The Pathani/Paatni ( Kumaoni:पाटनी) are an ethnic group of the Attigoan and Kamsyar region of

Gangolihat Gangolihat is a town in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, India. It is the headquarters of an eponymous tehsil ~ one of the 12 revenue subdivisions of the Pithorarh district. It is said that here Adi Shankaracharya did penance to please A ...

tehsil

Pithoragarh district Pithoragarh district is the easternmost district in the state of Uttarakhand. It is located in the Himalayas and has an area of and a population of 483,439 (as of 2011). The city of Pithoragarh, located in Saur Valley, is its headquarters. Th ...

of the Kumaon

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

of the Indian state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

. Paatni people are members of a hill raja clan that migrated from Patan,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

in India to Bhaaloaagar and then to their current location in Uttarakhand in the early 16th century.History of the Panjab Hill States By J. Hutchison, J.P. Vogel, Asian Educational Services, p213 Atkinson described them as the groups holding small principalities in Kumaon at the end of Katyuri rule and the advent of the

Chand dynasty The Chand dynasty was a kingdom that ruled the Kumaon area in present-day Uttarakhand state of India, after the decline of the Katyuri kingdom. At times, their rule also extended to the western parts of present-day Nepal. Somchand establishe ...

in Kumaon. After a brief stint with the Chands, they were awarded a grant of the Patti of Attigaon and Kamsyar i.e. the area from Ganaigangoli to Banspatan.

Origins

Raaths

They are divided into four Raaths () corresponding with descendants of the four sons of Dham Singh, the original founder of the clan. * Padhan Raath; () * Dhuri Raath; () * Malla Raath; () * Paar Raath; () The word Raath comes from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word ''ratha'', meaning chariot, to symbolize that they are bearers of the founder's legacy.

Language and culture

Language

They speak the Gangoli dialect of Kumaoni (गंगोली कुमाँऊनी) and

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 ...

Religion

The majority of the

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 ...

population worships the Hindu pantheon as well as other local deities such as Aidi Devta, Golu Devta, Kaisinn, Kalbisht, and Nanda Devi, similar to other Kumaonis. The clan's principal deity is Sem Dev (सैम देव), who is always invoked along with his brother Haru Dev (हरु देव), the divine spirit of Raja Harish of the Chands. The Dhuri Pathanis also worship Ma Haatkalik, Mata of Gangolihaat and Pardevi along with Haru-Sem.

Customs

As Kumaoni

Rajputs Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

, their customs and culture are the same as other Kumaonis. The tradition of Kumaoni Holi, Jhoda and Chanchari songs, and Jaagar the ballads of Gods, Sarau and Choliya the sword dances of Kumaon are a cherished part of their culture.

Priests

Their customary priests are the

Upadhyay Upadhyay is a surname. Notable people who bear the name include: *Amar Upadhyay (born 1976), Indian model, film and television actor *Amod Prasad Upadhyay (born 1936), Nepalese social worker and politician * Ayodhya Prasad Upadhyay (1865–19 ...

clan of

Brahmins 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 ...

of Devrari Kuna.

Festivals

Their principal festivals are

Harela Hareli is a Hindu festival celebrated in the Indian state of chhattisgarh and in some regions of Himachal Pradesh, uttarakhand. This festival is very popular in the chhattisgarh first festival, and is celebrated by the name Hareli tihar . This n ...

- a harvest festival celebrated all over Kumaon ''

Vijayadashami Vijayadashami (), more commonly known as Dassahra in Hindi, and also known as Dashāhra or Dashain in Bhojpuri, Maithili and Nepali, is a major Hindu festival celebrated every year at the end of Durga Puja and Navaratri, Navarahtri. It is ob ...

'' (बिजय दशमी) i.e. Dusshera. On this day, the victory of

Lord Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda'' ...

over the demon King Ravana is celebrated; It has special significance for the

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

community as weapons are also worshipped on this day.

Raksha Bandhan Raksha Bandhan Quote: m Hindi ''rakśābandhan'' held on the full moon of the month of Savan, when sisters tie a talisman (rakhi q.v.) on the arm of their brothers and receive small gifts of money from them. is a popular and traditionally Hin ...

or Rakhi or the ''Shravani Purnima'' there signifies the day for changing the sacred thread ''yagnopavit''. Aanthoo festival is dedicated to

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

and his consort Mata Parvati. They also celebrate Nandashthami, which is dedicated to Ma Nanda and Ma Sunanda, the patron deities of Kumaon. They participate in the annual Baurani fair commemorating the adventures of Sem Devta with his brother Haru Dev and their nephew Golu Devta, all of whom are worshipped in the Kumaon region as gods.

References

External links

* ''The Himalayan Gazetter'' by E. T. Atkinson * ''The History of Kumaun'' by B. D. Pandey * Uma Prasad Thapliyal (2005). ''Uttaranchal: Historical and cultural perspectives''. B.R. Pub. Corp.,. . * Umachand Handa (2002). ''History of Uttaranchal''. Indus Publishing. {{ISBN, 81-7387-134-5 * https://www.indianmoviereviews.com/?m=1 Rajput clans Kumaoni Rajputs Social groups of Uttarakhand Surnames of Indian origin Pithoragarh