The Nandas and Baddon ki Gosain.
I remember as a child, my grandfather used to mention that he came from a place called Baddon ki Gosain in Pakistan. I have tried to piece together some account of the Nanda clan with particular reference to Baddon from conversations with old relatives and I will be ever grateful to them for helping me preserve these lost stories. The relatives mentioned and their relationships can be found in the charts in this site. I had spoken in detail with Mrs.Madanlal Nanda (nee Sehgal) of Mumbai on 15th and 16th April 2008.Earlier I had visited them in their house in Worli.Mr.Nanda had found me when I had posted my fathers obituary in the Times of India in March 2006.Mr.Madanla's father was Wazirchand Nanda.Wazirchand's greatgrandfather, Ramjidas and Gulzarilal Nanda's great grandfather, Mayadas were brothers-their father was Jaikishandas.
I need to first refer to an earlier conversation with my Buaji Dr.Pushpa Naik in which she told me that her Dadi (father's mother) used to tell her that there was a Nanda Raja who was killed by the Muslims. His pregnant wife fled and sought shelter in some woods under an Akha tree/plants and also gave birth to her baby in the shelter of these plants. So from then onwards, the Nanda ladies do not touch or pick fruit/flowers from Akha plants but on one day of the years they fast and perform Puja (prayers) to these leaves/flowers/fruits. Now Mrs.Madanlal Nanda informed me that this puja is conducted every year one day after Nagpanchmi (which is 5th day after the full moon) i.e. the sixth day after the full moon. The ladies fast on that day - have no roti but have chana and rice. They do puja of Beri ke Ped (beri plant/tree) and Akh ke ped (plant or tree of Akh). The prayer for the Beri plant is as follows in Punjabi, translated also to English:
Beri re Beri,
Tenu phal lage batere
Tenu patya di chan
Menu puttran di chan
Hey Beri Tree
May you produce plenty of fruits.
You will receive the shade/protection of your leaves.
I will receive the protection/shade of my sons.
The puja to the Akha tree was like this (said by the first wife who is childless so far and shares her husband with a second wife)
Akha re Akha
Na pai savakka
Chichadia muh pakka
Saukan meri darui
Main manje chadh kar sui
The third line above was said to be a filler without any meaning
Hey Akha tree
Let there not be shortage (or want)
Have the second wife ejected
I will mount the bed for my delivery.
Mrs.Madanlal Nanda mentioned the following additional points of interest:
a) The Nandas are from the 52 houses grade (bawanjai ghar) of the Khatris.
b) Usually a mangalsutra is not worn but golden bangles on hands are essential after marriage.
c) For marriages only Rs.1.25 was offered to fix it.
d) The Pandas of the Nandas in Haridwar are Suraj Bhan (son of Ravi Bhan), Pandit Ramakant and Pandit Dushyant.They are called Lakkadwale.
e) Her sister Janakidevi (also married to Nanda) is in her 90's and lives in Chandigarh.I spoke with her on the phone but did not obtain any new information.
Incidentally the fruit of the akh tree, a small round fruit called datura is worshipped and is offered to Shivji .It is poisonous but Shivji does not mind and can handle it.
I had three long telephone conversations with Mr.Dharamvir Nanda.His grandfather Jhandemal Nanda and Gulzarilal Nanda's grandfather Diwan Chand were brothers and sons of Mayadas Nanda.His address is B63 Gujranwala Town Part 1.Phone 27229219.Gujranwala was a few miles from Baddon and their residential society in Delhi was formed by refugees from that area. He is in his 90's but absolutely articulate mentally clear and affectionate. I had three long telephone conversations with him on 30/4/2008, 6/5/2008 and 15/6/2008, which are combined and recorded below. Later I'll take care to make a better flow of the story.
Eminabad was the main town of the Nandas.Baddon ki Gosain was about 10 to 15 miles away. In Baddon there were many Gosains (gurus, sadhus, holy men). There were no Khatris in Baddon and the Gosains wanted to have Khatris in Baddon and this appears to be one of the reasons that some of the Nandas shifted to Baddon. (Note the Khatris were pretty useful people to have around generally because they were resourceful, educated, and good at business as well as at administration.) The Nandas later bought land in Baddon.The Gosains had a senior Baba Saindas Ji who wrote a version of the Granthsahib.
