its arrival on day one with the chanting of holy mantras by a learned Brahmin Purohit. The Goan explores whether the State has sufficient number of Pandits, Pujaris and Purohits to fulfil the overwhelming demand on this auspicious occasion and the reasons why GenNext is distancing itself from the traditional vocation

BHARATI PAWASKAR | 27th August, 12:32 am
Sacred duties meet modern aspirations in Paurohitya

The clay idols of Lord Ganesh have already arrived in most homes, and the Pran Pratishtha ceremony will be conducted on August 27 this year. The hosts are busy dialling the numbers of their family purohit (popularly called Bhat in Goa) to find out the exact time of his arrival, and arrange for the rituals accordingly. It has been observed in the past few years that this crucial ceremony which is incomplete without the presence of the purohit who chants the Sanskrit mantras during the ritual, is a tense moment of truth for most families, because of the shortage of persons who conduct the paurohitya in the most appropriate manner.

The elderly purohits are seen rushing to the homes of their host families, sticking to the timeline of puja in each home before reaching the next home. Albeit some GenNext young purohits are also seen engaging in the Vedic rituals and supporting their elderly in conducting the sacred puja, but there are purohit families whose next generation is not keen in taking the family tradition ahead. There can be multiple reasons for this apathy, why today’s youth are not interested in following their traditional vocation and are shifting their focus to careers in IT, engineering, medicine or choosing to do business.

Raghavendra Bhat, 55 started paurohitya at the age of 16 after completing a three-year course in Sanskrit and Jyotish at Kashi Math, but his 27-year old commerce graduate son is not interested in paurohitya and is happy doing a job. “I began doing Shraddha, Rudra, Satyanarayan Puja, devkrutya, Navchandi havan etc at the age of 12. Today’s parents do not inculcate cultural values in their offspring, do not do devpuja regularly at home, which results in GenNext losing faith in religious rituals,” laments Bhat.

Another reason why youth show disinterest in the profession is because girls reject marriage proposals. “No girl wants to marry in the family of pujaris as they find it difficult to follow the strict disciplinary lifestyle and complete vegetarian diet. If the boy is into a job or business, then the girl may give her consent considering the steady monthly income,” shares a youth who has learnt all rituals, and supports his family occasionally but eventually he is aiming for a lucrative career outside his traditional vocation.

Adv Manoj Bhandankar, a practicing advocate equally devotes his time to paurohitya for the past 45 years continuing his family’s tradition of catering to around 400 to 500 families in and around Ponda. “I started conducting pujas independently at the age of 10, when I was in class IV. It’s been a bonding of generations between our family and the host families. This is a social responsibility and we cannot shrug it off. My father’s inspiration led me towards becoming an advocate but it did not diminish my love for our family tradition. Sometimes it is a challenge to manage funerals and Chaturthi pujas but we don’t give up, and find solutions, never saying no to any host family,” states Adv Bhandankar.

It is generally believed that Brahmins and purhoits are not supposed to ask for any specific Dakshina, and should accept whatever is offered willingly by the host. Sometimes the host spends a lot of money on a show, but when it comes to paying the remuneration to the purohit, very little is being offered, which is also a reason why there is apathy to embrace the profession. The moment a price is quoted to conduct a particular ritual, the whole process becomes commercial, and loses the purpose and sanctity of it, so most purohits do not quote their fees and remain satisfied with whatever is being offered. It is for the hosts to realise that the purohit deserves a reasonable remuneration for the services he offers.

Sandip Tengse, a purohit from Margao who is in the profession for 30 years elaborates on the reasons for this disintegration of the profession, stating, “To maintain the continuity of this profession, it has to be upgraded and passed on to the next generation as an attractive package so that it appeals in the most positive manner. The youth should be convinced that there is prestige in the profession, and it will earn them sufficient income too, to maintain a modern lifestyle. Purohits must present themselves in a dignified way, depicting his intellectual status through a well-mannered behaviour and also wearing appropriate clothing. How one presents himself is how society looks at him or treats him. Dignity and respect should be earned, remuneration will automatically follow.”

