Chaurasia

CHAURASIA word originated from ancient INDIAN Vedas which basically refers a Brahmin community in INDIA, CHAURASIA word inherits from a vedic word 'chaturashiitah' which refers eighty four in sansakrita . Since ancient INDIA, according to the Hindu mythology it is believed there are eighty four thousands Yonis(breeds, Types) of Gods existing in this universe. Every species which exist on Earth belong to a particular Yoni . At later stage and for easy pronunciation it transformed as 'Chaurasia' (A Hindi equivalent also refers eighty four)

A famous story behind the birth of this word states that once all dev gans (Devtas, Gods) assembled on Earth at a place called 'Naumi Sharayan' to perform some auspicious ceremony, and while they were approaching back to 'Bakunthya Dham' (Heaven) they all started feeling thirsty due to extreme heat on earth when a particular community came forward and quenched their thirst by serving them Beatle leaves .Impressed by their hospitality, the Devtas not only blessed them but also honoured them by gifting the title chaturashiitah i.e. 'CHAURASIA' . According to the Baudhâyanas'rauta-sûtra CHAURASIA's belong to Kashyapa, Some believe that they belong to [Bharadvâja],So there are many beliefs about Gotras .

In recent days people of this community are employed in a variety of occupations (some also refers themselves as 'Vaishya' i.e. traders) and their religious traditions and culture are becoming less of a factor in daily life.

HISTORY OF BARAI CHAURASIA

According to mythology, Mohini distributed Amrut (ambrosia) amongst various gods. The urn with the remaining of the Amrut was kept near Indra’s elephant « Nagraja ». Growing inside the urn was a strange creeping plant and the gods became ecstatic. Vishnu ordered Dhanvantari to examine the plant. He thus discovered its stimulating quality. From then on, Vishnu began to offer its leaves, as a gesture of love and affection. Since, it is said , that the betel trine was born. It began to be associated with the Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh Trinity. The areca nut was attributed to Brahma, the Tambool (betel) leaf to Vishnu and lime to Mahesh.

According to another legend, after the Pandavas’ victory at Hastinapur, they began to have a fervent desire for Tambool. A messenger was urgently sent to the underground abode of the Queen of the snakes. The Queen, only too happy to oblige, cut the extreme phalange of her little finger and sent it to the Pandavas. The phalange was planted with great ceremony and soon the Betel plant grew out of the phalange. The creeper is since then referred to as « Nagveli » the snake plant. The ceremony of the leaves commemorates this origin and the Barais offer prayers to the God of snakes on the occasion.

Gotras

Chaurasia community belongs to the following Brahmin Gotras

• Kashyapa
• Bharadwaj
• Shandliya
• Barai
• Jaisawar
• Bari
• Chaurasia

Rishi Brahmachari Garhar Kashyapa and Bharadwaj gotras further belong to the Rajapur/Bhalavalikar Gauda Saraswat Brahmans (RSB) community whereas the Shandliya gotra belong to the Sarupareen Brahmin community.

Sub castes

Following are the synonyms of Chaurasia surname by regional preferences:

• Chaurasia (Belarampur,patti,pratapgarh(U.P.)
• Chaurasia (Throughout India)
• Chourasia (Parts of North East India)
• Chaurishi (Parts of North India)
• Sharma (Throughout India)
• Jaiswar (Throughout India)
• Bhardwaj (Throughout India)
• Kashyap (North India)
• Nag (North India)
• Mandal (Central India)
• Barae
• Tamoli
• Barai
• Modi (North India)
• Raut (Bihar Madhubani)
• chaudhary (hajipur Bihar)

Famous Chaurasia's

• Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (International Bansuri Player)
• B.D. Chaurasia (Author)
• Vijay Chaurasia (Golfer)
• Deepak Chaurasia (Aaj Tak)
• Swati Chaurasia, Founder Chaurasia matrimonial (swayamvara.org)
• Satyajit Chaurasia (trainer for Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Isha Deol, Ajay Devegan, Vivek Oberoi etc)
• Kailash Chaurasia (Minister of State UP, Samajwadi Party)
• Sanjay Chaurasia editor (Sahara One)
• Dr. J. P. Chaurasia Scientist (Writer of book Betelvine cultivation and management of diseases, film script writer, young scientist of the country, well known International Young personality of 20th century, 13 new discovery in the world basically from Sagar M.P. but at present working in New Delhi)
• ssp chaurasia(golf)

Businesses owned by Chaurasia's

Traditionally Chaurasia's were primarily engaged into beatle leave related business only but during the past century people of this community has left their mark virtually into every opportunity available in the world. Following are some of them:

• Hotels
• Petrol Pumps
• Construction
• Steel Plants
• Power Plants
• Real Estate
• Flour & Oil Mills
• Hospitals
• Transport
• Trading
• Engineering, IT
• Pan Masala & Cigarettes
• Chain of Retail stores
• Media

Demographics

Chaurasia community is densely settled in states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Punjab, Maharashtra, West Bengal and scarcely populated in other parts of India. Also there is a good population of Chaurasia's in Nepal settled for several generations and are actively participating in Nepali Politics.

Modern day Chaurasia's are settled all over the world specially in parts of UAE, Middle East, USA and Canada.

Chaurasia Matrimonial

Swayamvara.org is the first matrimonial website of chaurasia samaaj and is founded by Swati Chaurasia.

References/ External Link

• Saryupareen Brahmins
• Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia
• Rajapur Bhalavalikar Gauda Saraswat Brahmins
• Chaurasia.org
• Chaurasia.info
• swayamvara.org

More details about to come. Till then enjoy !