Oswal

The Oswal (sometimes spelled Oshwal or Osval) are a Śvetāmbara Jain-majority Baniya community with origins in Osian, a town in the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India.[1][2] They claim to be of Rajput descent.[3] The Osavālas origin legend has multiple aspects, all of which include a fierce, meat-eating goddess who becomes pacified by a Jain ascetic, involving the conversion of a king to Jainism. In modern times, there are barely any Osavālas living in Osiyān, but they still regard the Mahavira temple and Sachiya Mata Temple as their "mother temples".[4] They reside in Rajasthan, Malwa, Gujarat, and Kutch.[5]

They were formerly also found in the Tharparkar district of Sindh (pre-partition).

  1. ^ Babb, Lawrence A. (2004). Alchemies of Violence: Myths of Identity and the Life of Trade in Western India. SAGE. pp. 164–178. ISBN 9780761932239.
  2. ^ Sangave, Vilas Adinath (1980) [1959]. Jain Community: A Social Survey. Popular Prakashan. pp. 83–88.
  3. ^ Harlan, Lindsey (2003). The Goddesses' Henchmen: Gender in Indian Hero Worship. Oxford University Press. p. 66.
  4. ^ Pániker, Agustín (2010). Jainism: History, Society, Philosophy, and Practice. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 309–310.
  5. ^ Sangave 1980, p. 83.