Tengse points out that the myth does not hold much truth that people don’t offer satisfactory remuneration to purohits. “There are probably only one % people in the society who offer a meagre Dakshina as in the good old days, but 99 % of them pay well. Education has penetrated in all communities, and no one remains untouched by the needs of those who live in the society. The attitude and perspective to look at purohits also has changed, thanks to organisations like ISKCON and Isha Foundation that have attracted a large amount of educated youth population towards spirituality. These highly educated youth are gaining popularity and respect in the eyes of the rest of the society. Our profession is a highly respectable one, and hence youth should also be equally attracted to embrace it,” feels 57-year-old Tengse who started as a purohit at 27.

“After my SSC I began conducting daily puja, and learnt from my father. Then I studied for seven years at Shankar Pathshala in Kavlem before going to Pune to officially learn Sanskrit and Vedas, and answer exams. Then I worked as ‘archak’ in a temple at Porvorim for a year, and taught for a year at Maharshi Mahesh Yogi School. My learning experiences taught me values. I realised that culture and values are more important in life than money. Finally I embraced Paurohitya as a full time profession. No regrets,” shares Tengse.

Endorsing that following culture, values and traditions is of utmost importance, the Ghaisas family from Madkai showcases an ideal example. Makarand Ghaisas proudly claims that his family has a history of being in the profession of paurohitya over centuries. “Our family has one main purohit Prashant Ghaisas, 69, and eight assistant purohits, namely Mahabaleshwar (Nitin) Durgadas Ghaisas, myself (Makarand Durgadas Ghaisas), Aditya Laxman Ghaisas, Gaurav Laxman Ghaisas, Shridutta Mahabaleshwar Ghaisas, Satvik Mahabaleshwar Ghaisas, Sindhuraj Makarand Ghaisas and Sarang Aditya Ghaisas. We all continue the tradition that has been our trademark since 1107. Our family was assigned to carry on the religious duties at Shree Navdurga Temple in Madkai by the Rashtrakuta dynasty and we have documents to support this claim.

Adding that the profession was and still is a respectable one, it is the societal perspective to look at it that has changed over the years, Ghaisas agrees that the purohits do receive derogatory remarks from those who do not respect our Indian culture and traditions. “In the good old days, each family in the village used to follow the rites, rituals and customs required by the Sanatan Dharm, and hence a purohit was a necessity. The village temple used to be in charge of these purohits who would offer guidance in all important occasions. Over time the temple committees began to nurture selfish motives and commercialisation seeped in, which reflected in the treatment given to the purohits by the committees. However, the role and place of a purohit in the society remains unshaken irrespective of the contemporary changes,” observes Ghaisas, whose roles as a teacher, researcher, prolific poet and devotional singer go simultaneously along with the family tradition of serving the goddess at Shree Navdurga temple without fail.

Still there are examples where the GenNext is leaving their family profession and taking up entrepreneurship. Irrespective of his family background – Bhikshuki and Paurohitya, Laxman Paradkar, embraced the art of carving and shaping wood to create beautiful wooden temples (Devharas) thus proving that sometimes vocations get sidelined while hobbies turn into full-time professions. “It was the lost dignity that compelled our family to distance from our traditional vocation. Our family had devoted 485 years serving as ‘gram purohits’ (village priests) of Kudne village in Sanquelim, however my father and grandfather nurtured the hobby of dealing with timber, and taking inspiration from them, I set up a full-fledged factory at Kundai with over a dozen employees,” shares Paradkar.

It is true that the churning out of a new generation of purohits is not happening to the extent that the demand from the society gets fulfilled. The 105-year-old Shankar Pathshala at Shree Shantadurga Devasthan in Kavlem has 48 students currently studying the Sanskrit Vedas, mantras, shlokas and rituals required to conduct the 16 Sanskar ceremonies during various occasions and phases in life. Swami Brahmeshanand at Kundai Math is engaged in offering the ancient wisdom and knowledge to not only the youth but even women, who wish to enter the profession and conduct rituals. In Pune, women indulge in paurohitya and offer their services, but in Goa the trend has not yet picked up. The seasonal shortage of purohits that Goa faces during festivals like Chaturthi or Tulsi Vivah is made up by inviting purohits from neighbouring States of Karnataka and Maharashtra.

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