The Kattaha Brahmins (also known as Maha Brahmins or Mahapatra ), are a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

found in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. They are basically a priestly community who primarily perform death rites and are the traditional funeral priests of

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

Social organization

The Kattaha are the traditional funeral priests of

. They are also known as Acharya. They are said to derive their name from the

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

word ''pind-kattana'', which means to cut the flour balls, an important ritual in

funerals. Little is known about the origin of this community, and their status as

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

is barely recognized by other

grouping. The Kuthaliya Bora are a strictly

endogamous Endogamy is the cultural practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting any from outside of the group or belief structure as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relatio ...

community, and practice

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

exogamy Exogamy is the social norm of mating or marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which tw ...

. Their three main clans or

gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotr ...

s are the Kashyap, Bharadwaj and Sandilya. They live in multi-caste villages, but occupy their own quarters and hamlets.

Present circumstances

The Kattaha are found throughout Uttar Pradesh, with special concentrations in the districts of

Sitapur Sitapur is a city and a municipal board in Sitapur district in the States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located 90 kilometres north of state capital, Lucknow. The traditional origin for the name is said to be by ...

Hardoi Hardoi is a city and municipal board in Hardoi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Hardoi district. It is also known as Prahalad Nagari. Hardoi is about 110 km from the state capital Lucknow ...

, and

Unnao Unnao is a city and district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Unnao is located on the eastern bank of the Ganges River, and it is a satellite city of Kanpur. Administratively, Unnao lies within Unnao district, the district of Unnao and is ...

Awadh Awadh (), known in British Raj historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a historical region in northern India and southern Nepal, now constituting the North-central portion of Uttar Pradesh. It is roughly synonymous with the ancient Kosala Regio ...

, and the districts of

Shahjahanpur Shahjahanpur () is a municipal corporation, town and district headquarters of Shahjahanpur District in Western Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located between Bareilly and Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. History Shahjahanpur was establi ...

and

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

Rohilkhand Rohilkhand (today Bareilly, Moradabad, Badaun and Rampur; ) is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the ...

, and in

Cuttack district Cuttack district is one of the 30 districts of Odisha state in India. It is located in the coastal part of the state and its administrative headquarters are located in the city of Cuttack. As of 2011 Census, after Ganjam district, Ganjam, it is t ...

and

Khordha district Khordha district is an administrative division of the state of Odisha, India. It was formed on April 1, 1993, by the division of former Puri District into Puri, Khordha and Nayagarh districts. In the year 2000 the district name was changed to K ...

in the state of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

. They speak various dialects of

, such as

Awadhi Awadhi may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Awadh or Oudh region in Uttar Pradesh, northern India ** Awadhi people, ethnic group of India *** Awadhi language Awadhi, also known as Audhi, is an Indo-Aryan language belonging ...

. And Odia in

References

{{reflist Brahmin communities of Uttar Pradesh