India is a great country with many castes, tribes, religions, languages, races and cultures.
Otari Community is the immemorial reality of this great India. Since the ancient times, the
casting various metals has been of the traditional business of the Otari Community. In those
days, the means of communication & conveyance were insufficient, so these people used to
travel with the help of horses, bullock carts. Otari Community has reached the states of
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat along with Maharashtra for the
purpose of their traditional business. While other nomadic communities / tribes were seen
resorting to valleys, mountains, forests etc. for their livelihood & stay, the Otari Community
used to live & stay in the vicinity of villages. Since the occupation & traditional business of the
Otari Community is to cast various metal articles, it is seen that the Otari Community remained
close to the gates and outskirts of villages.
The customs of the Otari Community differ from province to province. In every region of India,
the Otari Community was seen to be living a life maintaining certain cultural characteristics &
values. A study of Otari Community shows that in the ancient times this Community
commanded a very respectable position & stature in the then society. The Otari Community
was known & had a great reputation as artists & sculptors in those courtiers of royal & other
institutions & rulers of that time. The weapons and materials required for war were prepared
& manufactured by this congregation with their traditional skills & dexterity. The Otari
Community was mainly engaged in making big guns (cannons) used in wars. Therefore, this
Community was of special importance as sculptors to those ruling regimes. But in the later
period, the conditions of the Otari Community became miserable and this community started
wandering & roving for their livelihood. In every family of Otaris, the children were taught the
subtle knowledge of traditional casting and sculpture from their very childhood. Therefore,
there is no doubt that the Otari Samaj was a University of Traditional Arts & Occupation of the
Otari Community itself. Basically, it is the Otari Community, which gave the concept of Gods
and Goddesses in the form their figurines, sculptures, effigies, replicas to the whole universe
in a way bringing & depicting Gods to the masses and this very fact cannot be repudiated,
contradicted nor denied.
Historical Background
After surveying history of the Otari Community, it is found that the very senior men of 90 / 95
years old among the Otari sect still say that earlier they used to cast & make cannons &
weaponry. The Otari Community used to work in the Kingdom of Bijapur. As this monarchy
broke up, so did the Otari Community. The Otari Community was known in different
nomenclature in these four Kingdoms – 1) Otaris in the rank of Bidar-Shahi came to be known
as “Bidare Otari”, 2) Those in Nizam-Shahi were called “Nizame Otari”, 3) Otaris in
Gowalkondia Kingdom (Qutb Shahi) were called “Gonwalkonde Otari” and 4) Those in AdilShahi of Bijapur were called “Adile / Bijapure Otari”.
In the empire of the Bijapur, Otaris used to pour guns & cannons. In case of dereliction &
delinquency of their duties, the King used to punish them and keep a strict vigil on the Otaris
to prevent them from leaving the Kingdom. The fortifications of the Tower of Bijapur Fort are
known by the name of Otaris. Otari population is spread all over India. “This Community,
which was once used to live in Kingdoms, extracted minerals (metals) from the mines and
smelted the best metals in furnaces. This Society was the backbone of the glorious history of
India with a research attitude, artistic skills, amazing talents, living with self-reliance, selfrespect & honour without beseeching, supplicating & adjuring before anybody.
The fate of “Otaris” and “Ghisadis” is slightly different. The Ghisadis used to make iron tools
from finished metal i.e. the wheels of the chariots, the wheels of the carts, their tracks & rims,
while the hafts, hilts & helves of the swords, knives, jambiyas had to be poured & casted by
Otaris. The Embroidery and inlay artistic work was done on them. The metal idols of Gods
and Goddesses, casting of cannons, Singhasans, Kalash, Prabhaval, Minors, brass figurines,
rings & Nettippattam of the elephants and horses, embroidered discs, ornaments,
embellishments, bells, cymbals, worship materials, decoration items, crowns, various
culminations of temples, copper plates etc. Many decorative works & ornaments had to be
made for royal horses and elephants. While constructing forts, buildings & temples, lead &
iron were poured and stones were incorporated in it. In the fortifications, only metals were
used for such fortifications. Every King had to have Otaris for this type of specialised work.
The Great Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had done the construction of Murud, Janjira and
Sindhudurg Forts with the help of Otaris, which remained unconquered for ages.
Many aspects regarding the Otari Community are revealed as the pages of history unfold.
