Jogi (caste)
The Jogi are a Hindu community, found in North India, and smallers numbers also found in the southern state of Karnataka . They are known as Giri, Nath and Goswami.[1]
Jogi is a colloquial term for the "yogi", which refers to the people who practiced Yoga as part of their daily rituals. Over the time, this led to the formation of a community, and subsequently was formed into a caste.
History and origin
The Jogi are followers of yoga and worshipers of the Hindu god Shiva. Gorakshanath is credited with the systemization and categorization of the practice of yoga. This system eventually led to the formation of a separate Hindu caste. As followers of the yoga, they traditionally wear saffron-colored clothing. The community once comprised mendicants only, but now are outnumbered by those who have taken to cultivation. They and their descendents form a caste with two sub-groups, the Kanphata and Augur. In North India, they speak Hindi and its various dialects.[2]
Jogis of Haryana
The Jogi are found through the state of Haryana and speak Haryanvi.[3]
The Jogis of Haryana are often referred to as Padha Jogi, and are divided in three groupings or orders. These are the Kanphate Jogi, Padha Jogi and Jangam Jogi. Like in other parts of North India, the Jogi started of as mendicants and holymen, but over time formed a distinct caste. This is seen by the fact that they are strictly endogamous. Most Haryana Jogis are farmers, with very few still involved in their traditional occupation.The main work of jogis people are become a sent,wear bagwa and do jog sadana.
Jogis of Mangalore
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There is a significant population of Jogis in the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka. At last count [when?] there were around 600-800 families of Jogis in Mangalore city and in villages of the district. How they came to be there is not recorded but the presence of Jogi families around the Kadri Jogi Mutt indicates that they were associated with this Hindu monastery. According to tradition, the Kadri Jogi Mutt and the nearby Manjunatha Temple were a seat of Jogi culture since the time of Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath, both of whom arrived from the Nepal and Uttar Pradesh region and established the mutt (monastery) here.
It is likely that the Kadri mutt was a Buddhist monastery in the early times and was taken over by the Jogis during the ascendance of the Shaivite tradition. The Jogis established the permanent "rule" of the Kadri Mutt by assigning a new "Jogi Arasu" (ruler) once in 12 years and making it a part of the Bara (Twelve) Panths of the Jogi system. The bara panths or 12 mutts are spread across India.
The early Jogi caste members may have been converts from other castes who were either employed as workers at the mutt or who became followers of the various Jogi Arasus. Jogi mendicants arriving from the north may have also married locals and settled down around the mutt.
The sub-culture of the Jogis is a mix featuring local "Tulu" beliefs and rituals and a small element of Jogi mendicant culture. The burial of the male dead in a sitting position with the legs in a yoga position is a pointer to the latter.
The Kadri Manjunatha temple at Mangalore in the present form was founded by Jogi Matsyendranath of the Natha pantha (=cult) during the rule of King Kundavarma Alupa (ca. 968 CE). The Natha cult sprang from the Mahayana school of Buddhism but revived the Shaiva tradition. It marks the waning stages of Buddhism in southern India and transition of faiths from Buddhism back to mainstream Hinduism. The Jogis and the Jogi Mutt of Kadri are involved with the administration of Kadri temple since historical days. The place was known as ‘Kadarika Vihar’ during the hay days of Buddhism in Mangalore. The word ‘Natha’ means lord, owner or God.
See also
References
Further reading
- Philosophy of Gorakhnath by Akshaya Kumar Banerjea archive.org
- Detailed description about Jogis at shivshakti.com
- More information on Jogis at religiousworlds.com
- Yogis under the British Raj
- The tribes and castes of the central provinces of India, Volume 1
- Legend of the Nath Jogis