Rajopadhyaya

Rajopadhyaya (Nepali: राजोपाध्याय) is one of the five groups of Bramhans in Nepal.[1] Witzel (1986) identifies the following five groups of Bramhans in Nepal, viz.

  1. the Newārī-speaking Rājopādhyāya Bramhan
  2. the Nepāli-speaking Kumāī Bramhan
  3. the Nepāli-speaking Pūrbiya Bramhan
  4. the Maithilī-speaking Maithil Bramhan
  5. the Bhaṭṭa Bramhan from South India as priests of Pashupatinath Temple

In Sanskrit, Rājopādhyāya or Rāj-Upādhyāya literally means 'royal teacher' or 'guru' (Sanskrit: राज = royal + उपाध्याय = guru). Rajopadhyayas, also colloquially called Dyabarmhu (God-Brahmin) or Dyabājyā (God-Grandfather), were the royal gurus and purohits of the Malla kings and their Hindu aristocracy (present day Chatharīyās). Today, the Rajopadhyaya Brahmans are the domestic priests of the high-caste Hindu Newars, principally the Chatharīyas and Śreşțhas, and also certain segments of clean-caste Hindu Newar groups (most notably Bhaktapur Jyapus) of the Kathmandu Valley. In theory, the Chatharīyas of the Kathmandu Valley do not call on other Brahmin group, as Rajopadhyayas alone serve as their historical purohits and perform all their life-cycle Sanskara rituals, including attaining their Gayatri Mantra verse and the sacred thread ('janai') in the Upanayana ceremony. This is opposed to all other clean-caste Newar groups who call upon a Buddhist Vajrāchārya as their family priest to conduct all life-cycle ceremonies.[2]

Rajopadhyayas are an endogamous Brahman group who are the descendants of Kānyakubja Brahmins of Kannauj who immigrated to Kathmandu Valley as late as the 16th century CE. They are divided among the three cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur into strictly exogamous clans, having three gotras: Gārgya of Lalitpur, Bharadwaja of Bhaktapur, and Kaushik of Kathmandu, all belonging to the Mādhyamdina school of the Krişna Yajurveda, their holy language being Sanskrit, but all well-versed in Newar. As the chief Brahmin group among Newars and as the chief preceptor of the Vedic as well as Tantric knowledge, Rajopadhyayas were placed at top in Nepalese Caste System, and they possess immense social prestige and power, especially among the Hindu Newars.[3]

Priesthood and preceptor

Rajopadhyayas also serve as the Vedic temple priests of some of the most important temples of the Vaishnav and Shaivite sect, including Krishna Mandir and the four cardinal Vishnu temples of Kathmandu Valley; Changu Narayan, Sesh Narayan/Budhanilkantha, Bishankhu Narayan, and Ichanghu Narayana, as well as the Kumbheswar temple. In most other major temples with explicit Shakta and Tantra functions which require blood sacrifice and the use of alcohol, Rajopadhyayas are absent, and the priestly functions are performed by the Chatharīyā/Kşatrīya-status Karmāchāryas. Most of the other Shakta or Ganesh shrines are maintained by the farmer Jyapus or by unclean-castes like the Jogi/Kapali or the untouchable Chyāmaha/Déula. There also exists slightly lower status Maithili-speaking Jhā and Mishra Brahmans who migrated to Kathmandu Valley in the medieval times, but are nevertheless not part of the Rajopadhyayas. These Brahmans conduct life-cycle ceremonies to lower-status Newar castes and also serve as priests to various mathas and temples. The lone exception to the rule of Rajopadhayayas not being part of the Shakta cult is Bhaktapur's Taleju Bhawani temple, the ista-devi of Malla kings, where they serve as the chief priests.[4]

In addition to their duties as purohits to Chatharīyās and Śresțhas, Rajopadhyayas also serve as hereditary pujāris of the following temples:

Rajopadhyayas popularly use the following surnames: Rajopadhyaya, Sharma, Upadhyaya, Acharya, among others. Some popular Rajopadhyaya names from history and popular culture include:

  • Sudarshan Brahman (a mythical Brahmin to slain Changu Narayan)
  • Gaya Juju (Gayo Bājé) of Sulimha, Patan [5]
  • Vishvanath Upādhyāya of Valimha, Patan [6]
  • Sahasra Shivānanda of Indrachowk [7]
  • Pundit Vamshi Dharānanda Rajopadhyaya of Changu Narayan

See also

References
  1. Witzel, Michael. (1986). 'Agnihtora-Rituale in Nepal'. In Kölver, B. and Leinhard, S. (eds). Formen kulturellen Wandels und andere Beirtaege zur Erforschung des Himalaya. St. Augustin: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag. pp. 157 – 187
  2. Toffin, Gerard. (1995). 'The Social Organization of Rajopadhyaya Brahmans of Nepal'. In Gellner, David & Quigley, Declan. (eds). Contested Hierarchies: A Collaborative Ethnography of Caste Among the Newars of Kathmandu Valley. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  3. Toffin, Gerard. Newar Society: City, Village and Periphery. Himal Books. ISBN 9789993343950.
  4. Toffin, Gerard. Newar Society: City, Village and Periphery. Himal Books. ISBN 9789993343950.
  5. Śarmā, Nutandhar. (1999). "The Legends of Gayaḥbājyā of Pāṭan in the Kāṭhmāṇḍu Valley". Contributions to Nepalese Studies. Vol. 26, No. 2. (July 1999). Kirtipur: CNAS/TU. pp. 239-256.
  6. Rajopadhyaya, Abhas D. (2017). 'Visvanath Upadhyay: Lalitpur ka Tantrik'. In Rajopadhyaya, Birajkaji. (ed.). Lumanti 1137. Lalitpur: Rajopadhyaya Samaj.
  7. Rājopādhyāya, Dineshananda. Devatāharūko vaṃśāvalī. (Unpublished).
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