Among them, numerous sculptures such as the iron pillar “Vishnudhvaj” next to Qutub Minar
in Delhi, Shree Vishnustambh in Daulatabad and various small and big guns, weaponry,
sculptures, the huge five-metal bell in Padmalaya in Jalgaon District, the magnificent bells of
Naroshankar Temple in Nashik Panchavati and Omkareshwar Temple in M.P. still indicate &
apprise the legacy of Otari arts & skills till date. What is special about them is that these
sculptures & artifacts have maintained their existence since the ancient times till today without
any effect of weather and rust. Throughout the centuries, there were 20,000 smelters in the
British Regime. (Ref. “Apoorna Kranti” – R.B. Patankar). The British started importing readymade materials from England for railways and further for all kinds of uses. After that, due to
Kirloskars, Tata Steel, all materials right from the nails to any metal items were imported from
the England with their big furnaces and production prowess. All the ready forks started coming
from the UK. Ghisadis, Gadilohars and Otari Communities ceased their traditional businesses
and the existence of these communities were threatened with the technological advances.
History of Otari Community
The use of metals was not known in the Stone Age wherein the mankind used the objects of
stone, clay, bone or wood. The Metals were gradually introduced to the mankind. While
searching for stone for making tools, some green flakes & pebbles were found in the valley,
which was copper. The human beings realized that such balls can be given the desired shape
by knocking & forging them. The copper softens when heated too much. The Otaris discovered
that with this process of heating & melting the copper, the desired items can be made. During
that period zinc and tin metals were also found & discovered. When the metal is heated so
much that it becomes liquid, it can be poured into the mold and made into an object was the
biggest inventions of those times. The mankind came up with the idea of combining two to
three metals to make an alloy (bronze). The copper & tin were combined to make an alloy
called bronze. From amongst these alloys, the harder one is bronze. Tools, weapons, idols,
ornaments, embellishments, figurines, hafts etc. were made by humans through traditional
castings. As the pouring & casting system was created in the later period, the “systems of
castes” were created & developed based on the occupations people used to carry on. For
example, Weaving = Weaver; Washing Clothes = Dhobi; Farming = Farmer; Pottery – making
pots = Potter; Sewing Clothes = Tailor; Also from Otakam (pouring & casting) = Otari got the
nomenclature. With the discovery of metals, the Stone Era ended, and the Metal Era began.
Surya Puja (Sun Worship) = Sun Temple = Evidence of existence of Otari can be found in
India from the Ramayana / Mahabharata. In the Ramayana, Rama made an idol of Sita in her
absence during the Homhavnadi religious function. Also, during the Mahabharata period
(Dwapara Yuga) after the end of the war (defeat of the Kauravas), the Pandavas went to meet
Dhritarashtra with Shri Krishna. Then Lord Krishna made five idols of Panchadhatu (Five
Metals) of Bhima and took them with him. Before actually Dhritarashtra meeting Bhima,
Dhritarashtra was presented with five statues of Bhima. Dhritarashtra, who was very enraged
that his son Duryodhana had been killed by Bhima in the battle, had all the five statues of
Panchadhatu of Bhima turned into ashes. (Ref. Mahabharata) The Ramayana & Mahabharata
prove & corroborate the very existence of the Otari Community from the statues of Sita / Bhima
respectively.
The original deity of Otari Community is Surya (the Sun). The mythological evidence for this
is the Sun and peasant (agricultural) culture and some other societies were associated with
sun worship. In India, amongst other communities, there was “Panchals” community. As
Vishwakarma is the God of Panchals, they also called themselves Vishwakarma Samaj. From
the history of Panchal Community, two prominent ancient things emerged as follows:
1) Vishwakarma
2) Tvashta (Tvashta Kasara) is the name the Sun which Panchals were closely related
to. Moreover, the original name of the Vishwakarma is Tvashta.
!! इन्द्रोधाताय पर्जन्द्य: पुषात्वष्ठाय अर्जमाभग !!
!! वववस्वान ववष्णुरंषुश्र्व वरुणो ममत्र एवंच !!
Means the 12 names of the Sun are 1) Indra, 2) Dhata, 3) Parjanya, 4) Puja, 5)
Tvashta, 6) Aryama, 7) Bhaga, 8) Vivsvan, 9) Vishnu, 10) Anshu, 11) Varuna (Air), 12 ) Mitra
(Friend) etc. The Sun, its worship and their relationship & proximity with the Tvashta Panchal
Community is proved.
The second reference in relation to the Vishwakarma according to Sambpurana was that the
Sun has two queens 1) Radni (Dhau) 2) Nisubha (Earth) we called it as Dha Prithvi. Firstly,
let us see which communities, castes, sub-castes live on the west coast of Maharashtra. Even
though all these seemingly ordinary and contextless societies do not seem important in the
context of the history of Maharashtra, but if you look closely, you will understand a lot from it.
