The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism (2 Vol Set)

of a single feminine divine energy.
Chintapurni is considered to be a form
of the goddess Chinnamasta, and this
temple is one of the few dedicated
exclusively to her.

Chir Ghat

(“Clothing Ghat”) A bathing (snana)
place on the Yamuna Riverin the town
of Brindavan, which is identified as the
site for one of the most famous stories
about Krishna. The story tells how the
gopis, Krishna’s female companions,
have taken a religious vow to bathe each
morning in the Yamuna during the cold
months and dedicate the religious merit
from this vow toward gaining Krishna as
their beloved. Although their austerity is
laudable, they are also bathing naked,
which is taboo in Hindu culture. Krishna
spies them in the waterand climbs up in
a tree with their clothes. He then refuses
to return the clothes until the mortified
womencome out of the water to ask for
them, symbolically demonstrating the
nakedness of the soul before God and
humans’ inability to control the divine.
A gigantic tree still stands by the Chir
Ghat, which is believed to be the same

tree from which Krishna humbled the

gopis. As pilgrims recall the story, they

tie strips of cloth to the tree to relieve the

gopis’ embarrassment and share in their

feeling of communion.

Chitpavan

A brahmin jatithat is a subset of the

Maharashtribrahmins, who were them-

selves one of the five southern brahmin

communities (Pancha Dravida). Jatis

were endogamoussubgroups of tradi-

tional Indian society whose status was

determined by the group’s hereditary

occupation. This sort of differentiation

applied even to brahmins, whose role

has been to serve as priests, scholars,

and teachers. The core region for the

Chitpavan brahmins is in western

Maharashtra, particularly the coastline

and the region around Poona. Although

never very numerous, they were histori-

cally significant both as the chief minis-

ters (peshwas) to the Marathakings and

also for producing some of the great figures

in the struggle for independence: M. G.

Ranade, G. K. Gokhale, B. G. Tilak, and

V. D. Savarkar. Because this group of

brahmins was largely located on the

Chir Ghat

Depiction of Krishna having stolen the gopis’ clothes while they were bathing.

This episode from Hindu mythology is believed to have taken place at Chir Ghat.