in sanskrit according to legend, are the carpenters descended from Maya son of Vishwakarma. Sutradhar, also known as Sutar or Suthar is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

within the Vishwakarma community of India. Their traditional occupation is carpentry. The great majority of Hindu sutradhars belong to the

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

sect.

Vishwakarma Vishvakarma or Vishvakarman ( sa, विश्वकर्मा, Viśvakarmā, all maker) is a craftsman deity and the divine architect of the devas in contemporary Hinduism. In the early texts, the craftsman deity was known as Tvastar and the ...

is regarded as their patron deity.

Origin

The word ''Sutradhar'' literally means ''thread-holder''. ''Sutra'' in sanskrit means thread (which is used to mark the course of a saw), and ''dhara'' means to hold. The names ''Sutar'' and ''Suthar'' are abbreviated versions of ''Sutrahadar''. Sutradhars, according to legend, are the carpenters descended from Maya, son of Vishwakarma. From the ''

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...

'', Vishwakarma is the divine engineer of the universe. In the

Skanda Purana The ''Skanda Purana'' (IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest ''Puranas#Mahapuranas, Mukyapurana'', a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Kaumaram, Kaumara literature, titled after Kartikeya ...

he had five children —

Manu Manu may refer to: Geography * Manú Province, a province of Peru, in the Madre de Dios Region **Manú National Park, Peru ** Manú River, in southeastern Peru * Manu River (Tripura), which originates in India and flows into Bangladesh *Manu Tem ...

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

Tvastar Tvashtr ( sa, त्वष्टृ, Tvaṣṭṛ) is a Vedic artisan god or fashioner. He is also mentioned in later literature of Hinduism like the ''Harivamsa''. Sometimes, Tvashtr is identified with another deity named Vishvakarma. In Hindu L ...

, Shilpi and Visvajna — and these are believed by the Vishwakarma community to have been the forebears of their five sub-groups, being respectively the

gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotra fo ...

s (clans) of blacksmiths, carpenters, bell metalworkers (metal casters), stonemasons and goldsmiths. Together, these sons are known as Rathakar, or builders of Chariots. There is evidence that Sutradhars were performing other tasks besides carpentry in ancient times. A stanza from

Chandimangal The Chandimangal () is an important subgenre of mangalkavya, the most significant genre of medieval Bengali literature. The texts belonging to this subgenre eulogize ''Chandi'' or ''Abhaya'', primarily a folk goddess, but subsequently identified ...

notes them puffing and frying rice, as well as painting. Agricultural tasks were historically done by castes of Austric origins, so the stanza may refer to a period of transition as the Sutradhar caste was forming and still performing other tasks. They were also engaged in making monuments, temples, palaces, chariots and sculpting rock structures. They are believed to have built the

Konark Sun Temple Konark Sun Temple is a (year 1250) Sun temple at Konark about northeast from Puri city on the coastline in Puri district, Odisha, India.Jagannath Temples, and the terracotta temples of Bengal.

Demography

While some Sutradhars practice

Shaktism Shaktism ( sa, शाक्त, , ) is one of several major Hindu denominations, wherein the metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically a woman and Shakti ( Mahadevi) is regarded as the supreme godhead. It includes many goddesses, al ...

, the vast majority are members of the Vaishnava sect. They worship Vishwakarma and offer sacrifices to him on

Vishwakarma Day Vishwakarma Jayanti is a day of celebration for Vishwakarma, a Hindu god, the divine architect. The festival is observed primarily in factories and industrial areas, often on the shop floor. As a mark of reverence the day of worship is marked ...

and

Vasant Panchami Vasant Panchami, also called Saraswati Puja in honor of the Hindu goddess Saraswati, is a festival that marks the preparation for the arrival of spring. The festival is celebrated in Indian religions in different ways depending on the region. ...

. The Sutradhar caste is subdivided into a number of subcastes including Bardhamenya, Mandaranya, Khadipeda, Astakul, and Airy. The Bardhamenya, Mandaranya, and Astakul are best known as carpenters but are also known as painters, clay image makers, stone carvers as well as constructors of buildings and temples. The Khadipeda were essentially architects, known as designers of temples, palaces, mosques, and building. Sutradhars are also subdivided into various clans, or

gotras In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotra fo ...

. All these clans are totemic. Common Sutradhar surnames include Dutta, Chanda, De, Pal, Sil, Kundu, Mena, Manna, Maharana, Rana, Bandra, Rakhsit, Sutradhar, Sutar, Bhandari, Fouzdar, Das, Kar, and Sharma. Fouzdar would appear to have a royal origin, while Sharma is also a surname of them.

Notes

References

* * {{Social groups of Maharashtra Indian castes Carpenter castes Social groups of India Indian surnames Hindu communities Social groups of Rajasthan