________________
328
/
Jijñāsa
constructed and thus showed their religious outlook of life. The Harijan of Cāvda Sub-caste of Mehsana got constructed a hug temple of Goddess Kālikā, of which we find a reference in the Vahi, as follows:
“Savant Ognis pāntrihānā vrakh junā Dhe (dha) vādā pipar hethal deval kāvel vāh sammas cha. Kālkānu deval canāvel cha."
The Vahis of the Vaniks reveal that they constructed maximum temples. In short, both the Harijans and the upper class people have utilised their wealth constructively for noble cause of the society by getting temples constructed. Faith remains at the back of construction of each temple, whether it be large or small. The chronicler's Vahi imparts a lot of such knowledge, and hence it is very valuable for the cultural history of a nation.
Construction of water resources:
The tradition of construction of water resources is an example of noble mentality of helping others. People used to construct step-well, wells, tanks etc. These are considered to be virtuous deeds and the doer also gets the satisfaction of repaying his debt to the society. He develops a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. We find the belief of people that “An individual's happiness lies in the happiness of the community" working behind such noble intentions. The people got these deeds noted down in the Vahi so that their heirs might also derive inspiration from the noble deeds of their ancestors and try to be helpful to the society. Sāgarkumar Bārot has the Vahi of the Parajīya Soni caste, in which many instances of the construction of water resources are cited. e.g. A gentleman of Pancāl village of Jūnāgadh District got a step-well constructed in his father's memory, which is known as Khārīvāv today.
Bava Nandram, the founder of Shingda Math, got a step-well constructed at Modhvada village, which is known as Bava Vav today."
The King Navghan of Jūnāgadh constructed a rasakūpi step-well, and it is said that gold was got from the water of the well.40
Cāran Hadā Khadiyā got a tank dug at Vang village of Kutcha, which is mentioned in the Vahi as below:
"Gām Vang : Lumbhāot hade: Hadāsar : Talāv Khaņāveu chhe : Gamnā dakhņādi kore: Khaņāveu chhe:41
(Hada Khadiya, the son of Lumba Khadiyā has got Hadāsar tank dug on the southern side of the village Vang.)
A Rajput named Ramsinh Solanki constructed a Ramkund at village Kadodar (Tākadinār, Dt. Junagadh) in Vi.San. 102. The Note about it in the Vahī reads:
“Savant : be nā varkhe: Gām Kadedare: Rāme Rāmkaņd Karāvo: Korī Sātsen Vārī Sesbhoj kidho Gām Kadedare: 42
Besides the people of the upper caste, even Harijans made valuable contribution to the community service activities, which we come to know from their chronicler's reports. A harijan named Kālā Jālā Solanki of Delol village, got a well dug in the tank and got the right of using the tank water for both drinking and bathing for the people is mentioned in the Vahi
