Utkala Brahmins, also known as Utkal Brahmins, are a

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

community who belong to the state of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...

, India. Utkala Brahmins are the historical caretakers of the

Jagannath Temple The Jagannath Temple is an important Hindu temple dedicated to Jagannath, a form of Vishnu - one of the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism. Puri is in the state of Odisha, on the eastern coast of India. The present temple was rebuilt ...

Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is also known as ''S ...

. The Utkala Brahmins are one of the five Pancha Gouda Brahmin communities that originally resided to the north of the

Vindhyas The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...

. They constitute about 7% of Odisha's population.

History

During ancient period Utkala was centre of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

Shailodbhava dynasty The Shailodbhava ( IAST: Śailodbhava) dynasty ruled parts of eastern India during the 6th-8th centuries. Their core territory was known as Kongoda-mandala, and included parts of the present-day Ganjam, Khordha and Puri districts in the Odisha s ...

were follower of

Shaivism Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangi ...

who ruled the region from 6th century to 8th century. They had built

Parashurameshvara Temple Parsurameswara Temple ( IAST: ') also spelt Parashurameshvara, located in the East Indian city of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, India, is considered the best preserved specimen of an early Odia Hindu temple dated to the Shailodbhava per ...

in 7th century which is oldest temple in Bhubaneswar. Shailodhava king Madhavaraja II in his inscriptions state that he performed the

ashvamedha The Ashvamedha ( sa, अश्वमेध, aśvamedha, translit-std=IAST) was a horse sacrifice ritual followed by the Śrauta tradition of Vedic religion. It was used by ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty: a horse accomp ...

sacrifices to assert his independence from

Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Go ...

which indicates presence of Brahmin in Odisha in 7th century. Keshari dynasty ruled from 9th to 12th century in medieval period who constructed

Lingaraj Temple Lingaraja Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva and is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the Indian state of Odisha, India. The temple is the most prominent landmark of Bhubaneswar city and one of the major tourist ...

, Mukteshvara Temple and

Rajarani Temple Rajarani Temple is an 11th-century Hindu temple located in Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha (Orissa previously), India. Overview The temple is believed to have been known originally as Indreswara. It is locally known as a "love temple" ...

in Bhubaneswar. They introduced a new style of architecture in Odisha and their rule saw a shift from

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global po ...

. According to legend Yayati Keshri brought 10,000 Brahmin from

Kannauj Kannauj (Hindustani pronunciation: ənːɔːd͡ʒ is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is a corrupted form of the cla ...

to his kingdom for Ashvamedha ceremony in 10th century. There are records of settlement of 200 brahmins by Subhakaradeva of

Bhauma-Kara dynasty The Bhauma dynasty, also known as Kara dynasty, ruled in eastern India between 8th and 10th centuries. Their kingdom, called Toshala (IAST: Toṣala), included parts of present-day Odisha. By the last quarter of the 8th century, the Bhauma-Karas ...

in Neulpur grant (c795 AD) and another 6000 brahmins settlement near

between 1151-1152 A.D. Portrait of a Brahmin Hindu Priest in Puri, Orissa in 1928

References

Notes

*{{cite journal, last=Witzel, first=Michael, title=Toward a History of the Brahmins, journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society, volume=113, year=1993, pages=264-268, jstor=603031, issn=00030279 Brahmin communities across India Brahmin communities of Odisha Brahmin communities of West Bengal

History

See also

References

Notes