1 563
2 Kumhdr origins.
3 ever, the title is said to bo bestowed on the Kumhdrs because they te’ado
4 in grain and transport it. In N4bha the Kutnhdr* claims descent from
5 Brahma as in tho well-known lines : —
6 Ram j at kd Rdngra, Kishn jdt kd Ahir,
7 Brahmmd jdt Kumhdr hai, Sheo ki jdt faqir.
8 “ Rdma was by caste a Rangar, Kishen an Ahir, Brahmma a Kumh^,r,
9 and Shiva a faqir.
10 Once, runs the legend, Brahma divided some sugarcane among his sons,
11 and each of them ate his piece, except tho Kumhdr who put his into a
12 pitcher full of earth and water in which it struck root. Wheu the god
13 some days later asked his sons for the cane, they bad none to give him,
14 but the Kumhdr offered his to the god and received from him the title
15 of Parjdpat or ‘ Glory of the World But nine other sons of Brahma,
16 ancestors of the Brahmans, also received the title.
17 Tradition also points persistently to the hhagat or saint, Kubba, as
18 an ancestor of the Kumhdrs. In Gurgaon he is said to have had two
19 wives the first of whom ran away from her home and so her children
20 were called Gola. The second wife^s offspring were called Mahr or
21 Mahdr because she was the sister of the first. Another version is that
22 the first wife after forsaking her husband married his servant, gola.
23 In these legends the Mahrs claim superior status to the Golas, but^ the
24 latter tell quite another story. Thus in the Bawal nizdmat of Nabha
25 the Golas say that Brahma had 60,000 sons whom he ordered to make
26 earthenware. To one -of them he gave a gola (ball) for a pattern. He
27 made vessels like it, and a vessel larger than a pitcher and called gol
28 is still made in Bawal by the Kumhdrs. Hence they are called Golas.
29 Brahma also gave him a wheel on which to make pottery. lor this
30 reason all Hindus at a wedding go to a Kumh^r^s house to reverence
31 the chakj-f when Brahma is worshipped.
32 And yet ao-ain the Golas in Ndbha claim Kub^ as one of themselves
33 and say that“he it was who made 20 pitchers a day to give away as
34 alms until one day 30 sd/ids came to his house ; nevertheless relying
35 on God’s grace he bade his wife sit behind a curtain and hand each of
36 them a pitcher. Miraculously the 20 vessels became 30, aa desenbed
37 in tho following version of the well-known linos:
38 Kubd bhagat Kumhdr thd,
39 Bhdndd ghartd^ bis. ^
40 Har Govind kirpd kari,
41 Hue bis ke tis.
42 « Kdb^ was a potter and made 20 pots a day; but the Almighty was
43 gracious and the 20 increased to 30.”
44 Tn this incident is due the custom at Hindu weddings of curtaining
45 jx in which sweets are placed, a Brahman, sitting behind the
46 f rraiuTeSg trueted to dispe^use uubouudcd hospitality. Moreover
47 Kumhto ™PP‘y earthenware gratis.
48 „i,.h a pen ou his vocation,
49 "ftt rSarshaa ckoM- Sri Krishna.