‘Brahm Chorayasi’ in Ahmedabad after gap of 97 years

Brahmsena, a community outfit of the Brahmins, will hold a ‘Brahm Chorayasi’ in the city on Sunday. This is the first time in 97 years that Ahmedabad is playing host to this religious event. Around 11 lakh Brahmins are expected to participate in the event that will be held in Vastrapur.

Brahmsena will also confer ‘yagnopavit sanskara’ on 1401 Brahmin boys. A matrimonial programme has also been organised at the event. The organisation has invited all Brahmin communities to participate in the rare event, which has no regional barriers. Around 25,000 volunteers will provide their services at the event.

The last Brahm Chorayasi - a community lunch for Brahmins -- was held in the city on November 28, 1915, said Rizwan Kadri, a city-based historian. The Chorayasi, on that day, was organised on an open ground near the Asarwa Railway Station. The event had seen unprecedented response from Brahmins who had come to participate in the event from far-flung places, reported a newspaper article cited by Kadri.

The report also mentions that Brahmins waiting for their lunch at the 1915 event had ‘attacked’ the room where laddoos were stored. The host had to call in police to protect the laddoos! But in vain.

Then the crowd had created such a ruckus that police officers were forced to beat a hasty retreat to save their lives, says the report. The article also mentions that 4 paisa was charged from every person who had wasted food. Organ-isers get ready for the bid day Pankaj Shukla.DNA