Medieval India Literature: An anthology by K. Ayyappapanicker-Sahitya Academy, 1997 has some more information on the Gosains.Saindas's version of the granth was called Granth Gosain Gurbani.Guru Nanak and Saindas met each other - Nanak sang Sukhmani and Sodar and Saindas sang Gian Rattan, and both mutually enjoyed these. Incidentally there is a Saindas Anglo-Sanskrit High School in Jullender.Gosain is from Goswamy in Sanskrit-lord of the senses.
Another reference in The Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and the North West by H.A. Rose - 1990:
Bhagti (or Bhaoti, on another page - probably typo error), a Gosain sub-sect or order, said to have been founded by Kanshi Ram, a brother of Saindas. The latter was a Brahman Bairagi whose son Ramanand has a shrine well known in and about the Gujranwala district, at Baddoke.His sect has many followers among the more respectable Khatris and Brahmans of Lahore and its neighbourhood....
He had a dream that he will have a son but that the child will go away at the age of 14.A son was then born and called Baba Ramanand. When Ramanand turned 14 they wanted to get him married. Ramanand went to a garha (matka, vessel), kept his stick in it and disappeared. The stick grew to become a beri tree. Saindas remembered the dream that his son will go away at the age of 14.There was a tank outside the village where cows drank water. There was a person in the village that had TB and he was told to bathe in this tank and his TB then got cured. Thereafter the Nandas had a big temple of Ramanand called Tombrisaheb temple built there. The temple was supposed to be a copy of the Amritsar temple along with a big tank. The English also respected the mandir. After partition, the people from Gujranwala Town society in Delhi have been back to visit the temple and it is quite easy to get the visas and make the trip. They say the temple otherwise stays locked up by the authorities usually because it was found that if a Musalman plucked and ate a berry from any of the trees there he died. This finds a connect with an important story of the Nandas in a following paragraph. After Baba Ramanand disappeared, his mother used to be very sad, so later Ramanand agreed to meet her every night. Then she was happy and started looking happy and people asked her why she was looking happy and it slipped out from her that she saw Ramanand everyday. When Ramanand got to know of this he stopped coming to see her. There was an incident when the Gosains put out a big fire in the market and thereafter there was 3 days leave annually to mark the occasion. The Gosains went to "Kabul near Peshawar"(as per Dharamvirji) and set up an outpost there. The returning Gosains were referred to in mirth as Kabuliwalas.
The Gosains could not be the gurus of the Nandas and did not accept the Nandas as chelas (disciples) because they considered them brothers. Their mohalla was next to the Nanda mohalla. If Nanda ladies went to another village, the Gosains would treat them as their own daughters. The Gosains who came to Delhi after partition set up a temple in Delhi whose address is 104 Uttam Nagar, Z Block and it has an office. It has an office. One of the descendants of the original Gosains is one "Mahantji" who stays in Ghaziabad but comes to Uttam Nagar now and then. There are functions in the temple to mark the occasions they used to in Baddon.
In Baddon there were 2 big festivals (melas) every year, one for Saindas and another after the wheat harvest (gehu kati)
Once a year there was a big fair (mela) for 3days (~ 18th May?) in honour of the Gosain guru, Baba Ramanand, when people from outside came and free food was offered in every house. There were singing competitions.
Dharamvirji also mentioned a Swami Ramtirth – more details required
In Baddon the houses of 4 Nanda families Jhandemal, Mayaram, Bulaqiram/Diwan Chand Nanda and Nandlal, were all in a row. The area was called Nanda Gali/Mohalla. Baddon had a primary school but he later went to Gujranwala for High School and to learn English. Some other families in Baddon were the Kochhars and the Narangs - both from the Arora caste. Gokulchand Narang was the first person from those parts to get a BA and later the English made him a minister. Dharamvir's father was the second person to get a BA. Gokulchand later had many factories and became famous. He also had a sugar mill in UP and he set up the Narang Bank of India which was later merged with the United Bank of India in the early 1970's.Gokulchand Narang was "Sir" and "Dr." and not only a successful businessman and industrialist but also a scholar, politician and reformer. Lala Mool Raj Narang was father of Gokul Chand Narang. Companies including Delhi based Narang Industries Limited are still active.
