Sompura Salat are a Hindu stone-worker community of Gujarat, They are also found in southern Rajasthan, specially in the Mewar region.[1] Their origin is said to be from Prabhas Patan famous for the Somnath temple. The term "salat" is derived from Shilavat, the old term for a temple architect.

Culture

They are group of people, who took artistic and masonry works as an occupation.[2] They maintain clan exogamy as a strict rule for marriage.[3][2]

The community is vegetarian in diet and also avoid eating onions, garlic, white cucumber and lentils.[2] They worship Ashapura Mata as their clan deity.[2] They are basically a Shivaite community and worship Shiva as chief deity, however, also observe all other Hindu festivals like Uthasini, Ramanavami, Janamashtmi, Holi, Diwali but Shivaratri and Navaratri are the main festival for the community.[2]

Occupation

They are specialized in masonry works, artistic carvings and sculpting as well as artistic stone shaping works, especially in works of idol-making.[2] Among the notable architecture built by them are Hawa Mahal, the royal palace near Wadhwan built for the Sultanate of Gujarat and more recently the Somnath Temple built after independence of India.[2]

Demography

The community is found thorough out Gujarat but largely concentrated in Saurashtra region.[2] Outside India, population is found in United Kingdom and United States of America.[2]

Restoration and building of temples

Manasthambha infront of Hutheesing Jain Temple

Prabhashankar Oghadbhai[4] of Palitana, had been one of the leading designers of Nagar style of temples. He was awarded Padmashri. The design and building of the modern Somnath Temple,[5] known as Somnath Maha Meru Prasad, was executed by him.

While their center of activity is in Gujarat and Rajasthan, they now undertake temple architecture in different parts of India, as well as overseas. They follow texts written in the 15th century such as Prasad Manjari, written during the rule of Rana Raimal by brothers Mandan and Nathji. They originally hailed from Patan, Gujarat and were invited to settle in Chittorgarh. During the past five centuries, they have been involved in building and restoration of numerous Jain temples in Gujarat and southern Rajasthan, as well as temples built by Jains from there regions in other parts of India.[6]

In 1992, Chandrakant Sompura, grandson of Prabhashankar[7] had designed the Sompura Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar.[8] He was asked by Ashok Singhal, chief of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, to design and build the Ram Janmabhoomi temple.[9]

The world's largest Ram Temple, a proposed replica of Angkor Wat to be built in Champaran, Bihar, is being designed by Piyush Sompura[10]

C.P. Trivedi and Sons, founded by Chandulal P. Trivedi [11] from the Sompura clan, were responsible for the restoration of the Delwara Jain temples and the Jain temples at Jaisalmer Fort and the Amar Sagar Lake. They also designed the Kirti Stumbh at Hutheesing Wadi in Ahmedabad, Oswal Jain Temple at Nairobi, Kenya, Jain Center, Leicester, UK,[12] Atma Vallabh Smarak, Delhi, and the Global Vipassana Pagoda at Gorai in northwest Mumbai.

Virendra Trivedi, nephew of Chandulal Trivedi,[13] also participated on the Global Vipassana Pagoda project, but is best known for being the Chief Architect responsible for the Akshardham temple in New Delhi.[14][15][16]

References

  1. ↑ Folk Icons and Rituals in Tribal Life, Pramod Kumar, Abhinav Publications, 1984, p. 5-12
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Gujarat, Part 3. 2003. pp. 1313–14. ISBN 9788179911068.
  3. ↑ Krishna Rao, K. S. (2008). Global Encyclopaedia of the Ethnography edited by K.S. Krishna Rao. p. 467. ISBN 9788182202085.
  4. ↑ Kshirarnava, Prabhashankar Oghadbhai Sompura, 1967
  5. ↑ Prasad Manjari, Prabhashankar Oghadbhai Sompura, 1965
  6. ↑ P.A (2004-03-04). "A SHRINE turning into a work of ART". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2004-04-04. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
  7. ↑ "कैसा होगा प्रस्तावित मंदिर? | BBC Hindi". www.bbc.co.uk. 2002. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
  8. ↑ "Akshardham architect sends up a prayer". www.indianexpress.com. 2002. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
  9. ↑ "'No one says Jai Shri Ram to me anymore' | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. 2007-04-19. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
  10. ↑ चंपारण में बनेगा विश्व का सबसे वृहद राम मंदिर, https://www.prabhasakshi.com/ShowArticle.aspx?ArticleId=120621-170449-100000, June 21, 2012
  11. ↑ Lives of Indian Images, Richard H. Davis, p. xii, Princeton University Press, 1999
  12. ↑ Jain Samaj Leicester, Our History "Jain Samaj Leicester - About | Our History". Archived from the original on 2015-01-23. Retrieved 2015-01-23.
  13. ↑ "Hindu Temple Architecture Design Project | Arc". templearchitectvkt.com. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  14. ↑ "A Day At A Theme Park Temple". outlookindia.com. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  15. ↑ "Hindu Temple Architecture Design Project | Arc". templearchitectvkt.com. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  16. ↑ SINGH, KAVITA (2010). "TEMPLE OF ETERNAL RETURN: THE SWĀMINĀRĀYAN AKSHARDHĀM COMPLEX IN DELHI". Artibus Asiae. 70 (1): 47–76. ISSN 0004-3648. JSTOR 20801632.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.