Porwad

·Porvad (पोरवाड), also called Porwad, Porwal etc. are an ancient Jain community that originated from southern Rajasthan. In Sanskrit inscriptions it is called Pragvata (प्राग्वाट).

They have originated from a region east of ancient Shrimal. Today numerically they rank behind the Oswal and Shrimal Jains from the same region. However in antiquity, they appear to have been more numerous and among the wealthiest. Many of the most famous Jain temples were buit by the Porwads:

* Ranakpur Jain temple of Dharna Shah (Finished in 1441 CE) [http://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=57396 Dharna Shah and Construction of the Temple]
* Vimal Vasahi of Vimal Shah (1031 CE) at Mount Abu
* Luna Vasahi (1231 CE) of Vastupal and Tejpal at Mt Abu
* The Adinath temple at Shatrunjaya by Javad Shah in 961 AD, later renovated on different occasions.

The term Pragvad refers to a region that eventually was called Mewad. A Kalchuri inscription refers to the Guhilots as ruling the Pragvad region.

The Porvad community became divided into several regional communities including:
# Sorathia (in SaurashtrA)
# Kapola [Mangilal Bhutodia, Itihas ki Amar Bel Oswal, part 2, 19992, p. 313-315] .
#Jangad Porwad
#Porwad (in Nimad Region of madhyapradesh)Eventually they became independent communities. Some of the groups became a part of the Oswal or Navnat communities.

Both Jain traditions, Svetambar and Digambara are represented among different sections of the Porwad community.

In the 16th century, Pushti Marga was founded by Vallabha, a Brahmin scholar from Telangana, who proposed that in the modern age, it is too hard to follow the Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti Margas. He proposed Pushti Marga (pursuance of worldly luxaries Raga, Bhoga and Shringar) as an alternative. A section of the Porwads has converted to Pushtimarga. Those who have converted to the Pushimarg are known as Meshri (derived from Maheshwari) [The Eighteenth-Century Social Order in Surat: A Reply and an Excursus on the Riots of 1788 and 1795, by Lakshmi Subramanian, Modern Asian Studies, 1991, p. 321-365] or Vania.

Prominent Porwads

* Mansukhbhai Bhagubhai, founder of Gujarat Spinning and Weaving mill in 1878.

ee also

* Bhinmal
*Oswal
* Parwar
* Shrimal Jain

External links

* [http://www.kapol.org/root.aspx Kapol - Our Roots]

References