Lala Kakaram, Tarachand and Dharachand mentioned in old records were likely from the Narang family. In the same records one Bholaram Saindas is mentioned.
Dharamvir worked for the Narangs in Gujranwala. During partition he took out people in vehicles from the factory. They also took out the granth, which was of the highest importance to them and published it in Delhi. Dharamvir's granth was borrowed by someone and not returned. It was believed if you read the granth you pass your exams. They have published an abbreviated book, which contains sections from the granth. They are planning to republish the full one in July. The Mahantji must be having a copy of the full one for his own reading and I could ask him for an extra copy.
These families were totally vegetarian and had lassi, homemade butter, dahi, and parathis. They did not eat tomatoes. They started eating non-vegetarian food only much later. However even Gosain children sometimes ate eggs outside with other children for fun. Other food was normal like rice vegetables, dal etc. An interesting Nanda custom was that when a male baby was born he was not clothed normally but was wrapped up in a sadhu's cloth until his first tooth appeared. Another Nanda custom was that the during marriages the boy was brought to the girl's house a day before the barat arrived and then when the barat arrived he joined he sat with them. This was to ensure that even if the barat were held up the shagun would not be delayed.
The joke was " Eminabad Diwanon ki, Gujranwala pehelwanon ki and somewhere else shaitanon ki". The Rajas and Diwans were based in Jammu - Kashmir was developed later.
Some family details of the Nandas obtained from Dharamvirji:
a) Bulaqi Ram Nanda's eyes were weak but he still chose to become a teacher. Dharamvir’s father Ramnath was instrumental in arranging the marriage of Dadaji to Bibiji. Bibiji was from a very rich family, and perhaps did not like the simple conditions at the Nandas but later adapted. During Dadaji's marriage, Bulaqiram's name was not mentioned much because he was just a schoolteacher. So they said Gulzarilal was the son of Jhandemal who was a thekedar (contractor/builder) and prosperous-he in fact bulit a Jhandewal Bagh (garden) in Baddon. So it was perhaps surprising for Bibiji to find that Bulaqiram and Dadaji were not very off. However Bibiji also decided to become involved in the freedom struggle and become Mahatma Gandhi's cheli (disciple) and said she would cook Dadaji's food with her own hands.
b) Once a group of people came from London, bringing back a Granth Sahib and Dadaji gave a speech, in Punjabi at the airport. Everyone was surprised because Dadaji had been based in Ahmedabad for decades and they thought he was a Gujarati.
c) Manoharlal Nanda was Nandlal's son and was superintendent of Police in Delhi. They used to have some contact with him but do not any longer.
d) The famous Chhattarpur Mandir in Mehrauli Delhi was inaugurated by Dadaji. It was originally started by a Darzi (tailor) but grew in popularity.
e) The Mehtas were from Rohtak
Some family details of Dharamvirji:
a) He helped Dadaji with his election work in Karnal and earlier used to live in Karnal. His brother Swarnlal and his sons are still in Karnal.
b) I think he said Gulzarilal had done his son's sehrabandhi.
c) His wife does not keep well and is served by her children
d) Dharamvir has two sons, Avtar Krishen who is in US and another Subhash who was also in US and died.
e) He has 10 daughters.
f) One of his daughers, Meena Malik whom I spoke with on the phone used to live in Nigeria for 15 years and has children in California.
g) His family was happy to hear about me and said they would have another brother.
h) Dharamvir had 2 Addis (paternal grandmothers). His grandfather Jhandemal married twice since the first wife did not conceive. He said the second marriage was in fact encouraged or urged by the first wife since she considered that the son would be her son also. The 2 wives were called Bari Ma and Choti Ma. Second marriages happened sometimes but were not a regular custom and not much prevalent.
i) His son in law Subhash Kakkar who runs "Invitation Banquest", near police lines and organizes parties for up to 1000 people.
j) Dinanath was Dharamvir's chacha (paternal uncle) and died from snakebite.
k) His mother's name was Karamdevi - she had two younger sisters but no brother, but still her father did not marry a second time.
l) Her mother's family the Wadheras were from Gujarat and they were from the Jaikrishni panth - only worshipped Krishna.
