Sankethi people

2021-04-27T11:20:55Z

116.86.127.69:

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| image =
| caption =
| group = Sankethi people
| population = '''{{Circa|25,000|lk=yes}}'''<ref>{{cite news |last1=Satish |first1=DP |title=Karnataka: Brahmins Sacrifice Sheep, Drink Country Liquor at Yajna |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/karnataka-brahmins-sacrifice-sheep-drink-country-liquor-at-yajna-1238604.html |publisher=News18}}</ref>
| languages = [[Sankethi language]]
| region1 = India
| pop1 =
| region2 = United Kingdom
| pop2 =
| region3 = United States
| pop3 =
| religions = [[Hinduism]]
| related = [[Tamil people]], [[Kannada people]]
}}
The '''Sankethi people''' are a South Indian [[Smarta tradition|Smartha]] [[Brahmin]]<ref name=":0" /> community located in [[Karnataka]], India, mostly in villages in the south of the state. They speak a [[Dravidian language]] known as [[Sankethi dialect|Sankethi]], which is related to [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and [[Kannada]].<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 42931419|title = Tense in Sanketi Tamila Comparative Note|journal = Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute|volume = 41|pages = 126–129|last1 = Nagaraja|first1 = K.S.|year = 1982}}</ref> Their traditional occupation is agriculture, engaging in the cultivation of crops such as [[areca nut]]s (also known as betel nuts), palm nuts, tobacco, bananas, and coconuts. The community has traditionally adhered to [[Advaita Vedanta]] and maintains the ancient practice of [[avadhanam]], as well as having a long tradition in [[Carnatic music|Carnatic classical music]].

The two largest Sankethi groups initially settled predominantly in [[Kaushika]] near [[Hassan, India|Hassan]], Karnataka and [[Bettadapura]], [[Mysore district]], and becoming the Kaushika and the Bettadapura communities, respectively.<ref name="lifescape">{{cite book |url=http://www.lifescapesmemoirs.net/chatterjee/religion/religion.pdf |page=45 |publisher=Frandsen Humanities Press |last=Chatterjee|first=Rajeswari|title=Lifescapes of India: Religions, Customs, and Laws of India |date=2003 |access-date=2013-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226233036/http://www.lifescapesmemoirs.net/chatterjee/religion/religion.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-26}}</ref>

== History ==
Sankethis venerate a woman known as Nacharu, respectfully called Nacharamma. The appended ''-amma'' marks her status as the figurative mother of the Sankethi people, who led them out of [[Sengottai]] after mistreatment at the hands of the local [[Brahmin]] orthodoxy. Keshaviah refers to her as "... a solitary Brahmana woman leading some 700 or 800 Brahman families from what was their home from time immemorial ...".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Keshaviah|first=M|title=Life of Nacharamma (History of Her Migration)|publisher=Sree Panchacharya Electric Press|year=1936|location=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.367350|pages=44}}</ref> He also says that "At Alwargurchi, ... we met two very old Brahmanas of Vadama sect who ... afforded additional independant testimony to what we had from so many of our own sect".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Keshaviah|first=M.|title=Life of Nacharamma (History of Her Migration)|publisher=Sree Panchacharya Electric Press|year=1936|location=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.367350|pages=74}}</ref> Several tellings of the story exist within the Sankethi community, as such the exact details are difficult to ascertain.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

=== Migration and other history ===
According to Dr. B.S. Pranatartiharan, a researcher in Sankethi studies and writer, the first wave of migration of Sankethis was in 1087 CE and was prompted by the Nacharamma episode.<ref>{{Cite book|title=ಸಂಕೇತಿ: ಒಂದು ಅಧ್ಯಯನ (Sankethi: A Study)|last=Pranatarthiharan|first=B.S.|publisher=Samudaya Adhyayana Kendra|year=2010}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/trailing-a-tiny-bunch/article2109824.ece|title=Trailing a tiny bunch|last=Ramachandran|first=C. N.|date=2011-06-16|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-08-26|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> The date of 1087 CE for the first migration suggests that Sankethis fled during the time of the Pandyan Civil War. There is also evidence, according to an inscription preserved in a museum in [[Shimoga]], that the Sankethi community received a land grant from the king of [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagara]] in 1524 from [[Krishnadevaraya]] in recognition of [[Vedic]] scholarship.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/tale-of-two-villages/article4581221.ece|title=Tale of two villages|last=Viswanathan|first=Trichur S.|date=2013-04-04|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-08-26|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

