Jainism
Nadavars originally belonged to Jainism or Jain Community. There are Jain temples and Jain wells in the villages where the Nadavars live. In some villages the nadavars worship the(Jain Beera, Jain Jataka, Jain Guttu, Jain Giri and other gods) Jain deities. Nadavars elders in religious activities Dressed like dress Jains, In some cases the priests, of the Jain religion are called for Nadavars Community religious activities.This shows that the Nadavars were.
Numerous Jain articles and other articles still testify that Nadavars belonged to the Jain community.
According to the authors of Jainism
Jain Nadavaru | Nadavar Community | Jain Community
Jain Nadavaru is a well-educated warrior (Kshatriya) community in North Canara district of Karnataka, India. Their estimated population is 30 thousands. Their literacy rate is almost 100%.
Although they are known as Jain Nadavaru, they were converted to Hinduism between 16th and 18th century. However, still they observe some Jain rituals. A hundred year ago, their marriage rituals were picked from both Jainism and Hinduism. Both Hindu and Jain priests performed the rituals. Now they are vaishnavs, Nadavaru Even today, However, still they observe some Jainism rituals.
In their villages, we find old Jain temples. Also small temples of Shantala Devi are seen, who was a famous Jain queen of Hoysal dynasty.
They were chieftains during the rule of Rashtrakuts, Hoysals and Vijay Nagar Empire. Until recent past, they were mainly landowners and farmers. Now they are seen various fields of life, especially in education and commerce.
Nadavaru speaks the dialect of Kannada.Called as "Nadava Gannada" language. But their Kannada is somewhat different from the mainstream Kannada. Its morphology is similar to that of Marathi. This fact suggests that in medieval period Nadavarus were Marathi speaking people, probably migrated to their present area from North Karnataka.
They migrated here after fall of Vijay Nagar Empire in 16th century.
Nadavaru Even today, they claim to belong to the Jain community. More research on their past is required. It will throw light on social history of Jain community in Karnataka.
-- Author-- Dr.Vardhamana S.Jain, Pune,MH, India
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