Servants of the Lord
Here I have tried to give an overview on the various temple servants at Nathadwara. Hopefully the names and terminology will become familiar as a result of this. Also, in order to understand how the temple organises itself, I have tried to include a section on how the temple "pays" its staff. This will help explain why prasad is "sold in shops" rather than given out by the temple.
This list is not made in any particular order.
Tilakayat :- Head of the Pushti Marg sect. High priest and head of the Vallabh dynasty. All staff and servants of the great haveli, as well as the national branches of the haveli report to him.
Mukhiyaji :- The priest(s) who adorn the Lord and are in-charge the day-to-day activities in the inner sanctum.
Chadidar :- Chief stewards who announce the arrival of important people into the inner sanctum.
Zapatia :- They help clear the area directly in front of the inner sanctum by coaxing, and if need be, by "hitting" the pilgrims with a "zapat" from a cotton scarf.
Samadhani :- Clerks and accounts staff of the Lord. They record the cash gifts and sevas for the Lord.
(Krshna) Bhandari :- Chief treasurer to the Lord. Records large gifts of cash and materials to the Lord. He also looks after the Lords' jewels.
Kirtania :- Musicians to the divine court. Their classical singing accompanies almost all activities in the inner temple. From the moment the Lord awakens to the moment goes to sleep, musicians are at hand to entertain the Lord.
Jalgharia :- Carry heavy (silver) urns of water from the well/ river to the temple.
Phoolgharia :- Make garlands, flower arrangements and adorn the swings etc. in the temple.
Pangharia :- Make the beetelnut "pan" for the Lord.
Rasoia :- Cook and prepare all the food stuff in the temple.
Gval :- Look after the cows of the Lord and bring their milk to the temple. During festival days, they all bring the cows and calves to the temple.
Darji :- Tailors of the Lord. Apart from sewing new clothes for the Lord (ShriNathji wears new clothes everyday !), they also sew the flags, scarves, quilts, simple pichoies, awnings and curtains for the haveli.
Chokidar :- Guards of the Lord. They guard the many doors and gates of the great Haveli. They are also responsible for the safety of the pilgrims.
There are innumerable servants of the Lord. Those listed above are but the most obvious and "visible" servants of the Lord. Many others perform the various services in the inner and outer temple of the Lord, without being really seen or noticed by the pilgrims.
Number of goldsmiths and jewellers are also employed/ commissioned by the temple to make the various jewels, plates, bowls, toys and furniture for the lord. Painters and decorators repaint the entire haveli every year. Due to the size of the haveli, some are kept on as permanent staff, whilst others work mainly during the weeks preceding the new year festivities (before Divali).
To account for illness, holidays, and general "un-availability*" of staff, up to 300 men are employed as "spare" in the parachana section, who can be called into work at the drop of a hat.
As ShriNathji owns a number of other properties outside Nathadwara, offices are setup in cities like Bombay and Calcutta to deal with "His investments". Buildings, temples, shops, farms, cattle etc. are all looked after from these offices and are centrally controlled from Nathadwara. There is usually a haveli attached to these offices of the Lord.
* Temple servants must abide by the Hindu Laws on purity. As a result, a man/ woman may become "impure" (and thus unavailable for temple work) for a number of reason. For example, birth or death in the family leads to an automatic exclusion from temple service for a number of days - depending on who and where this occurred. The birth/ death does not have to occur in the house itself to incur the impurity. Even if a family member dies abroad, the ritual impurity would exclude the temple servant from working for atleast 10-15 days. Illness would also make a servant unavailable for work and an automatic leave of three days was granted to allow the temple servant to get over his illness.
It is for reasons of "purity and impurity" that the temple does not directly employ any women in the temple itself. The female menstrual cycle would render the woman unable to work in the temple for a week at a time. Twelve weeks guaranteed leave per year would be too much for any employer to bear.
There is also the historical reason of "purdha" which made it impossible for women to work in a place as public as the temple. Rajasthan is still one of the few states in India where strict segregation is still maintained between men and women.
However, this is not to say women cannot work in the temple. Many volunteer themselves as and when they can in the various "ghar" sevas of the Lord. Phool-ghar, pan-ghar, rasoi-ghar are the favorites amongst female pilgrims.
As I do not work in the Haveli myself, this article and the article on sevaks' pay, is based on the information I have gathered from talking to people. If as and when I have official information on this, it will be added to the article here.
© Bhagwat Shah
