01

SAURATH SABHA GACHI :

An Exploratory Study Of The Matrimonial Congregation Of MIthilanchal

PRESENTED BY

A K R I T I | N I V E D I TA K U M A R I | P R A B H AT K U M A R | P R I YA N S H U G U P TA | S H R E E VA R D H A N K A U S H I K |
S U R A J K U M A R & S U YA S H J I T
CONTENT OUTLINE PAGE

INTRODUCTION 03

RATIONALE 04

AIM 05

OBJECTIVE 06

REVIEW OF LITERATURE 07

HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK 09

METHODOLOGY 12

WORK DONE 13

WORK TO BE DONE 14

BIBLIOGRAPHY 15

INTRODUCTION
W H AT I T ' S A L L A B O U T
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
In order to facilitate the marriage of the Mathil
Brahmins periodical meetings (Sabha's) attended by
authorized genealogists are held during the sacred
days at different centres such as the village of
Saurath of the Madhubani district ,Bangao of West
Bengal and so on respectively , where hundred and
thousands of Maithil Brahmins flock and those who
desire to marry, examines the genealogy registers ,
acquire the Aswajan Patra from the Panjikars and
head to the wedding party's dwelling homes to have
the marriage completed according to the Shastras
and Maithil traditions .
03
Saurath Sabha has been the epicenter of artistic,
literary, and intellectual activity in the 16th century.
Two decades ago , more than 100,000 people from all
across the nation used to go to Saurath SabhaGachi
(the orchard where the event is conducted) . The
assembly in Saurath used to have a privileged
position in not only regulating Mathil young
weddings, but also in providing a socio-cultural
forum for debating and deliberating on issues of local
importance. Even though the craze has passed, the
Sabha Gachi is still operational.
 04

R AT I O N A L E

marriage and the COVID times saw a
associated rituals are an completely new face of
integral part of any online marriages which led
human society in fact to bigger questions of how
marriage is the basic unit and if the ancient systems
in formation of a society . and rituals are still
relevant .
Saurath SabhaGachi ,the
matrimonial congregation wasn't
limited to its cultural significance
but there lies a socio-political
dynamic too .Especially its
association with Panjiprabandh
brings another aspect to light .
A gap can be seen between the
changing ideas where
historically state played a
significant role in fostering
culture and present day
technological impact in
culture :it's product marriage.
 05

AIM The project seeks to examine Saurath SabhaGachi's

significance in matrimonial alliances .
 06

to record the changing life of

01
panjikars and the reason for diminish
of panji system .

02 To access the representation of

women in this congregation .

03
To understand the impact of these
tradition in widening caste gap .
 R E V I E W O F L I T E R AT U R E 07

TITLE AUTHOR /S YEAR PUBLICATION IMPLICATIONS IN THE

PROJECT
THE POLITICAL AND  HISTORY OF MITHILA
CULTURAL HERITAGE RADHAKRISHNA APRIL 1979 KALYANI FOUNDATION
OF MITHILA CHOUDHARY  PANJI PRABANDH IN MAITHILI
BRAHAMAN AND KARANAKAYASTHA

THE GIFT OF A GIRL :  TO UNDERSTAND THE HISTORICAL

HIERARCHICAL CAROLYN BROWN JANUARY 1, ETHNOLOGY ASPECT OF SAURATH SABHA
EXCHANGE IN NORTH HEINZ 1983
BIHAR  TO UNDERSTAND THE DIVISION OF
CASTE AND SUBCASTE IN MITHILA
REGION.

 TO UNDERSTAND THE DOWRY IN

MITHILA .

MAITHIL  DETAILS ABOUT THE ANCIENT LIFE OF

KARANAKAYASTHAK KAMALDHAR DAS 2008 PANJIKARS.
GOTRA, PRAVARA,
MOOL:A VAIVAHIK  REFLECTS ON THE SYSTEM OF
SAMBANDH SUBCASTE UNDER BRAHMANICAL
CASTE SYSTEM .

