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9-674: According to tradition, the Audichya Brahmins descend from over a thousand North Indian Brahmin families who were invited by Solanki kings in the 10th century to Gujarat to serve as priests of the Rudra Mahālaya Temple . The caste is divided into two endogamous groups, the Sahasra and the Tolakia. In a census in 1883, the sahasra were numerically a much bigger community than the Tolakia. The sahasra are further subdivided into

18-640: Is a destroyed/desecrated Hindu temple complex at Siddhpur in the Patan district of Gujarat, India . Its construction was started in 943 CE by Mularaja and completed in 1140 CE by Jayasimha Siddharaja , a ruler of the Chaulukya dynasty . The Hindu temple was destroyed by the Sultan of Delhi , Alauddin Khalji , and later the Sultan of Gujarat , Ahmed Shah I (1410–1444) desecrated and substantially demolished

27-822: The Audichya Hitechu Sabha. The Sabha tried to get rid of several caste customs including dowry, child marriage, polygamy, obscene songs at weddings, and heavy expenses at marriage and death. They also supported women's and children's education. These attempts were generally successful and the Sabha spread to other Gujarati cities and Bombay. In 1876, the Tolakiya Audichyas founded the Audichya Tolakiya Subhecchak Sabha with similar goals. Rudra Mahalaya Temple The Rudra Mahalaya Temple , also known as Rudramal ,

36-639: The Zalawadi, Sihora and Sidhpora groups. The community is at times also differentiated by their geographical location they came from, for example, Marwadi audichya, Kutch audichya or Wagadia audichya. Other differentiation is by the caste that retains them as purohit (family priest) for rituals, for example Darji-gor, Mochi-gor, Kanbi-gor, Koli-gor, Charan- gor, Raj-gor in Saurashtra and northern Gujarat. The Parajia sub-group of Audichya Brahmins worked as hereditory purohitas of Charanas around Junagarh. In

45-458: The first to form a caste association. The caste association's aim was mutual help and support for members in the cities and to promote education. In the 19th century, most Audichya Brahmins were priests who lived on alms. The Audichya Brahmins founded first caste reform organisations in Ahmedabad. In Ahmedabad in 1873, those Sahasra Audichya Brahmins who had received western education founded

54-489: The founder of the Chaulukya dynasty of Gujarat, had offered prayers to Rudra Mahalay. Colonial sources say that Muladev ordered the construction of a shrine there to atone for his earlier sins, but it is possible that a temple existed at the place even before his reign. Archaeological evidence suggests that an existing structure was removed and a new complex was built on top of the existing foundation in twelfth century. It

63-578: The past, since the Sidhpora sub-caste was considered higher in social ranking, other audichya groups considered it a point of honor to offer their daughters in marriage to Sidhpora men. In the past this custom led to polygamy amongst the Sidhpora group. During the British colonial rule, the caste was one of the first Gujarati community to take up western education. The community along with the Bhatia also were

72-424: The temple, and also converted part of it into the congregational mosque (Jami Masjid) of the city. Two torans (porches) and four pillars of the former central structure still stand along with the western part of the complex used as a congregational mosque. Sidhpur, under the rulers of Chaulukya dynasty , was a prominent town in the tenth century. An inscription from 986-987 CE mentions in passing that Mularaja ,

81-468: Was during the 12th century, in 1140 CE, that Jayasimha Siddharaja (1094–1144) consecrated the temple complex in worship of Shiva. This act continued the long-running patronage of the city by the Chalukyas. The temple was dismantled during the siege of the city by Ahmad Shah I (1410–44) of Muzaffarid dynasty; parts of it were reused in setting up a new congregational mosque. Mirat-i-Sikandiri ,

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