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Jaina Community—A Social Survey
pre-eminent position in the State. During these years Jainas proved their merit in every walk of life. 144 Even now inspite of political changes many are hereditary village and district officers. 145 The Teacher or Guru of Pañchamas is Lakshmisena Svāmi and he lives in Kolhapur.146 There are no sub-divisions among Pañchamas and marriages are regulated by family surnames. (iv) Bogāra :
In Kannada language Bogāra means one who deals in brass or copper vessels. In Marāthī language the same meaning is conveyed by the word Kasāra. Thus Bogāras are known as Kasāras in Maharashtra. The Käsāras are found among Hindus also and they are known as Hindu or Tvashtā Kāsāras in contrast to Jaina Kasāras. Bogāras are spread over Kannada speaking areas of Maharashtra, Karnatak, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.
Bógāras claim to have originally been Kshatriyas, but were doomed by their patron goddess Kālikā to the low occupation of a Kasāra. Marriages are governed by exogamous sections of family names which are mostly of the territorial and titular type. A man is prohibited from marrying outside the sub-caste, or inside the exogamous section, to which he belongs. He may marry the daughter of his maternal uncle, paternal aunt or elder sister. He could formerly marry two sisters. In some cases widows are allowed to marry again, and divorce is permitted on the ground of the wife's unchastity, barrenness or ill-temper. Divorced wives remarry by the same rites as widows. 147
. It is an enterprising caste and mostly controls the trade of bangles and brass and copper vessels in the Karnataka, their Teacher or Guru lives at Malakheda in Karnātak State. 148 From the Kalikā-purāna' written by Devendra Kirti, the Bogāra Guru of Malakheda, it appears that this caste was not found before the 17th century A. D. 149 There seems to be a section of Bogāras known as. Tagara-Bogāras in the North Kanara District.150 (v} Upādhyā ya :
The Upadhyāya is a caste of Jaina priests. Such a caste is not found in the North as the Northern Jainas themselves perform religious ceremonies or employ Brahmins for that purpose. The Upadhyāya caste is therefore found only in the Deccan and Southern India.