These communities are Somvanshi Kshatriyas (Panchkalshi), Wadval Chaukalshi (Wadval)
Madhyandin Brahmins, Muslims, Bohra Muslims, Rana Seshashayi Kshatriyas (Shinde
Bhandari Subcaste) Mahars, Chambars, Dheddhodi, Duble Adivasis, Warlis, Davars, Kunbis,
Vanjaris, Kolis, Sonkolis, sub-caste of Kunbis, Bhusaris Goldsmith (Daivedna), Momin Telis,
Chaudharies etc. have all lived amicably here for many centuries as symbiosis is a living
chronicle of Maharashtra. All these communities have been doing their trading business for
generations. The study of all these castes is going on from the context of their names,
languages, Gods, deities, customs and traditions. Similarly, in the Vishwakarma society, there
are Panchalas and Panchalas include Carpenters, Goldsmiths, Potters and Kasars. The
original deity of these communities is the Great Goddess Kalika Mata and all of them are the
worshipers of the Sun (Surya). In the Caste Certificate of many Otari Brothers in the State of
Karnataka, in the caste c A large number of brass sun images are found in the temple of Otari.
It proves that Otari is a Surya worshipper.olumn thereof, it is written Panchal. So it proves that
the Otari Community is one of the castes of Panchala. Vishwakarma Kasar, Dhed, Sonkoli,
Chowdhury etc. have been living cordially & harmoniously through all their customs, traditions
and worship practices. According to Sambpurana, the Vishwakarma had two daughters and
the close relationship of the entire Panchal society with the Sun and Goddess Kalika Mata
comes to the fore.
The third reference comes from the name “Manth”. “Manth” is the original native male of Sutar
(Carpenter) Community. They are the “Maya” community who believes in “Maya” culture
(love). Manthas were excellent artisans, sculptors, artists, etc. and this is where the original
connection to Otari Community comes from. Although there is no reference to Otaris in the
“Wadvali Shabdkosh” (The dictionary of Wadvali Words) by the author Shri Ashok Save, the
reference to traditional Potters, Sculptors, Artisans, Artists and Metal Casters (“Dhatu Shilpi”)
seems to be the strong evidence that “Dhatu Shilpi” were the Otaris only. A large number of
brass images of the Sun are often found in the Temples of Otaris, which proves that Otaris
are Sun (Surya) Worshippers. The flag of Otaris is in blood red colour and the Goddess is
Shri Kalika Mata. The lion is the vehicle of the said Goddess. Mythologically, it is well known
that Shri Kalika Mata settled in the mountains of Buldhana, Shri Kalika Mata of Calcutta, Shri
Kalika Mata of Srungeri Pithasan Shirsinghi in Karnataka are all forms and incarnations of
Goddess Parvati. That is where the relation of Otaris comes forward very strongly from the
Sun Temple. Of course, today the Otaris have slowly left behind the Sun Worship. Even today,
while performing the Surya Puja (Sun Worship), offerings to the Digpals of the ten directions,
while offering Samidha or Khir, the mantra that is said is “हमगभाजयन धमजववग्रहाय, कालयककन्द्नशय”
while looking towards the east direction. The sacreed words “ॐ अनताय ठ:ठ ओतारी मखु ाय नम:”
शब्द पर्ू ेतही वंदनीय आहे” are still salutary & salubrious in veneration & glorification of the Sun.
Ancient Existence of Otaris
The history of the existence of Otaris begins from the Vedic period. Excavations at
Mohenjodado, Harappa have found bronze metal idols – dancing figurines etc. The
researchers are still amazed, astonished & flabbergasted about the accuracy, neatness,
balance of the body parts of these idols and the minute details of the ornaments on their limbs
and their craftsmanship of the Otari Community. This is because, in the past when there were
no such technical tools nor the technology available which are available nowadays, in order
to teach the precision & adroitness of making vivid idols & adorning ornaments in such a
technically meticulous manner, the Otaris of that time learned the art of casting & traditional
skills without going to any University and the excellence achieved by them in those days is
captivating, adorable and just incredible. In the filed of Otakam (castings), every Otari family
was an University by itself in view of their unparallel experience and the proficiency in
knowledge of various metals.
Who are Otaris?
The definition of Otari is:
1) Otari – “one who pours, one who pours the lava (melted liquid) of metals into objects,
one who makes pots, one who makes metal idols” (Marathi Dictionary Vol. 1)
१. “One who melts the metals like copper, brass or aluminum, silver and pours that liquid
into a mould of the desired shape is called Otari.”
Since the inception of this Universe, the Otaris are highly intelligent metal craftsmen and the
original men who are constantly engaged in creating idols of various Gods and Goddesses
and social utility, metal objects, replicas through traditional metal casting with their skills and
expertise. About 400 years ago, Saint Shiromani Sri Ramdas Swami said in his Dasbodh
Granth (Page No. 227, 6, 6) that,
“देव घडीला सोनारी, देव वोतीला वोतारी |
एक देव घडीला पार्री, पाषाणाचा ||”