Gurav

Both Gurav women and men perform the traditional occupations of their community. They are neither cultivators nor village officers but rather providers of a service deemed necessary for the functioning of the village, as with artisans. They traditionally serve as priests, maintainers and managers in temples devoted to Shiva, mostly in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Some act in a role similar to shamans, being intermediaries between the temple idol and the soliciting believer, and serve as priests in village temples. Their other traditional roles are also connected to Shaivite worship, such as musicianship and the sale both of leaf plates and symbolic flowers. == Composition ==

The Bhavika, Lingayat and Saiva are the most prominent among the distinct endogamous castes that comprise the Gurav. These groups are in turn subdivided; for example, the Saiva Gurav have Nagari, Nilakantha and Swayambhu as subcastes, while the Lingayat Gurav are split into the Hugara, Jira and Malgara. although the Lingayat Gurav believe themselves to be superior among the various Gurav subgroups, it is the Shaiva Gurav who are most respected by the people of Maharashtra. As they belongs to Shaiva category. The members of this sub-community perform a sacred thread ceremony in accordance with Shaiva traditions. Mostly literate and educated, the Maharashtrian members of the Shaiva Gurav developed a myth of origin in the early 19th century and prefer to call themselves Shaiva. Their self-published research, in the form of a clan history known as a jatipurana, proposes a lineal connection with the sage Dadhichi through his son Sudarsana and thus a status. The legend says that Sudarsana was stripped of certain Vedic powers by an offended Shiva but was also granted the right to perform the puja rituals. The claims of the community to Brahminhood were accepted both by a sankaracharya (a respected authority and arbitrator of the Hindu faith) and colonial law courts but are not accepted in general Maharashtrian society, In Maharashtra Shaiva Gurav offer the first daily puja to almost all Ganesha Temples and Shiva Temples. == Socio-economic status ==

Brahmins classify the Gurav's as shudras but grant them custodianships of the shiva temples. In Maharashtra they are considered to be a Shaiva community in the Hindu ritual ranking system known as varna. It is probable that the Gurav were less, that's why considered among the various balutedhar communities. They are not among those groups who have noticeably suffered historically from the effects of social degradation or lack of access to opportunity, although in Maharashtra they are listed among the Other Backward Classes under India's system of positive discrimination. == References ==