Sompura Brahmin Tirth Purohit

The Sompura Brahmins, the smallest tribe among the Brahmins of the Som Vansh or Som Dynasty, have resided in the Somnath or Prabhas Kshetra for the past two millennia without migration. They are considered to have the purest Aryan bloodline and uphold the richest Vedic traditions, encompassing all 16 Vedic samskaras (sacraments). As the designated Tirth Purohit, they hold the privilege of conducting all rituals inside and outside the Somnath Temple. They serve as the pujaris (priests) for both the old and new Somnath temples.

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सौराष्ट्रदेशे विशदेऽतिरम्येज्योतिर्मयं चन्द्रकलावतंसम्।भक्तिप्रदानाय कृपावतीर्णं तंसोमनाथं शरणं प्रपद्ये॥

History and origin

According to their traditions, the Sompura Brahmin are so named because they were created by the God Chandra to perform sacred ceremonies called Som Yajna for the God Shiva. They are concentrated in the town of Prabas Patan and form one of the oldest Brahmin communities in Gujarat, who speak Gujarati. Skand Puran gives the reference for the creation of Sompura Brahmins wide its अध्याय 21/22/23/24.

The Agnihotri brahmins from Chandra lok came to prabhas with Hemgarbha -the chief secretary of moon god to conduct-perform a pratishtha yagya of the first temple of lord somnath and after the yagya the moon god requested these Brahmins to stay there. These Brahmins stayed near Somnath so they are called Sompura Brahmins. Generally, the civilisations develop and moves with the source of water worldwide, but the sompura brahmin is the only class who have been stable near Somnath for at least 2000 years.

In 10th century some families with children, aged peoples, and pregnant ladies migrated towards Rajasthan, Maharashtra to the South, Rajasthan class vipras adopted temple architecture, they are known as sompura Shilpi, southern class dvijas merging with the local culture but kept samskara of their origin, they are known today as sorarhi brahmins most families are near Madurai. Gotras and cultures may varied, historically their root is in sompura dynasty.