CENSUS OF INDIA 1971 SERIES 18 ..ARAJASTHAN PARTVI- B SPECIAL SURVEY REPORT ON SELECTED TOWNS 2. NATHDWARA S. R. LUHADIA JOINT DIRECT.OR OF CENSUS OPERATIONS RAJASTHAN FOREWORD Apart from the decennial enumeration of population the Indian Census is steeped . in the tradition of undertaking a variety of studies of topical in~erest. In fact, the publications brought out iO connection with the earlier censuses contained veritable mines of information on racial, cultural, linguistic and a number of other aspects of life of the people ot this country. With the advent of freedom, however, the scope and dimension of these special studies had to be restructured in a manner that would provide the basic feedbacks on the processes of development taking place in different spheres of life of the people especially under planned development. Thus, in connection with the 1961 Census, a massive programme was launched inter-alia to conduct socia-economic survey of about 500 villages selected from different parts of the country. The main objective of this study was to know the way of life of the people living in Indian villages which accounted for 82 per cent of the total population as per the 1961 Census. There was, however, an imperative need to extend the area of the study to urban centres as well, to provide a complete coverage of the people JiviQg"irf diverse socio-economic conditions. It was with this objective in view anc418rY studies on towns were launched as part of the social studies programme in connection with the 1971 Census. The programme of soclal studies taken up in connection with the 1971 Census, was continued without any major change at the 1981 Census as well. A study on traditional rural based handicrafts was, however, added as a new item under the social study projects of the 1981 Census. For the conduct of urban study, 64 small and medium towns were selected from different parts of the country following the criteria such as (a) size, (b) demographic features, (c) functional characterrstics, (d) specific industry or occupation dominating the economy, (e) location, (f) concentra­ tion of different castes and communi~ies, and (g) other social and cultural phenomenon like temple town, health resort etc. The research design, tools for data collection and formats for data tabulatic~. and report writing required for urban studies were originally formulated by Dr. B.K. Roy Burman, the then Deputy Registrar General, Social Studies Division. His successor, Dr. N.G. Nag took considerable pains to revise all the formats to make them more comprehensive. Dr. KP. Ittaman, the present Deputy Registrar General heading Social Studies Division, coordinated these studies at different levels as well as rendered necessary guidance to the Directorates of Census Operations for their successful consummation. Shri M.K. Jain, Senior Research Officer with the able iii assistance of Investigators, Shri A.K. Mehta and Smt. Renu Sabharwal did a commendable job in scrutinising the reports and communicating the comments thereon to the Directorates. I am grateful to all of them. The present report is the out-come of a study on Nathdwara town undertaken by the Directorate of Census Operations Rajasthan. I am indebted to Shri S.A. Luhadia Joint Director and his colleagues in the Census Directorate for their painstaking efforts in bringing out this report. ~ew Delhi V.S. VERMA 1st June. 1988 REGISTRAR GENERAL, INDIA iv PREFACE Situated in a picturesque valley about fifty kilometres from Udaipur, the lake city of India, Nathdwara is a place of great religiou~ signfficance being the seat of Vallabh Sampradaya or Pushti Marg, a Vaishnavite sect of Hiduism. The followers of this sect rever Nathdwara as a place of pilgrimage. The whole activity of the town revolves around the temple of Shri Goverdhan Nathji, popularly known as Shri Nathji, the principal deity of the Vallabh Sampradaya. Culturally, the town depicts a mini Braj inside Mewar, the land of warriors. The present report is based on the information collected through a socio­ economic survey of the town supplemented by the data furnishd by the 1971 census and updated by the data of 1981 census. The study was conducted by Shri Shams her Singh who also drafted this report. He was ably assisted in the conduct of the present survey by a team of dedicated workers mentioned overleaf. I extend my gratitudes to Shri Vijay Verma, Registrar General, India and Dr. K.P. Ittaman, Deputy Registrar General, India for their unfailing help, guidance and encouragement in bringing out this study in its present form. I also thank Shri Krishna Chandra Vagrodi for providing valuable information in respect of the Vallabh Sampradaya and the temple of Shri Goverdhan Nathji and Shri Narendra Pal Chaudhary, freedom-fighter