Maher

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Maher The Maher people of Sauvrashtra, Gujarat, have generated considerable interest throughout the world. Various researchers and historians including British, Arabs, Americans, Indians, Germans and the Russians have shown a keen interest. The main highland(Bardai) clans within the Mahers are Keshwala, Odedra, Sisodiya, Rajshaka and Jadeja. The Keshwala-Mahers are said to be the initial Rajput clan to unite all the other clans to become a united fighting force against the Moguls and the British. Even to this day a Keshwala-Maher is required if any Rajput-clans are to be given the privilege of becoming united within the Maher community. The Sisodiya-Mahers originate from the State of Rajistan and had various Kingdoms some of which being Ajmer, Mewad, Udaipur and Chittorgarh. One very famous Sisodiya Rana was the Great Maha-Rana-Pratap Sisodiya, who fought endlessly against the might of the Mogul empire. Seven times the Ranas defeated the Mogul armies. But the eighth time the Mighty Rana-Pratap was finally defeated. This was due to renegade Rajputs helping the Mogul armies. After the defeat, a fraction of the Sisodiya-Mahers emigrated into Sauvrashtra and villages such as Modhwada, Godhana and Khistry, around the Porbander district, were born, and thus the surnames Modhwadia, Godhania and Kistria were inherrited by those Sisodiyas who settled in them. Another fraction of the Sisodiyas took a vow that they would never settle until the Kingdom of Maha Rana-Pratap Sisodiya was regained. As to this date they remain nomads, maintaining their livelihoods by selling fine bullocks and doing general handiwork from one village to another, but never accepting charity from anyone. The Sisodiya-Mahers were the mountaineers of Rajputana(Rajistan) and the country was inhabited was Merwara. Merwara was that portion of the Aravali chain between Khumbhalmer and Ajmer, a space of about ninety miles in length and varying in breadth from six to twenty miles. Alexander Forbes wrote that after Kutbudin Ibak captured Ajmer, the Hindu kings who tried to win back Ajmer included Sisodiya-Mers. In the history of Sauvrashtra, S. Desai states that physical and social characteristics of Mers are very different from the other neighboring tribes. The Mers of Sauvrashtra are tall , physically strong, attractive and their history in Sauvrashtra is stamped with individual acts of bravery. Stone inscriptions found near Dhandhuka states the existence of Dhan Mer. This Mer is known to have given refuse to the brahmins of Talaja during their fallout with Abhalvala II. Recently, it has been reported that tribes in the Northern region of Sindh known as Khataks also perform the identical Dandiya-Ras, to how the famous Maher Dandiya-Ras is performed. In the later years Shri Maldev Bapu, pictured on the right, visited the above and acknowledged the existence of Mers in the mountain range of Aravali. During the period of the Visaldev, the celebrated prince of Ajmer, whom the bard chand states to have reduced the Mers to submission making them 'carry water in the street of Ajmer' . The Mers broke out whenever the hands of power were feeble. In the battle between the Chauhan of Ajmer and the Pariars of Mandor, four thousand Sisodiya-Mers served Naher Rao, and defended the pass of the Aravali mountains against the Pritviraj. Todd observed that the Sisodiya-Mers appear to have been in the twelfth century what are they in the nineteenth, bold and licentious marauders. It is stated that the Sumra-Rajput- Mers (Odedras) were a foreign tribe like the Gujars and Malwas, which passed into the Katiyavar through Punjab, Sindh and North Gujerat. Though the progeny of Mers may have been improved by the infusion of Rajput blood, they were always notorious for their lawless habits. Sumra-Rajputs Mers were found as far North as Chambal (Madhya Pradesh) to the Peninsula of Sauvrashtra. The existence of Mers in Madhya Pradesh is also acknowledged by Shri Maldev Bapu. And to this day the Sumra-Rajputs Mers of Madhya Pradesh still visit the Mers of the Porbander region. It is stated that when the Sumra-Rajput-Mers initially came into the present day India, they separated into two, one heading towards Sauvrashtra and the other to MP. Customs of the Mers in Sauvrashtra were, and in some places still are, so curious and so different from those of their neighbor. In particular their notions towards females. The Mers following customary laws handed down from ancestry and existing long before the written laws of Lord Manu have no objections to a widow as a wife. This contract is termed 'Natra'. On such marriages the bridegroom must omit the full ceremony and substitute a small branch of the sacred 'Pipdo' wreathed in his turban. Many of the forms are according to the common Hindu rituals. The Sat-Phera, the Cheda-Chedi and the Hasta-Melap are followed by the Mahers. The facilities of divorce were equally simple. If causes prompt separation, the husband tears a shread from his turban, which he gives to his wife. When the women gets married again the new husband must pay a fine of a rupee and a quarter to the previous husband to whom the women was married. This is known as giving 'vail' . Another is the importance of taking 'Amal' (A substance similar to chewing tobacco, but very much stronger) before making important decisions. The aspect of revenge is also very much important with Maher life. Elliott referred to Al Baruni, an Arab historian, and pointed out that Sumra-Rajputs Mahers were rulers of Lahore. Before this the Sumra-Rajputs are believed to have lived in Punjab before coming into Sindh. The Arab writers and recent historians suggest that Meds and Mers (Sumra-Rajputs) are same and originate from Media (Present day Syria and Iraq). AL-Balundi states that Meds and Jats were descendants of Med Hamm. On one side of the river