Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
decided to leave forever at once - urgently. A sudden hot wind worried
noises from the few bare trees, making me feel the inhabitants of
this modest yet elegant little settlement were merely hiding, would
run out again at any moment down the paved lanes, or chant once
more within the shadowed shrines of their small, exquisitely carved
and subtle temple.
Because it had been evacuated overnight, the place had succumbed
to nature utterly and all at once, every part uniformly decayed.
Somehow this made it look whole and unified in its ruin, rather than
actually ruined. Where
was
the meaning of buildings in which no
one now lived, which nature had reclaimed? And what sad or edifying
stories did these particular ones yearn to tell us strangers disturbing
their solitude? Why, for example, had they been left so abruptly?
Not very much is known for sure about the Paliwals' origins. A
branch of the Adi Gaud Brahmins, they came from eastern India,
and claimed descent from a certain Maharaj Haridas, who was the
personal priest of Krishna's wife, Rukmini. Lord Krishna is said to
have granted Haridas a special favour, the gift of vast areas of land in
the Gujarat, where he founded a city he named after himself,
Haripur. The community that grew up here around his many
descendants expanded and prospered over the centuries, producing
powerful landowners who allegedly gained an unequalled expertise
in agriculture - unusual for Brahmins. Several generations later, at
least one segment broke away, deciding to migrate to Palli or Pali -
south of what is now Jodhpur, in central Rajasthan - thus becoming
known as Paliwals.
The Paliwal community, too, seems to have thrived in Pali. They
remained there for a long time, fortifying the city with strong
defensive walls, and building up a widespread reputation as an
exemplary community upholding ethical and moral standards that
many in the priestly castes had long ago left by the wayside. As a
result, many of the more idealistic Brahmins from all over India
gradually descended on the city, each individual or family receiving
financial and material assistance with which to establish a self-
sufficient and dignified new life. No Paliwal was allowed to be poor;
each member of the community was expected to help any newcomer
by providing bricks to build a house, and money to buy a cow, as