I need to first refer to an earlier conversation with my Buaji Dr.Pushpa Naik in which she told me that her Dadi (father's mother) used to tell her that there was a Nanda Raja who was killed by the Muslims. His pregnant wife fled and sought shelter in some woods under an Akha tree/plants and also gave birth to her baby in the shelter of these plants. So from then onwards, the Nanda ladies do not touch or pick fruit/flowers from Akha plants but on one day of the years they fast and perform Puja (prayers) to these leaves/flowers/fruits. Now Mrs.Madanlal Nanda informed me that this puja is conducted every year one day after Nagpanchmi (which is 5th day after the full moon) i.e. the sixth day after the full moon. The ladies fast on that day - have no roti but have chana and rice. They do puja of Beri ke Ped (beri plant/tree) and Akh ke ped (plant or tree of Akh). The prayer for the Beri plant is as follows in Punjabi, translated also to English:
Beri re Beri,
Tenu phal lage batere
Tenu patya di chan
Menu puttran di chan
Hey Beri Tree
May you produce plenty of fruits.
You will receive the shade/protection of your leaves.
I will receive the protection/shade of my sons.
The puja to the Akha tree was like this (said by the first wife who is childless so far and shares her husband with a second wife)
Akha re Akha
Na pai savakka
Chichadia muh pakka
Saukan meri darui
Main manje chadh kar sui
The third line above was said to be a filler without any meaning
Hey Akha tree
Let there not be shortage (or want)
Have the second wife ejected
I will mount the bed for my delivery.
Mrs.Madanlal Nanda mentioned the following additional points of interest:
a) The Nandas are from the 52 houses grade (bawanjai ghar) of the Khatris.
b) Usually a mangalsutra is not worn but golden bangles on hands are essential after marriage.
c) For marriages only Rs.1.25 was offered to fix it.
d) The Pandas of the Nandas in Haridwar are Suraj Bhan (son of Ravi Bhan), Pandit Ramakant and Pandit Dushyant.They are called Lakkadwale.
e) Her sister Janakidevi (also married to Nanda) is in her 90's and lives in Chandigarh.I spoke with her on the phone but did not obtain any new information.
Incidentally the fruit of the akh tree, a small round fruit called datura is worshipped and is offered to Shivji .It is poisonous but Shivji does not mind and can handle it.
I had three long telephone conversations with Mr.Dharamvir Nanda.His grandfather Jhandemal Nanda and Gulzarilal Nanda's grandfather Diwan Chand were brothers and sons of Mayadas Nanda.His address is B63 Gujranwala Town Part 1.Phone 27229219.Gujranwala was a few miles from Baddon and their residential society in Delhi was formed by refugees from that area. He is in his 90's but absolutely articulate mentally clear and affectionate. I had three long telephone conversations with him on 30/4/2008, 6/5/2008 and 15/6/2008, which are combined and recorded below. Later I'll take care to make a better flow of the story.
Eminabad was the main town of the Nandas.Baddon ki Gosain was about 10 to 15 miles away. In Baddon there were many Gosains (gurus, sadhus, holy men). There were no Khatris in Baddon and the Gosains wanted to have Khatris in Baddon and this appears to be one of the reasons that some of the Nandas shifted to Baddon. (Note the Khatris were pretty useful people to have around generally because they were resourceful, educated, and good at business as well as at administration.) The Nandas later bought land in Baddon.The Gosains had a senior Baba Saindas Ji who wrote a version of the Granthsahib.
