Sinugra

Sinugra (also spelled Shinoogra / Sinogra / Sinougra) is a village 7 km from the town of Anjar, in the Anjar taluka of Kutch district in the Indian state of Gujarat.

Sinugra
village
Chabutro at Sinugra Village entrance built by Seth Khora Ramji in 1900
Sinugra Location in Gujarat, India
Coordinates: 23.096273°N 69.968877°E
Country	India
State	Gujarat
District	Kachchh
Panchayat	Gram Panchayat
Elevation	27 m (89 ft)
Languages
• Official	Gujarati, Hindi
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	370110
Telephone code	02836
Vehicle registration	GJ-12
Sex ratio	0.894 ♂/♀
Distance from Bhuj	60 kilometres (37 mi)
Distance from Ahmedabad	350 kilometres (220 mi)

History

The village is one of the eighteen villages founded by Mistris of Kutch in late 12th century.[1][2][3] [4][5][6] The Mistris of these villages have built and developed the infrastructure around the villages in late 1890.

Geology

There is a limestone mine which located across the hill named Topi dungar behind the Sinugra village. Also the Sang river, which rises from this hill behind village serves the water needs of village. The river flows through other parts of Anjar taluka.[7]

Heritage

The village boasted of 200 odd houses made by rich Mistri families, ornate facades, intricate door carvings and metal grill windows and verandah depicting life of Queen Victoria. There were also huge wall and Ceiling paintings depicting scenes from Mahabharata & Ramayana. The village like other Mistri Village was well planned by Mistris, who were master-planners themselves, having wide main roads and streets and other infrastructure, temples, ponds, wells and was unique in its heritage. Sinugra was known as Pride of Kutch for its unique artistic heritage.[8] [9]

However, most of it was destroyed in the earthquake of 2000. Sinugra Village being very near to Anjar also bore the heavy brunt of the quake and almost all old majestic houses built around 100 years ago were completely destroyed. There was also a good number of human casualty. Some of the old buildings, temples, Chabutro have been since re-constructed but the majestic houses with fine workmanship have been lost.

School

The village has primary co-educational school named Seth Khora Ramji Prathmik Shala built by Seth Khora Ramji and brothers in 1910 and therefore, has been named after him.

Temples

Kuldevi Temples of many clans of these Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya community are also there in this village. For example, Tank clan Mistri community have their Kuldevi Chamunda.

The Thakor Mandir of Sinugra built by Seth Khora Ramji Chawda, Pachhan Ramji Chawda, Teja Ramji Chawda, Akhai Ramji Chawda, Jetha Lira Jethwa and Khoda Ratna Tank in 1900. It is a remarkable piece of architect with beautiful and colorful carvings of Gods and idols. Further, Jadeshwar Mahadev temple also built by Seth Khora Ramji is worth seeing. The Swaminarayan Temple and Dharamshala are also in the village. A small temple of Ramdev Pir is also there in village. After the earthquake of 26 January 2001 all the temples and Chabutro have been rehabilitated to their past glory by donations from the Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya community.

Further, a mosque belonging to Mohammedan community is also there.

Present status

Villagers enjoy a good drinking water supply, and a steady electricity supply with few power shortages. Telephones are common, and nearly all of the houses have televisions and cable.

The village entrance has a big Chabutro and welcome gate.

Economy

Most of villagers are involved in agriculture, others go to nearby Anjar for their jobs and businesses.

Sarpanch

Dhamubhai Vadher, was former Sarpanch of this village. Newly elected Sarpanch, is Induben Umakant Vadher.[10]

Census 2011

Sinugra is a large village located in Anjar of Kachchh district, Gujarat with total 694 families residing. The Sinugra village has population of 3077 of which 1577 are males while 1500 are females as per Population Census 2011.[11]

In Sinugra village population of children with age 0-6 is 481 which makes up 15.63% of total population of village. Average Sex Ratio of Sinugra village is 951 which is higher than Gujarat state average of 919. Child Sex Ratio for the Sinugra as per census is 822, lower than Gujarat average of 890.[11]

Sinugra village has lower literacy rate compared to Gujarat. In 2011, literacy rate of Sinugra village was 74.08% compared to 78.03% of Gujarat. In Sinugra Male literacy stands at 80.12% while female literacy rate was 67.89%.[11]

As per constitution of India and Panchyati Raaj Act, Sinugra village is administrated by Sarpanch (Head of Village) who is elected representative of village.[11]

References

1. History of Kutch Gurjar Kshatiryas, migration from Saurashtra - Dhaneti founded, their Villages, Madhapar founded, Surnames, etc
2. Gurjar Kshatriyas, also known as Mistris, came to Kutch from Rajasthan. They are skilled in building and construction. They first established themselves at Dhaneti and were granted 18 villages by the rulers of Kutch. They are famous designers and developers of buildings and bridges.
3. Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya & other communities of Kutch Archived 2011-07-10 at the Wayback Machine
4. Community website giving brief history and social activities
5. Gurjar Kshatriya website giving details of Settlements Archived 2007-10-08 at the Wayback Machine
6. Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya Samaj History Archived 2011-09-19 at the Wayback Machine
7. Gujarat State Gazetteers: Junagadh — Page 15, 1971:: pp 15.
8. Sinougra houses no longer live-up to their claim to fame : Indian Press Report after earthquake giving details of Mistri of Kutch - Migration to Fiji, Africa & details of artistic houses in their village of Sinougra, Kookma & Pramod Jethi, curator of the Aina Mahal Trust Museum, Bhuj and an authority on Kutchi art says, People from Sinougra were working in the construction of the Howrah Bridge. In fact, many Victorian buildings in Kolkata have been built by the karigars (artisans) of the region. After earthquake, Sinugra the village, one of the 18 of the ‘mistry gams’ or craftsmen villages scattered in Anjar and Mundra Talukas, has now nothing to show that it was once the home to some of Kutch’s finest artisans. The scenario is no different in Kookma, Madhapar, Deoria, Khamara and the other craftsmen villages of the region. When the 1948 earthquake destroyed the village, its residents from East Africa to Kolkata rebuilt it with care, making the walls, facades, the jharokhas of the houses — the entire architecture was some of the finest repository of their ancestral skills. But the post-2001 quake years did not witness any such painstaking effort.
9. In shambles lies Pride of Kutch : Indian Press Report after earthquake giving details of Sinogra & other villages of Mistris of Kutch - Rare painting from Mahabharata, Ramayana, Queen Victoria, floors adorned with specially designed tiles of British firm Garlicks & Co. The ceilings of each room in these majestic buildings had been painstakingly hand-painted -- some of which were as big as 30 feet X 30 feet. There were rare paintings of Queen Victoria, Lord Krishna with gopis, floral murals, intricate carving in iron grills and wooden jaalies, besides the exquisite `jharokhas' which made each of these buildings a masterpiece. According to curators of the Kutch Museum in Bhuj, these paintings, jaalis and jharokhas are worth preserving for their uniqueness and rarity. The century-old art and interior design was unique to Sinogra because they have never been painted or created again anywhere else. The entire village belongs to `mistris' and kadias or masons who designed the buildings and the village layout themselves. Archived 2012-12-20 at the Wayback Machine
10. Sarpanch Election result: "Kutch District" Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine by kutchmitradaily.com, Kutchmitra Newspaper
11. population Chart as per census 2011