Wanderers with a message

The nomadic Gosavi community has two sects the Sanyasis,who renounce worldly pleasures and the Gharbaries,who live a worldly life.

In the 18th century,when the world was dominated by Buddhism,Jainism and Islam,Sri Sankaracharya,who is regarded as an avatar of Lord Shiva and the eminent exponent of the Kevala Advaita philosophy,gave four of his disciples the responsibility to manage a mission to revive Hinduism, says Dutta Goswami,ex-deputy commissioner. Since the tribals had not been converted and followed their own,local practices,the disciples thought that the revival of Hinduism would have a good start if the tribals were converted. The tribals,after gaining these religious principles,went and spread it all over the country,and thus started this nomadic community which is scattered all across the nation, he adds.

The website gosavisamaj.com was created by Goswami,who is the current administrator of the site. The idea behind was to connect people of the Gosavi nomadic community from all over the country. Since our community is scattered all over the country,we connect with each other online,through social networking sites and mostly through our community website. I would really appeal to the members of our community to connect with each other and use the opportunities technology has provided us to unite, adds Dr Kalidas Bharti,a social worker who actively uses Gosavisamaj.com. There are 10 names for the nomadic cult of worshippers of Lord Shiva and Shri Dattatreya – Gosavi,Gosai,Gussai,Gosain,Goswami,Mahant,Jogi,Sanyasi,Dandi,Dashnami – one for each order.

The community can be largely divided into two sects. The Sanyasis renounce all worldly pleasures,and do not marry but devote themselves to spirituality and the Gharbaries take permission from the Guru to marry and live a worldly life. Only Gharbaries are predominantly found nowadays. It has become very difficult for a man to give up everything and take sanyas. However,though the Sanyasi sect is not very visible,it still exists, says Dr Bharti. Due to the nomadic nature of the community,the people also don’t have a specific language of their own. The people used to pick up the local language of the region that they would reside in, he adds.

For this community,death is not a mournful affair; instead it is celebrated. We believe that the soul passes into the next life or absorbed into the higher being and must be given a joyful parting, says Goswami,adding The corpse is made to sit in a Doli and taken around the residence with joyful cheering and music to the backyard or a burial place where the corpse is buried in salt. It is believed that the body doesn’t need to be purified by fire,like that of an ordinary Hindu,as it has already been cleansed of all earthly frailty.

As far as festivals are concerned,being Lord Shiva bhakts,it comes as no surprise that Shivratri is the biggest festival for the community. Shivratri is our main festival. Only fruit juices,sabudana khichdi and fruits are consumed during the 24 hour fast of Shivratri. We break the fast with something sweet. We also worship the Shiv Ling by pouring water and milk over it and then distribute a prasad made out of jaggery and kavat. says Sameer Gosavi,an engineer at PMC. We are pure and strict vegetarians, adds Goswami,with a smile.

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Wanderers with a message

The nomadic Gosavi community has two sects  the Sanyasis,who renounce worldly pleasures and the Gharbaries,who live a worldly life.

The nomadic Gosavi community has two sects the Sanyasis,who renounce worldly pleasures and the Gharbaries,who live a worldly life.