A schism emerged in the early 20th century as many Indians began to go to Britain in pursuit of higher studies. The more conservative members of the community were strongly against their sons leaving India for study, citing prohibitions against Brahmins traveling by sea. B. K. Narayana Rao sought to study medicine at the [[Royal College of Surgeons]] in London, and ignored the elders' objections.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sankethi.org/Members/Famous/BKNRao.html|title=NASA - Fostering the global Sankethi community|website=www.sankethi.org|access-date=2018-08-26}}</ref> He opened doors for Indian medical postgraduates to study in Europe, and also modernized Indian eye care in Mysore.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/279312/mysores-visionaries.html|title=Mysore's visionaries|date=2012-09-17|work=Deccan Herald|access-date=2018-08-31|language=en}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
The Sankethi community is considered a fairly orthodox Hindu community, having mostly Vedic rites as a part of daily practice, though they do have certain culturally specific practices such as ''angaḍi habba, vāraturave'' and ''kanū habba''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pranatarthiharan|first=B.S.|title=ಸಂಕೇತಿ: ಒಂದು ಅಧ್ಯಯನ (Sankethi: A Study)|publisher=Samudaya Adhyayana Kendra|year=2010|pages=171–173}}</ref> Pranatartiharan also reports that Sankethis also have a large variety of family deities, including ''[[Grāmadevatā|grāmadevatas]]'' like Māramma and Dyāvamma.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pranatartiharan|first=B.S.|title=ಸಂಕೇತಿ: ಒಂದು ಅಧ್ಯಯನ (Sankethi: A Study)|publisher=Samudaya Adhyayana Kendra|year=2010|pages=173–175}}</ref> This is attributed to Sankethis' dissociation from work in temple services, as Sankethis are typically not priests (even in temples which they have built themselves).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pranatartiharan|first=B.S.|title=ಸಂಕೇತಿ: ಒಂದು ಅಧ್ಯಯನ (Sankethi: A Study).|publisher=Samudaya Adhyayana Kendra.|year=2010|pages=176–177}}</ref> The Sankethis also have a community deity, known as Vāṇiyamma, who is said to appear in people's dreams and give them sacred missions.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pranatartiharan|first=B.S.|title=ಸಂಕೇತಿ: ಒಂದು ಅಧ್ಯಯನ (Sankethi: A Study)|publisher=Samudaya Adhyayana Kendra|year=2010|pages=177}}</ref> Furthermore, the Sankethi community has been open to outside influences, freely incorporating previously not practiced rituals like Caṇdī Homa, which earned the censure of other Brahmin communities for indulging in ''[[Vamachara|vāmācāra]]'' practices.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pranatartiharan|first=B.S.|title=ಸಂಕೇತಿ: ಒಂದು ಅಧ್ಯಯನ (Sankethi: A Study)|publisher=Samudaya Adhyayana Kendra|year=2010|pages=173}}</ref>

The Sankethi community also has an atypical relationship with ''maṭhas'', being historically exempt from paying ''gurudakṣiṇa'' to the Śṛṅgeri Śaṅkarācārya due to multiple purported occasions in which Kaushika Sankethis in particular are remembered to have preserved Śrṅgeri Maṭha's reputation without having been formally tied or subordinate to it.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pranatartiharan|first=B.S.|title=ಸಂಕೇತಿ: ಒಂದು ಅಧ್ಯಯನ (Sankethi: A Study)|publisher=Samudaya Adhyayana Kendra|year=2010|pages=15}}</ref>

=== Cuisine ===
Sankethi cuisine is not especially distinctive from other southern Karnataka cuisine, though there exists a definite influence from Tamil Nadu and Kerala cuisines. For example, ''shavige'', a popular Sankethi dish is highly similar to ''idiyappam'' from Kerala, but is often flavored like ''sevai'' from Tamil Nadu. Sankethis by and large are vegetarians, so their cuisine consists entirely of vegetarian dishes. There is also ''avial'' and ''kutu'', two other popular dishes in the Sankethi community, which are also found in Tamil cuisines. Due to their migratory history, influences from all over South India are evident.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.sankethi.org/ North American Sankethi Association]

[[Category:Sankethi people| ]]
[[Category:Dravidian peoples]]
[[Category:Kannada Brahmins]]
[[Category:Social groups of Karnataka]]

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Sankethi people