Everyone wants to know , From where have we come ? . Why are we called Shrimali? What is our identity? Who were our ancestors ? How did the people of our community land at different places all over the world ?
We hope that the History section of our web – site will be appreciated . Also as always , suggestions are welcome all the time .
The reader on the internet may justly wonder about the origin of the words ” Shrimali ” . The word ” Shrimali ” means one who hails from Shrimal .
Shrimal is a place in India’s Rajasthan State . presently know as bhinmal. Shrimal is a combination of ” Shri ” and ” Mal ” . “Shri” is popularly interpreted as Laksmi , the goddess of wealth . ” Shri ” also means beauty and brightness , “Mal” means place . Thus Shrimal about 800 years ago was a beautiful prosperous place where along with other castes , Goldsmiths too lived , created pieces of beauty out of gold and prospered with other communities .
Unfortunately with constant invasions by foreigners on the North-Western borders of India , Shrimal broke down and thereby received the name Bhinmal . In Sanskrit language , the word Bhinna means broken or seperated and therefore Bhinmal means broken place . According to Shrimal Puran (part of Skanda Puran) due to curse of Rishi Gautam and Goddess Laksmi Shrimali Nagar decentrised and it’s prosperity and population come down. Since Shrimal Nagar suffered a lot, the people living there were forced to migrate. Most of them started migrating towards Gujarat and Marwar (Rajasthan). Therefore most of the Shrimali Brahmins presently residing in these two states, although they had moved and established presently all over the world with their traditional and modern profession too.
Scholar and specialized in Vedic culture of India, we can be better identified the “ Shrimali Brahmin ” in this Sanskrit Poem titled “ Vayam Shrimali ” means I am Shrimali.
Below is shown the map of Rajasthan where “Bhinmal” is shown.
