MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS

RELIGIOUS SERVICES

In the past the priests were quite better off by working as a bhataji or a puranic or a kirtankar. A priest was considered an inseparable part in the religious activities of every household. This district was no exception to it. The priest enjoyed a high status in the society. Some families used to call the priests for the everyday worship of their deities while some used to call them occasionally viz., at the time of births, marriages, deaths, etc. Following is an account of the village priests' produced from the old Gazetteer of the district.

Religious organisation:—"Various figures besides that of the sadhu stand out in such efforts at organisation as can be traced amid the general confusion. A really important place, such as, the headquarters of a taluk, would contain one or more Shastris and perhaps an Agnihotri. Some Shastris are Vedic, knowing one or more of the Vedus (either by heart or by meaning), and some are Dharmashastris, knowing other granths, sacred writings; they have an unequalled knowledge of the demands of religion. A Kunbi might become a Dharmashastri, though in tact he never does so, but it is not permitted to teach him the Vedas. An Agnihotri performs three times a day the sacrifice of the homa; he is distinguished by various characteristics, but need not be learned. In the rains a Shastri, puranik or perhaps the local school-master is often engaged in the largest villages to recite and explain some purans; in the town of Akola there are often 10 or 12 such courses in different temples, a puran appropriate to the particular god or season being generally chosen. Sometimes a haridas or kathekari conducts a katha, a preaching service diversified with music and the calling of "Ram, Ram," "Krishna, Krishna," and the like. (In a third service called bhajan, the congregation has no official leader; they chant a series of texts, each man keeping time with a pair of jhanja, tal, cymbals; in villages two dindis (parties), are formed, of which one leads and the other responds). Brahmans have also a dharmadhikari, who is a final authority on questions of religion, and a Shankaracharya with power to punish for breaches of caste rule and the like; the dharmadhikari holds his office by hereditary right, but should take skilled advice if he is himself unlearned; there are nine representatives in the single town of Basim; the Shankaracharya requires to be personally qualified for his post. The middle castes, such as Kunbis, have Brahman joshis to conduct most of their ceremonies; these are hereditary officers and need to know only a single granth, the Shudra Kamaiukur They are supporter: partly by fees for the particular ceremonies and partly by haks, annual contributions, from their people. A joshi on the Purna river told the writer that some of the Kunbis in his neighbourhood were beginning to do without a joshi at their ceremonies, but this was probablv a trivial movement due to personal disagreement. Beside these officers there are pujaris, worshippers, attached to many tombs and temples. They are often Brahmans from different parts of India, sometimes having the hereditary title of swasthanik, but more frequently Gosains. In the latter case if is usual for the worshipper who is getting old to take a boy, perhaps a Kunbi, and train him to the succession. The temple buildings are likely to include a wailed compound enclosing a pindu, shrine of the god who is very likely Mahadeo worshipped under some such local name as Kateshwar, a dwelling-house for the worshipper, and ten or a dozen tombs of former worshippers, the main building being called math. No attempt is made, however, to follow any particular plan; the math occasionally occupies part, or the whole, of an ordinary village-fort. These Gosains both perform daily worship of the god on behalf of the village bathing, feeding and adoring him and are called guru by the people. They almost always recognise the Mahant of Mahur, or the Penganga in the Nizam's Dominions, as their head, and both they and their flocks make pilgrimages to Mahur, to Sahasrakund near by, and perhaps to Umagdeo 20 miles further east".[Central Provinces and Berar District Gazetteers, Akola District, 1910 pp. 86-88.]

The advent of western education especially in the form of empiricism and phenomenalism and logical and scientific reasoning has resulted in the crumbling down of the religious belief of the people. Now, the people have become more rationalistic and so largely consider these religious beliefs as superstitions. This has badly affected those following this profession as a means of livelihood.

The following statement shows the number of persons engaged in the religious services in 1921.

The 1931 Census showed a percentage decrease of about 43 in the number of persons following this profession, as compared to 1921 Census figures. The 1931 Census enumerated 1,959 persons, following this profession, and classified them as under:—

The 1951 Census enumerated the number of persons engaged in religious services as 573 (516 males, 57 females) and classified the number and the services into the following two categories

As per the 1961 Census, 1,100 persons (1027 males, 73 females) were engaged in religious services. Of the total, 608 persons (565 males, 43 females) were in the rural areas of the district. The above figures show that the number of persons following religious profession is less in urban areas as compared to the number in rural areas of the district. The increase in 1961 in the number of persons following the profession as compared to 1951 may. be accounted for by the change in occupational classification in 1961.

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