Myth behind the Shaliya Cast

Shaliya is a strong community among the Hindus of India. By tradition they are weavers and they are known in different names in different states such as Padma Shaliya, Shaliya, Chaliya, etc. Although Hinduism had to bear a lot of blames due to the presence of a cast system, it seems to be the real strength of Hinduism. The cast has become a part of life, rather than belief in India and each cast has a myth about their existence. Here is the one about Shaliyas.

Usually, the people belong to this cast worship Lord Ganesha. Each house will have a separate place to worship their family deity. There they will place the Ganesha Idol and worship it. Most interesting factor is that, they will not depend on Brahmins to perform rituals; instead they will do it themselves.

It is believed that they were Brahmins once. There is a saying that “Brahmano Bhojana Priya” which means Brahmins love to eat. Believing in this saying it was a practice once to invite Brahmins to the house and offer them meals with different varieties of dishes. People believed that if they are satisfied with the meal, they will bless the family, and thus the life will be prospering.

Once there were about forty-eight families of Brahmins living in a village and they used to get invitation from different places to have food. They were very skeptical and were never ready to accept the quality of the food offered by the host. They will find some, or the other fault with some dishes and display it in front of everybody presented there to prove the food was not up to the mark. People started feeling irritated due to their unholy behaviors, still did not react to it as they all were afraid of the curse of Brahmins.

However, one day, a smart man decided to handle them properly. He invited all these forty-eight Brahmins to his house for lunch. He prepared many dishes to serve and along with them, he prepared chutney with prawns. Brahmins are strict vegetarians and they have never tasted prawns. Hence they liked the taste of the new chutney. Although they discussed to find out some faults, the taste of delicious prawn chutney prevented them from it. They all agreed for the first time in the life that the food was excellent. Then the host came out with a burst of loud laughter and revealed that the chutney was made of prawns.

It was really a shock for them as they are not supposed to have non-vegetarian food and as its consumption by Brahmins is a punishable act. If one or two persons have committed this crime, they could have hidden the matter to escape punishment, but as many as forty-eight people have consumed it and that too in public.
As they could not find a solution to escape the punishment, they went to the Tantric samaj and revealed the entire episodes. Then the chief of the samaj examined various books related to Vedas and decided the punishment. According to the chief, since they have tasted nonvegetarian food and that too with the tongue that chants Gayatri Mantra, they are not eligible to live on earth. He asked all of them to end their lives by submitting the same to the fire on the next full moon day. They have no other option, but to accept it.

On the very next full moon day all of them gathered at the banks of a holy river. There the priests from the Tantric Samaj have arranged a huge pyre with lots of logs. When the chief priest finished chanting holy hymns, all the forty-eight people came near to the pyre chanting Shiva Panchakshari Slokas to praise Lord Shiva. As they were about to jump into the fire, they all heard a voice from the sky asking them not to jump into the fire. It further told them that as they have repented their action sincerely, they all have escaped from the clutches of sin. Then the voice from the sky asked them to leave the place and get settled in a faraway village and take weaving as their profession. He mentioned that he will send his son Lord Ganesha to protect them. Thus they started their new life and came to be known as Shaliya Community. They regard Lord Ganesha as their family deity and worship him with specific rituals.