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Concept
Saraswat Brahmin
Summary
Saraswat Brahmins are Hindu Brahmins, who are spread over widely separated regions spanning from Kashmir in North India to Konkan in West India to Kanara (coastal region of Karnataka) and Kerala in South India. The word Saraswat is derived from the Rigvedic Sarasvati River.
Saraswats Brahmins are classified under the Pancha Gauda Brahmin classification of the Brahmin community in India.
In Western and South India, along with the Chitpavan, Karhades (including Padhyes, Bhatt Prabhus), and Konkani-speaking Saraswat Brahmins are referred to as Konkani Brahmins, which denotes those Brahmin sub-castes of the Konkan coast which have a regional significance in Maharashtra and Goa.
In Western and South India, The Saraswat Brahmins are Rigvedi Brahmins and they follow Ashwalayana Sutra and are of Shakala Shaka Saraswat Brahmins are divided into two groups based on the Vedanta they follow, the first of which follows the Dvaita Vedanta of Madhvacharya and second group are followers of Advaita Vedanta of Adi Shankara.
In Karnataka and Kerala, Majority of Gaud Saraswat Brahmins are followers of Madhvacharya, while the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins are Smarthas, followers of Adi Shankara. Writer Chandrakant Keni and former I.C.S officer V. N. Kudva says, "The majority of the Saraswats, including those in Goa, are now Vaishnavas".
Saraswats were spread over a wide area in northern part of the Indian subcontinent. One group lived in coastal Sindh and Gujarat, this group migrated to Bombay State after the partition of India in 1947. One group was found in pre-partition Punjab and Kashmir most of these migrated away from Pakistan after 1947. Another branch known as Dakshinatraya Saraswat Brahmin are now found along the western coast of India.
The Saraswat Brahmins originating in Balochistan were called sindhur and were considered a low caste. They have a legend of origin related to Lord Ramachandra (not the same as Parashurama), who could not find a priest in Balochistan and applied a Tilaka on the head of some Mleccha.
Official source
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