Re AgnidaNDa

[John C. Huntington]

>Dear Prof, Pant,

While I am aware of the your information regarding the priests at the
Agnimath,  our information on the Brahmin and the Joshi caste came
from the priest and his wife directly I will have to suggest that it
is the de facto situation at the time of our visit.(September-October
1994) Unless, of course, they being deceptive for some reason-- which
we have no evidence of.


>I would like to stress that the officiating priests in the agnimaTha in
>Patan in Nepal are not Joshi but Raajopaadhyaaya. In common parlance they
>are called DyaH Bhajuu. Joshi, you must know, in caste hierarchy of the
>Newars are not regarded as Brahmins, and their status is lower than that of
>the Raajopaadhyaaya.
>In order to make the picture much more clear, let me allow presenting a
>translation of the core part of the document:



>We hereby grant the agnidaNDa, which has been enjoyed by Dharmaa”ngada
>PaNDita to                you as long as you live. Take one-seventh of the
>income from the praayashcitta in. the form of produce, and enjoy it. Keep on
>giving your blessings to us.
>
>
>Mahes Raj Pant
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
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