Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c30.t2.261

v2.c30.t2.261

Pokharna Brāhmans.—Another singular tribe, also Brahmanical, is the Pokharna, of whom it is calculated there are fifteen hundred to two thousand families in Jaisalmer. They are also numerous in Marwar and Bikaner, and are scattered over the desert and valley of the Indus. They follow agricultural and pastoral pursuits chiefly, having little or no concern in trade. The tradition of their origin is singular; it is said that they were Beldars, and excavated the sacred lake of Pushkar or Pokhar, for which act they obtained the favour of the deity and the grade of Brahmans, with the title of Pokharna. Their chief object of emblematic worship, the kudala, a kind of pick-axe used in digging, seems to favour this tradition [288].¹