Halwai

Halwai
Regions with significant populations
•  India *  Pakistan
Languages
• Hindi • Awadhi • Bhojpuri . Angika/Bhagalpur • Marwari Punjabi
Religion
• Hinduism, Jainism
Related ethnic groups
• Muslim Halwai • Bania • Vaishya

Halwai is a caste of Vaishya varna (community) with traditional primary occupation related to confectionery and sweet-making. The name is derived the word Halwa.

Baba Ganinath Govindji is the kul Guru (school) of Halwai caste.[1]

Origins of the Halwai Caste

In some parts of Uttar Pradesh, some believe that they have descended from a man by the name 'Bhalandan.' This Bhalandan came into being due to the will of the Hindu god Brahma. This individual married a woman named Marutwati. Their son was an individual who was named Vatsa Priti. One of the latter's descendents, an individual called Modan, took to making sweetmeats.[2]

The community set up its own association, the Kanyakubja Vaishya Halwai Mahasabha, which was established in Varanasi in the early part of the 1900s.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ritual as Language: The Case of South Indian Food Offerings". Gabriella Eichinger, Ferro-Luzzi. Current Anthropology, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Sep., 1977), pp. 507-514.
  2. ↑ People of India: Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII, Part 2. edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 597. ISBN 9788173041143.
  3. ↑ People of India: Uttar Pradesh, Volume XLII. edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 601.
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