Sutradhar () is a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

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 ...

within the Vishwakarma community of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. Their traditional occupation is carpentry. The great majority of Hindu Sutradhars belong to the

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

sect.

Vishwakarma Vishvakarma or Vishvakarman (, ) is a craftsman deity and the divine architect of the Deva (Hinduism), devas in contemporary Hinduism. In the early texts, the craftsman deity was known as Tvastar and the word "Vishvakarma" was originally used a ...

is regarded as their patron deity.

Origin

The word ''Sutradhar'' literally means ''formula/thread-holder''. ''Sutra'' in

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 ...

means formula or thread (which is used to mark the course of a saw), and ''dhara'' means to hold.

Demography

While some Sutradhars practice

Shaktism Shaktism () is a major Hindu denomination in which the God in Hinduism, deity or metaphysics, metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically to be a woman. Shaktism involves a galaxy of goddesses, all regarded as different aspects, mani ...

, the vast majority are members of the Vaishnava sect. They worship Vishwakarma and offer sacrifices to him on Vishwakarma Day and

Vasant Panchami Vasant Panchami , also rendered Vasanta Panchami and Saraswati Puja in honour of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, is a festival that marks the preparation for the arrival of spring. The festival is celebrated in Indian religions in different ways ...

. The Sutradhar caste is subdivided into a number of subcastes including Bardhamenya, Mandaranya, Khadipeda, Astakul, and Airy. The Bardhamenya, Mandaranya, and Astakul are best known as carpenters but are also known as painters,

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

image makers, stone carvers as well as constructors of buildings and temples. The Khadipeda were essentially architects, known as designers of temples, palaces, mosques, and building. Sutradhars are also subdivided into various clans, or

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

. All these clans are totemic. Common Sutradhar surnames include Dutta, Chanda, De, Pal, Sil, Kundu, Mena, Manna,

Maharana The Maharana ("Great Rana") is a variation on the Indian royal title Rana. Maharana denotes ' great king' or ' high king', similar to the word " Maharaja". The term derives from the Sanskrit title "Mahārāṇaka". Usage at the time of independ ...

, Rana, Bandra, Rakhsit, Sutradhar, Bhandari, Fouzdar, Das, Kar, Fouzdar.

Notes

References

* *{{cite book, first1=G.K., last1=Ghosh, first2=Shukla, last2=Ghosh, title=Legends of Origin of the Castes and Tribes of Eastern India, chapter=Sutradhars, year=2000, publisher=Firma KLM , place=Calcutta, India, isbn=9788171020461 Indian castes Carpenter castes Surnames of Indian origin Hindu communities Social groups of West Bengal