for his valuable help in the conduct of this survey. I also thank the officials of the Nathdwara Tehsil, Municipal Board Nathdwara, Temple Board of the temple of Shri Goverdhan Nathji and a host of other institutions who extended their valuable help in the conduct of this survey. While Shri B.P. Jain, Deputy Director (Printing) in the office of the Registrar General India made the necessary arrangements for the printing Shri M.M. Goyal, Investigator of this office spared no pains to see the volume through the press. My thanks are due to both of them. Jaipur S. R. Luhadia Dated 25th June, 89 Joint Director of Census Operations Rajasthan v STAFF ASSOCIATED WITH THE STUDY I Field Survey Shri K.R. Patel Shri M.M. Saraswat Shri A.L. Sharma Shri S.A. Bishnoi Shri H.C. Sharma Shri G. Fernandes Shri Kanhaiya Lal II Tabulation Shri H.C. Sharma Shri G. Fernandes Shri Kanhaiya Lal Shri AK Srivastava Shri Arun Kumar Jain III Photography Shri R.K. Singh IV Printing Shri R.N:Verma Shri Hasan Mohd. V Maps Shri B.L. Arya Shri P.K. Sharma Shri L.L. Padiyar Shri H.S. Meharwal Shri I.N. Dhundharia vi CONTENTS Foreword Page Preface Chapter-1 iii v Introduction Location and the Most Important CharaCteristics of the Town - Size and Total Popula­ tion - Topography and Physical Envirol'lment including climate, Flora and Fauna­ Communicatior with other places - Density of population - Residential Pattern with reference to ethnic groups - Slums. 1·5 Chapter-II History of Growth of the Town Myth, Legends and History of the Town - Growth of the Town - Population Charac­ teristics - History c: Settlement of Different categories Population - Impact of Topography and other factors on the Growth Pattern and Growth History of the Town - land utilisation pattern - Rules and Regulations of Land Control and Land Specula­ tion etc. 6-9 Chapter - '" Amenities and Services - History of Growth and the Present Position Offices of the Government of India - Government cf Rajasthan offices - Quasl­ Government offices - Municipal and other offices of Local Self Government - Offices of the Autonomous Bodies - Utilities and Services - Transport and Communication Far;ifities - libraries - Social Welfare Organisations - Educational Institutions - Medical Facilities - Dharamshalas. 10-38 Chapter-IV Economic Life of the Town Working force at Nathdwara and Its comparison With the Regional Pattern - Working Force among Scheduled Casles/Tnbes - Distance from the Place of Work -Employ­ ment Depth - Occupations and un-employment unemployment Depth - Orgall/sa­ tional, Operational and other Particulars In respect of the lIallOllS Industrial categorles­ livestock, Forestry, Fishing, Plantation, Orchards and other Allied Actlvl!ieS - Milling and Quarrying - Manufacturing, Processing. ServIcing .md RefJ.1II S -Constr lIctlon - Trade and Commerce-Professional and Private Practltloners- N.:1I111.11 EC0r10rnrC­ Resources - Position Depicted by the Surveyed CommerCial .1I1d Indllstrr.lI Est.10- lishments -Institution connected wrth Trade and Com mer co 39-86 vii Chapter-V Ethnic and Demographic Characteristics of the Population Ethnic Characteristics and ethnio oomposition - Demography, fertility in females - Age at Marriage - Distribution of Population by Religion - Distribution of Population by Age and educational level - Enrolment in Educational Institutions. 87·117 Chapter-VI Migration and Settlement of families Eighty percent non-sampled slips - Place of Birth - Place of last residence - Sampled households - Settlement of households inside the town, Time of Migration and the distance of the place of origin - Reasons for Migration - Characteristics of the places from where the migration took place - Stages of migration - Property at the place of Migration - Particulars of visiting close relations in the place of origin - Particulars of being visited by close relations from the place of origin - Unit of migration - Help received during settlement. 118-174 Chapter-VII Neighbourhood Pattern Particulars of the neighbourhood -Image of the neighbourhood - Religious, Cultural and Social activities within neighbourhood - Religious, Cultural and Social activities outside the neighbourhood - Purchase of commodities in and outside the neighbour­ hood - Various facilities and their enjoyment in and outside the neighbourhood. 175-196 Chapter-VIII Family life in the Town Distribution of households by various attributes - Size of family, composition of family, type of family composition of households by multi factors. 197-207 Chapter-IX Housing and Material Culture Housing - Housing conditions among surveyed households - Predominant material of floor, wall, roof and ceiling-material culture-Furniture-Material of Utensils-light and Fuel-Presence of lUXUry and costly good - Dress.