What is “Namavali”? 

Trimbakeshwar has been well-known as a very holy pilgrimage place for centuries. In the  good old days,  access roads were not developed to reach there. Thick jungle  surroundedthis area and fear of wild animals was perpetual. However these difficulties were  overpowered by the faith and holiness of this place.  When transport facilities were almost not-existant, religious minded folks still walked down to this place and performed various  religious rites. Pilgrims were not certain whether they would survive and go back home. So they spent days together in performing various kinds of religious rites through the Brahmin priests in Trimbakeshwar.The Brahmin Priests were experts in performing various rites and rituals. They used to be called as Kshetropadhyay. In addition to performing religious rites, they used to provide shelter and food to the pilgrims  during their visits . This helped to develop relationship  between the priests and pilgrims.The priests performing the rites used to ask the pilgrims about their family tree , the namesof their relatives, and their forefathers, their next generation, their address, occupation, the  deity  they worshipped etc. and used to keep  record of this information. The pilgrims used to sign this record. The record book where  this information  was stored  was called as  “Namavali”. 

How did it evolve ? 

Over a period, the guest pilgrims and host priests developed  binding connections Anunwritten system developed  eventually  and  the host families of priests got rights to  perform rites for specific groups of guest families. This system is still prevalent. Even today, on arrival at Trimbakeshwar, pilgrim  can tell his family name and then he would be guided to a particular priest, whose family  has been performing rites for the pilgrim’s family and his forefathers. The host Brahmin priest is called as “Teerthopadhyay”.  In fact, the system of keeping such records is  common all over India. However  the record  books  take different names  in different regions. Before the invention of a writing paper,  Bhoorjapatra - a leaf of a tree named Bhoorja was used for writing. Lac was used as ink  and thin, hollow, wooden sticks resembling bamboo stems  were used as pens to write. The
paper made out of bamboo was used. This paper lasts for years. The records used to be bound in leather covers. 

What does it content ? 

Namavali includes names of men in the family.  Daughters names are also written down.However, after the daughters get married, as per the Hindu tradition, they adopt husband’ family name. The married daughters family names are not included in this record. Names ofthe  new born babies and the daughter-in-laws in the family are recorded. Change of address, immigration to different place , change of occupation etc. are also recorded. 

System of record maintainance 

With the growth of the population and availability of transport facilities, the number of pilgrims increased tremendously.  This resulted in more systematic method of keeping Namavali records. They used to be initially written in daily records and then transferred to the main record. The records were classified as East, West, South and North regions of  India and further Statewise, Zillawise etc.  Family names  were recorded alphabetically.  Under the name of a city or small town, the list of families in that city or town  can be traced.  If there are a number of families in this list, they were further classified as per the  “Chaturvarna” - classification as per cast. Since these records were maintained very  systematically, it was very easy to access any family name in the records. 

Improtance of 'Namavali' 

Of late, the number of visitors has increased incredibly.  Often their visits are of few hours.So they do not insist on performing rites through their family “Teerthopadhyay”.  Therefore Namavali’s significance has taken a back seat ,as far as the visitors are concerned. However this does not lessen the importance of the incredible record preserved by the  Brahmin priests for years together.  Maintaining Namavali used to be the life time  occupation of Brahmins and it used to earn them bread and butter.  This record was so  valuable that money lenders used to accept them as pledge and lend money against them. The records used to be passed on to the next generation as a valuable property,  with a specific mention in the will. If the priest’s family had no offspring to pass on the record to,  the records used to go to the nearest  family of priests and they had the responsibility to  look after the family of the donor priest. 

Namavali's current relevance 

Namavali is a valuable document for  historical references. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s handwriting is preserved in the records held by his family’s Teerthopadhyay  Shree Dherge Guruji.  This record is presently in the custody of  the Archeology Department of Government of Maharashtra.  Like wise handwritings of the eminent personalities like  Shrimant Peshwe, Mahatma Gandhiji, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lokmanya Tilak, Aacharya  Vinobaji Bhave, Vasudev Balwant Phadke, the famous industrialist Birla, Jagatguru  Shankaracharya etc.  are also preserved in  Namavali.Since the records were kept and preserved for over centuries, during British Raj, these  records were onsidered as legal proof  in disputes of family relations, heirs and property. Even today these records are held as admissible proof in such disputes.