Sindhu were Jats and on the other were Meds. In 'Futuhu Buldan', Al Burandi wrote that during 836 AD Arab rulers fought and won against Jats. In a subsequent fight against the Meds, three thousand Meds lost their lives. In order to deprive the Meds of water the Arabs built a bridge on the river Sindhu. During the fight with the Meds the Jats gave full support to the Arabs. To increase sufferings of Meds the lake used by the Meds for water was connected to the sea by canals. During this time an Arab named Bin-Fasal attacked Med population from the sea front. Despite best efforts of Arabs the Med population remained undefeated. The historians believe that to escape from further sufferings the Meds escaped from Sindh and same to Sauvrashtra via Kutch and Punjab and were known as Sumra-Rajputs. When entering Savrashtra they settled in villages such as Odedar thus the name Odedras was inherited. Thereafter they moved on to Bhetakdi and Fatana. The Arab writer Al-Amsudi noted that during 915AD Meds were residents of Sindh and practiced animal farming. These Meds refused to accept Islam. All Arabs were attacked Meds faced stern resistance. The Mahers of Sauvrashtra have benefited from Rajputs from different regions such as Sindh, Marvad, Mevad and Northern India. The Maher community to this day are small in number but are known throughout the world for their quality of culture, hard work, generosity and their hospitality The poet P. Ramaswamichundra, New Delhi, wrote ' Maher blood is like the blood of the Gir Lion. Be a guest in a Maher house - he will give his head for you! Betray a Maher - he will take your head from you.'
Aum/Om Om or Aum As the Cross is to Christians, the Om is to Hindus. It is made up of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined, produce the sound Aum or Om. The most important symbol in Hinduism, it occurs in every prayer and invocations to most deities begin with it. As the symbol of piety, Om is often found at the head of letters, pendants, every Hindu temple and family shrines. This symbol is actually a sacred syllable representing the Brahman or the Absolute -the source of all existence. Brahman, in itself, is incomprehensible so a symbol becomes mandatory to help us realize the Unknowable. The syllable Om occurs even in English words having a similar meaning, for instance, 'omniscience', 'omnipotent', 'omnipresent'. Thus Om is also used to signify divinity and authority. Its similarity with the Latin 'M' as also to the Greek letter 'Omega' is discernable. Even the word 'Amen' used by Christians to conclude a prayer seems to be akin to Om.
Swastika Swastika Second in importance only to the Om, the Swastika, a symbol which looks like the Nazi emblem, holds a great religious significance for the Hindus. Swastika is not a syllable or a letter, but a pictorial character in the shape of a cross with branches bent at right angles and facing in a clockwise direction. A must for all religious celebrations and festivals, Swastika symbolizes the eternal nature of the Brahman, for it points in all directions, thus representing the omnipresence of the Absolute. The term 'Swastika' is believed to be a fusion of the two Sanskrit words 'Su' (good) and 'Asati' (to exist), which when combined means 'May Good Prevail'. Historians say Swastika could have represented a real structure and that in ancient times forts were built for defense reasons in a shape closely resembling the Swastika. Perhaps for its protective power this shape began to be sanctified.
Saffron (Not the Fae Saffron, but the colour) The Saffron Colour If there is any color that can symbolize all aspects of Hinduism, it's saffron - the color of Agni or fire, which symbolizes the Supreme Being. The saffron color, also auspicious to the Sikhs, the Buddhists and the Jains, seems to have obtained religious significance much before these religions came into being. Fire worship had its origin in the Vedic age. The foremost hymn in the Rig Veda glorifies fire: "Agnimile purohitam yagnasya devam rtvijam, hotaram ratna dhatamam." When sages moved from one ashram to another, it was customary to carry fire along. The inconvenience to carry a burning substance over long distances may have given rise to the symbolic object of a saffron flag. Triangular and often forked saffron flags are seen fluttering atop most Sikh and Hindu temples. While Sikhs regard it as a militant color, Buddhist monks and Hindu saints wear robes of this color as a mark of renunciation of material life.
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Dying and being reborn (Quotations from The Upanishads) May we light the fire of Nachiketa that burns out the ego and enables us to pass from fearful fragmentation to fearless fullness in the changeless whole. (Katha Up. Part 1, 3:2, p. 88)
To define Hinduism is very nearly impossible. Actually it is not so much a religion (in the narrower sense of the word) as a religio-social system. Although Hinduism contains a whole farrago of theologies, philosophies, and sacrificial systems, nevertheless its one dominant note is that of caste. Hinduism, despite the fact that it has never been united on any creed or rite, has rarely if ever led to bloodshed. Unlike the Christians, who again and again have resorted even to wholesale slaughter in order to extirpate all heresy, the Hindus have rarely persecuted divergence of faith. They have been wise enough to see that each man has a right to worship as he himself sees fit, and that no man is justified in seeking to force his doctrine on his neighbor. Therefore the worshippers of Vishnu and those of Shiva have dwelt side by side for centuries without bitterness, and countless sub-sects have arisen and disappeared in India with very little violence or acrimony. No matter how many evils may be debited against Hinduism, at least this one virtue must be listed to its credit: it is tolerant......