Chaube of Mathura || Part 2 of 8

One of Mathura's great festivals is Kans Mela, or the Festival of Kans's Destruction (Kams^[*] Vadh ka Mela), in the fall of every year.^[5] Kans was Krishna's wicked uncle who tried to slay him as a newborn child because it had been prophesied that Krishna would grow up to kill him. After miraculously escaping his uncle's sword, Krishna grew up to fulfill the prophecy by displaying amazing skills as a warrior, particularly a wrestler, and liberated the people of Mathura from his uncle's demonic rule. The public celebration of this event in Mathura remains a Chaube monopoly. Two young Chaube men arc dressed as Krishna and his brother Balaram. Then, they arc paraded on an elephant to Kans Tila to meet Kans, an elaborate effigy in paper on a wooden frame. After Kans's head is severed from his body, the head is mocked and paraded through the Chhata Bazaar area of the city. Just outside of Vishram Ghat at a place called Kans Khar, Chaube young men wielding heavy wooden staffs (saunta^[*]) beat the severed head until it is pulverized confetti. In this violent event Chaubes publicly and symbolically align themselves with Krishna as both the protectors, if not owners, of the city and its most ancient citizens. The agonistic display is not lost upon others; Chaubes arc a dominant presence in the city and arc dealt with cautiously. Like Krishna, they have a reputation for being tough fighters and skilled wrestlers.

< Credits: Reproduced from the Book called Divine Passions. The papers in this volume were originally written for a conference on "The Anthropology of Feeling, Experience, and Emotion in India" held at the University of Houston on 1-14 December 1985. The conference was part of the Festival of India held in the United States during 1985-86. Nineteen highly provocative papers were presented; the nine in this volume were selected because they most directly addressed the conference's theme. >

Chaube of Mathura || Part 1 of 8

Chaubes

The name Chaube is a dialectical variant of Chaturvedi (knower of the four Vedas), a name, it is claimed, Lord Krishna himself bestowed upon this Brahman community. Today one can most easily meet Chaubes at Vishram Ghat on the banks of the river Jamuna where they wait for and administer to pilgrims taking sin-cleansing baths in the river. Their association with this river is so intimate that they call themselves sons of goddess Jamuna (Jamuna ke putra), the river itself being one form of the goddess (Lynch 1988).

Chaubes trace their origins at least as far back as the first Hindu mythological age, the Satya Yuga, when, it is said, they were born from the sweat of the god, Lord Vishnu in his incarnation as a boar (Y. K. Caturvedi 1968:25). As the Chaubcs tell it, their history is filled with incidents giving evidence of, as well as providing models of and for, their mast character.^[3] For example, one day Krishna and his cowherd friends were out playing. Krishna felt hungry and sent his friends in quest of food from the Chaubes. The Chaube men, however, were busy in offering sacrifices (yajnas^[*]) and were not to be disturbed even at Krishna's request. When the Chaube women noticed this, they rushed out with sweets, curd, and food for Krishna and his playmates (V. K. Caturvedi, n.d.). In gratitude, Krishna promised that from that time forward the Chaube women would be renowned for their fair-skinned beauty, as indeed they are, and the Chaube men would control pilgrimage in the Braj area, as they do.^[4] In telling the story Chaubes gleefully point out that none but a proud Chaube would have the cheekymast to ignore Krishna's hunger and thirst.

From the Paper "The Mastram Emotion and Person Among Mathura's Chaubes" 

<See Credits after the main text of the article>

< Credits: Reproduced from the Book called Divine Passions. The papers in this volume were originally written for a conference on "The Anthropology of Feeling, Experience, and Emotion in India" held at the University of Houston on 1-14 December 1985. The conference was part of the Festival of India held in the United States during 1985-86. Nineteen highly provocative papers were presented; the nine in this volume were selected because they most directly addressed the conference's theme. >