Bairagi Brahmin (caste)

This article is about the Bairagi caste. For Hindustani classical raga, see Bairagi (raga).
Not to be confused with the Celibate Ascetics (Vairagi).

Bairagi
Swami • Vaishnav • Mahant
Ramananda
ClassificationRamanandi Sampradaya • Nimbarka Sampradaya • Vishnuswami Sampradaya • Madhvacharya Sampradaya[1]
Kuladevta (male)Rama • Krishna • Satyanarayana • (Avatars of Vishnu) • Hanuman
Kuladevi (female)Sita • Radha • Rukmini • Tulsi • Bhudevi • (Avatars of Lakshmi)
GuruRamananda • Tulsidas • Nabha Dass • Ramanuja • Krishnadas Payahari
NishanKapidhwaj (Hanuman on Flag)
Religions Hinduism
LanguagesHindi • Awadhi • Bhojpuri • Assamese • Braj Bhasha • Maithili • Magahi • Angika • Bajjika • Nagpuri • Bagheli • Bundeli • Kannauji • Kauravi • Haryanvi • Bagri• Punjabi • Rajasthani • Chhattisgarhi • Odia • Bengali • Marathi • Tamil
CountryIndia • Nepal
Populated statesIndia
Uttar Pradesh • Bihar • Jharkhand • Madhya Pradesh • Himachal Pradesh • Uttarakhand • Rajasthan • Punjab • Maharastra • Chhattisgarh • Odisha • West Bengal • Haryana • Tamil Nadu • Tripura
Nepal
Madhesh
Feudal titleMahant/Swami/Bawa
ColorSaffron, red, yellow, or white
Historical groupingBrahmin (especially Saryupareen and Kanyakubja Brahmins)
StatusMonasterial Community

Bairagi Brahmin or Vaishnav Bairagi or Vaishnav Brahmin is a Hindu caste. They are Hindu priests. They are sedentary rasik (temple dwelling or temple priest) Brahmin members of the Vaishnava sampradayas, especially the Ramanandi Sampradaya.[2] According to K.S. Singh, the community uses different Surnames/Titles in different States and union territories of India, these are - Swami, Bairagi, Mahanta, Maharaj, Vaishnav, Bawa, Pandit, Purohit, Goswami, Sharma, Adhikari and Vairagi.[3] They are Vaishnav, and wear the sacred thread. A majority of Bairagi Brahmin is found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, and Odisha. Bairagi are considered as part of the 'upper castes' of Bengal.[4]

  1. ^ Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6.
  2. ^ Moran, Arik (2013). "Toward a history of devotional Vaishnavism in the West Himalayas: Kullu and the Ramanandis, c. 1500–1800". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 50: 1–25. doi:10.1177/0019464612474165.
  3. ^ K.S. Singh (1996), PEOPLE OF INDIA, National Series Volume VIII, Communities, Segments, Synonyms, Surnames and Titles : Anthropological Survey of India, Oxford University Press, p. 1089, ISBN 0-19-563357-1
  4. ^ Nirmal Kumar Bose, Some Aspects of Caste in Bengal, p. 399, Vol. 71, No. 281, Traditional India: Structure and Change, American Folklore Society