Medieval India Literature: An anthology by K. Ayyappapanicker-Sahitya Academy, 1997 has some more information on the Gosains.Saindas's version of the granth was called Granth Gosain Gurbani.Guru Nanak and Saindas met each other - Nanak sang Sukhmani and Sodar and Saindas sang Gian Rattan, and both mutually enjoyed these. Incidentally there is a Saindas Anglo-Sanskrit High School in Jullender.Gosain is from Goswamy in Sanskrit-lord of the senses.
Another reference in The Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and the North West by H.A. Rose - 1990:
Bhagti (or Bhaoti, on another page - probably typo error), a Gosain sub-sect or order, said to have been founded by Kanshi Ram, a brother of Saindas. The latter was a Brahman Bairagi whose son Ramanand has a shrine well known in and about the Gujranwala district, at Baddoke.His sect has many followers among the more respectable Khatris and Brahmans of Lahore and its neighbourhood....
He had a dream that he will have a son but that the child will go away at the age of 14.A son was then born and called Baba Ramanand. When Ramanand turned 14 they wanted to get him married. Ramanand went to a garha (matka, vessel), kept his stick in it and disappeared. The stick grew to become a beri tree. Saindas remembered the dream that his son will go away at the age of 14.There was a tank outside the village where cows drank water. There was a person in the village that had TB and he was told to bathe in this tank and his TB then got cured. Thereafter the Nandas had a big temple of Ramanand called Tombrisaheb temple built there. The temple was supposed to be a copy of the Amritsar temple along with a big tank. The English also respected the mandir. After partition, the people from Gujranwala Town society in Delhi have been back to visit the temple and it is quite easy to get the visas and make the trip. They say the temple otherwise stays locked up by the authorities usually because it was found that if a Musalman plucked and ate a berry from any of the trees there he died. This finds a connect with an important story of the Nandas in a following paragraph. After Baba Ramanand disappeared, his mother used to be very sad, so later Ramanand agreed to meet her every night. Then she was happy and started looking happy and people asked her why she was looking happy and it slipped out from her that she saw Ramanand everyday. When Ramanand got to know of this he stopped coming to see her. There was an incident when the Gosains put out a big fire in the market and thereafter there was 3 days leave annually to mark the occasion. The Gosains went to "Kabul near Peshawar"(as per Dharamvirji) and set up an outpost there. The returning Gosains were referred to in mirth as Kabuliwalas.
The Gosains could not be the gurus of the Nandas and did not accept the Nandas as chelas (disciples) because they considered them brothers. Their mohalla was next to the Nanda mohalla. If Nanda ladies went to another village, the Gosains would treat them as their own daughters. The Gosains who came to Delhi after partition set up a temple in Delhi whose address is 104 Uttam Nagar, Z Block and it has an office. It has an office. One of the descendants of the original Gosains is one "Mahantji" who stays in Ghaziabad but comes to Uttam Nagar now and then. There are functions in the temple to mark the occasions they used to in Baddon.
In Baddon there were 2 big festivals (melas) every year, one for Saindas and another after the wheat harvest (gehu kati)
Once a year there was a big fair (mela) for 3days (~ 18th May?) in honour of the Gosain guru, Baba Ramanand, when people from outside came and free food was offered in every house. There were singing competitions.
Dharamvirji also mentioned a Swami Ramtirth – more details required
In Baddon the houses of 4 Nanda families Jhandemal, Mayaram, Bulaqiram/Diwan Chand Nanda and Nandlal, were all in a row. The area was called Nanda Gali/Mohalla. Baddon had a primary school but he later went to Gujranwala for High School and to learn English. Some other families in Baddon were the Kochhars and the Narangs - both from the Arora caste. Gokulchand Narang was the first person from those parts to get a BA and later the English made him a minister. Dharamvir's father was the second person to get a BA. Gokulchand later had many factories and became famous. He also had a sugar mill in UP and he set up the Narang Bank of India which was later merged with the United Bank of India in the early 1970's.Gokulchand Narang was "Sir" and "Dr." and not only a successful businessman and industrialist but also a scholar, politician and reformer. Lala Mool Raj Narang was father of Gokul Chand Narang. Companies including Delhi based Narang Industries Limited are still active.
