Goud Saraswat Brahmin

Goud (also spelt as Gowd or Gaud) Saraswat Brahmins (Devanagari:गौड सारस्वत ब्राह्मण, Kannada:ಗೌಡ ಸಾರಸ್ವತ, Malayalam:ഗൌഡ സാരസ്വത) are a Hindu Brahmin community in India and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community. They are popularly referred to as GSBs. They are Konkani people and primarily speak Konkani as their mother tongue.They claim their origin to the Brahmins who lived on the banks of the now extinct river Saraswati of upper Punjab or Kashmir. They derived their name from either the river Saraswati or from their spiritual leader Great Sage Saraswat Muni who lived on the banks of Saraswati. These Brahmins were one of the Pancha Gowda Brahmin groups who lived north of the Vindhyas. They belonged to Smarta tradition and primarily worshiped the five deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha. Throughout the course of history, the Saraswat Brahmins have migrated to a variety of locations and are found mostly in Western coast of India.

History

Saraswat muni(who was a devotee of Goddess Saraswati) once was in need of disciples to spread his teachings and knowledge to various parts of the world. However he could not get students who were capable of the task. So he prayed to Goddess Saraswati to help him. Pleased with his devotion the Goddess gave him fourteen sons. Each of them had a...
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