RECASTING THE
BRAHMIN IN ANSHUMAN PANDEY 2014 UNIVERSITY OF  REFLECTS ON HOW THE PANJI
MEDIEVAL MITHILA : MICHIGAN PRABANDHA REPRESENTS A NEW
ORIGINS OF CASTE ASPECT OF THE RELATIONSHIP
IDENTITY AMONG THE BETWEEN THE STATE , KINSHIP AND
CASTE.
S A U R AT H S A B H A G A C H I
 09
HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK

• history of Saurath SabhaGachi dates back to 13th century with start of

panjiprabandh .

• panjiprabandh refers to the systematic enlisting of genealogical records known as

panjis (Sanskrit for 'log book').

• the two caste-groups which have followed panji prabandha most stringently over
centuries are the Brahmins and Karna Kayasthas of Mithila.

• the practice came into existence in around 1326 ace by orders of the last ruler of
karnata dynasty - Harisimhadev.

• later the Maharaja of Darbhanga donated 22 Acres of land for matrimonial assembly
and sanctioned the system of Panji .

• Women did not visit SaurathSabha or had their names in panji, in some Brahmanical
panji their names were there but not from natal family records but from martial
family records .
 10
SIMILAR SABHAS

• Although different centres such as the villages Saurath, Partapur,

Sajhuar, Bhakrail, Sahasaula, Bangao, and Govindpur-Harrahi of the
Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Purnea district used to have
such Sabha but only Saurath is still in function.

• in the 7th century CE, scholar Kumarila Bhatt in his book Tntravartika
(his famous work on Mimamsa) had talked about a similar custom
known as Samuha-Lekhyani - the ancient tradition of keeping
genealogical records by the "upper" echelons of the society in order
to maintain caste and blood purity; which was later re-organized as
Panji -Prabandh.
 11

S I M I L A R S Y S T E M L I K E PA N J I P R A B A N D H

• the distinction between the two is that Samuha-Lejhyani used to be prepared

individually ; while panji was commissioned by the royal order and a set of
trained persons known as Panjikars (Genealogists) were assigned to maintain
the genealogical records.

• an aspect of the panji system is that it does not record the names of women .
however in some Brahmin panjis, names of women have been recorded ,though
not in their natal family's records but in marital family's .

• there is also a mythical story behind the evolution of PanjiSystem that directs
the system was started to avoid "Consanguineous relationship and ensure
caste purity" .
 12

METHODOLOGY

EXPLORATORY NATURE OF RESEARCH

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION

PRIMARY DATA

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE - CONVENIENCE SAMPLING

 13
D E S I G N I N G T H E S T U D Y:

Review of literature

Framing the Methodology

WORK DONE
Attempt to interact with panjikars ,people who
are frequent visitors of saurath village or
active in organizing sabha (assembly)

garnered the target participants over a social

media account

Rapport formation is done with few

participants, both male and female
conducted an introductory session with
Mr.ripunjay Thakur , Editor-Author at Madaba,
researcher at department of history,DU
 WORK TO BE DONE 14

The statistics of number of visitors

Proposed Interviews
year wise ,demographic analysis ,etc. This project will require to interview the following
target group

Conducting interviews with Panjikars • Panjikars

,women who took part in these assemblies
indirectly, and people active in reviving and • Women
organizing Sabha GAchi every year.
• Current organizers

• Activists , and
Data Analysis
• Visitors

Initiating interviews with the

contemporary writers and historians
of Mithila region .
 15
BIBLIOGRAPHY
THEORY RESOURCES

• Choudhary, R. 2013. THE POLITICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE OF MITHILA .Deogarh: Prabhat Kumar Choudhary.

• Pandey, A.(2014) , Recasting the Brahmin in Medieval Mithila : Origins of Caste Identity Among the Maithili Brahmin of
North Bihar (Published) .University of Michigan .

• C. (2021). THE GIFT OF A GIRL : HIERARCHICAL EXCHANGE IN NORTH BIHAR ( Published),University of California, Chico.
• Sinha, C. 1979 . Mithila Under Karnatas. Patna, Janaki Prakashan .

• Jha,p.2008. The GHAR-BAHIR DICHOTOMY :WOMEN , THEIR RAJ AND MARRIAGE REFORMS IN MITHILA IN THE LATE
NINETEENTH CENTURY, INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS.

• In, Chaudhury ,P., (1964) . Places of Interest Bihar District Gazette .(pp.577-580).Patna ,Bihar :Superintendent
Secretariat Press.