Lala Kakaram, Tarachand and Dharachand mentioned in old records were likely from the Narang family. In the same records one Bholaram Saindas is mentioned.
Dharamvir worked for the Narangs in Gujranwala. During partition he took out people in vehicles from the factory. They also took out the granth, which was of the highest importance to them and published it in Delhi. Dharamvir's granth was borrowed by someone and not returned. It was believed if you read the granth you pass your exams. They have published an abbreviated book, which contains sections from the granth. They are planning to republish the full one in July. The Mahantji must be having a copy of the full one for his own reading and I could ask him for an extra copy.
These families were totally vegetarian and had lassi, homemade butter, dahi, and parathis. They did not eat tomatoes. They started eating non-vegetarian food only much later. However even Gosain children sometimes ate eggs outside with other children for fun. Other food was normal like rice vegetables, dal etc. An interesting Nanda custom was that when a male baby was born he was not clothed normally but was wrapped up in a sadhu's cloth until his first tooth appeared. Another Nanda custom was that the during marriages the boy was brought to the girl's house a day before the barat arrived and then when the barat arrived he joined he sat with them. This was to ensure that even if the barat were held up the shagun would not be delayed.
The joke was " Eminabad Diwanon ki, Gujranwala pehelwanon ki and somewhere else shaitanon ki". The Rajas and Diwans were based in Jammu - Kashmir was developed later.
Some family details of the Nandas obtained from Dharamvirji:
a) Bulaqi Ram Nanda's eyes were weak but he still chose to become a teacher. Dharamvir’s father Ramnath was instrumental in arranging the marriage of Dadaji to Bibiji. Bibiji was from a very rich family, and perhaps did not like the simple conditions at the Nandas but later adapted. During Dadaji's marriage, Bulaqiram's name was not mentioned much because he was just a schoolteacher. So they said Gulzarilal was the son of Jhandemal who was a thekedar (contractor/builder) and prosperous-he in fact bulit a Jhandewal Bagh (garden) in Baddon. So it was perhaps surprising for Bibiji to find that Bulaqiram and Dadaji were not very off. However Bibiji also decided to become involved in the freedom struggle and become Mahatma Gandhi's cheli (disciple) and said she would cook Dadaji's food with her own hands.
b) Once a group of people came from London, bringing back a Granth Sahib and Dadaji gave a speech, in Punjabi at the airport. Everyone was surprised because Dadaji had been based in Ahmedabad for decades and they thought he was a Gujarati.
c) Manoharlal Nanda was Nandlal's son and was superintendent of Police in Delhi. They used to have some contact with him but do not any longer.
d) The famous Chhattarpur Mandir in Mehrauli Delhi was inaugurated by Dadaji. It was originally started by a Darzi (tailor) but grew in popularity.
e) The Mehtas were from Rohtak
Some family details of Dharamvirji:
a) He helped Dadaji with his election work in Karnal and earlier used to live in Karnal. His brother Swarnlal and his sons are still in Karnal.
b) I think he said Gulzarilal had done his son's sehrabandhi.
c) His wife does not keep well and is served by her children
d) Dharamvir has two sons, Avtar Krishen who is in US and another Subhash who was also in US and died.
e) He has 10 daughters.
f) One of his daughers, Meena Malik whom I spoke with on the phone used to live in Nigeria for 15 years and has children in California.
g) His family was happy to hear about me and said they would have another brother.
h) Dharamvir had 2 Addis (paternal grandmothers). His grandfather Jhandemal married twice since the first wife did not conceive. He said the second marriage was in fact encouraged or urged by the first wife since she considered that the son would be her son also. The 2 wives were called Bari Ma and Choti Ma. Second marriages happened sometimes but were not a regular custom and not much prevalent.
i) His son in law Subhash Kakkar who runs "Invitation Banquest", near police lines and organizes parties for up to 1000 people.
j) Dinanath was Dharamvir's chacha (paternal uncle) and died from snakebite.
k) His mother's name was Karamdevi - she had two younger sisters but no brother, but still her father did not marry a second time.
l) Her mother's family the Wadheras were from Gujarat and they were from the Jaikrishni panth - only worshipped Krishna.