The Kattaha Brahmins (also known as Maha Brahmins or Mahapatra ), are a Hindu caste found in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Panjab, Hariyana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar in India. They are basically a priestly community who primarily perform death rites and are the traditional funeral priests of North India.[1][2][3][4]

Social organization

The Kattaha are the traditional funeral priests of North India. They are also known as Acharya. They are said to derive their name from the Hindi word pind-kattana, which means to cut the flour balls, an important ritual in Hindu funerals. Little is known about the origin of this community, and their status as Brahmin is barely recognized by other Brahmin grouping. The Kuthaliya Bora are a strictly endogamous community, and practice clan exogamy. Their three main clans or gotras are the Kashyap, Bharadwaj and Sandilya. They live in multi-caste villages, but occupy their own quarters and hamlets.[5]

Present circumstances

The Kattaha are found throughout Uttar Pradesh, with special concentrations in the districts of Sitapur, Hardoi, and Unnao in Awadh, and the districts of Shahjahanpur and Bareillyin Rohilkhand , and in Cuttack District and Khordha District in the state of Odisha. They speak various dialects of Hindi, such as Awadhi. And Odia in Odisha.

References

  1. ↑ Kumar Suresh Singh (1998). India's Communities: H - M. Oxford University Press. p. 2929. ISBN 9780195633542.
  2. ↑ K. S. Singh (1998). India's Communities. Oxford University Press. p. 1406. ISBN 9780195633542.
  3. ↑ Jonathan P. Parry; Professor of Anthropology Jonathan P Parry (7 July 1994). Death in Banaras. Cambridge University Press. pp. 76–. ISBN 978-0-521-46625-7.
  4. ↑ Glenn Willmott (1 January 2008). Modernist Goods: Primitivism, the Market and the Gift. University of Toronto Press. pp. 192–. ISBN 978-0-8020-9769-9.
  5. ↑ K. S. Singh (1998). India's Communities. Oxford University Press. p. 1405. ISBN 9780195633542.
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