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Shringi Rishi was the
legendary Indian
Hindu saint or Rishi
of sage Kashyapa's
lineage. Shringi
Rishi was great
saint of the Ramayan era of ancient India. His father was great saint Vibhandak Rishi. Overview Shringi Rishi performed 'Putrakameshti Yajya' for King Dashrath of Ayodhya, after that Lord Rama and his three brothers were born. There is an ashram of Shringi Rishi situated at Ayodhya on the banks of Sarayu river near Laxman Ghat.Legend has it that Shringi Rishi cursed King Parikshit for his sinful conduct against rishi Lomash. The boons and curse uttered by him were proved to be absolutely true. Rishi Shringi was a distinguished expert of the super science of mantras. A temple of Shringi Rishi, is also located at Banjar in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, in whose honour a fair is held every year in May. A cave is also located in district Sirmaur near Nahan in Bagthan where he is supposed to have stayed. It is a long cave where he is supposed to do yagna and worth seeing. Sikhwal (also known as Sukhwal, Shringi) are one of the prominent Brahmin sects of Rajasthani Brahmins who trace their origin from the great sage Rishi Shringi (or Rishi Shring). Rishi Shringi was the son of Sage Vibhandak, himself a highly respected Vedic scholar of Kashyaap linage. Rishi Shringi is credited in Indian mythology as the inventor of ‘Putrakameshti Yagna’, the Vedic sacrifice for begetting a male progeny. This first ever Putrakameshti Yagna was performed by Rishi Shringi for the Suryawanshi Emperor Dashrath of Ayodhya (of Ikshavaku lineage) and the outcome of this Yagna was the birth of Lord Rama, the great Indian God-king and revered ‘Avtaar’ (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu, the powerful god in the holy Hindu trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh. Lord Rama was born with the blessings of the Gods who were appeased by Rishi Shringi with powerful mantras. Three more sons were born to Dashrath besides Rama (born to his eldest Queen, Devi Kaushlya) Laxman, Bharat and Shatrughna born to Devi Sumitra and Devi Kaikayee, the other two Queens of Emperor Dashrath. The Yagna was an elaborate affair spreading over twelve days and was performed with much fanfare befitting its uniqueness. The legend has it that Emperor Dashrath’s only daughter, the beautiful young Princess Shanta, who was actively involved in the organizing of the Yagna, fell in love with the handsome and scholarly young sage Shringi. Her brother, Emperor Dashrath understood her feelings and on the occasion of ‘Poornaahuti’ (final sacrifice offered to gods, announcing the completion of Yagna process) proposed royal princess Shanta’s hand in marriage to Rishi Shringi. They were married and had eight sons and many daughters. All the sons born out of the alliance were highly respected for their knowledge of the holy Vedas and involved themselves in scholarly pursuits. Their descendants were later organized into the sub-sect of Brahmins, called Sikhwal Brahmins (also known as Sukhwal, Shringi Brahmins) Though Rishi Shringi was a Brahmin and Princess Shanta was born to Suryawanshi Kshatriya family, such alliances were not very uncommon in the era as both Brahmins and Kshatriya communities represented the elite class of the Hindu society. Cities of Madya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Jhansi,Lalitpur,Bhopal,Jabalpur and many villages of these states like Khurai, Bina, Dhaura, Burogon, Khiria ,Kalyanpura, Mohara, Baruasagar, Sagar, Damoh, Sihora, Ramnagar, Sinonia, Rampura etc. Cities of Jaipur, Ajmer, Kota and Udaipur and many other places in Rajasthan, Kolkota in West Bengal, Hyderabad and Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai, Nasik, Jalgaon, Akola, Amravati, Latur and other places in Maharashtra have a significant presence of Sikhwal Brahmin population. Today, the Sikhwals are spread all over India and also in USA and Europe. Other prominent Rajasthani Brahmin sub-sects are Gaur, Gujar-Gaur, Daima (also called Dayama or Dadeech), Pareek, Khandelwal (not to be confused with the ‘Vaisha’ community of the same name) and Saraswat Brahmins. In Rajasthan the other five castes i.e. Guar, Gujar-Gaur, Daima, Pareek and Khandelwal [not vaisha] together form Chh-Nyatee Bhai. Though they do not marry among themselves, but share a strong social bonding and invite each other on all auspicious occasions. In Pushkar near Ajmer in state of Rajasthan, India, Sikhwal Brahmins have an inn and a temple dedicated to Shringi Rishi. Shringi Rishi Ashram 40 Km away from Faizabad after reaching Gosaiganj and 8 Km from Bandanpur there is a Market called Mehbubganj you reach to Sherwaghat.There is also an ashram of Shringi Rishi. 20 Km away from Jhansi after reaching Baruasagar there is a Shringirishi temple. 20 Km away from Bina MP after reaching village Sarkhadi there is Shringirishi Temple. 80 Km away from Jhansi in village Sangaouli there is new temple of Shringirishi. |
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