Bahuguna

This article has multiple issues. Please help or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (October 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (June 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Bahuguna is an Indian Garhwali Brahmin clan, with the same surname, found in Uttarakhand in northern India. Common variations of the surname were formed during British-India to include "Bahugun", "Bhugun", "Bhuguna", as reported by Prof. C.Bahuguna in 1967.

The original village of the Bahuguna clan is Pokhri Chalansyun situated near Srinagar Garhwal, the ancient capital of Garhwal. The Kuldevi (clan deity) of Bahugunas is Gaurja/Gaura. The main temple of the Goddess is situated in Devalgarh, which is visible from Bughani. A chauri (a small common village temple) is located in Bughani. Many Bahugunas migrated from Bughani to different parts of Garhwal and even to Kumaon. Today, there are many more villages inhabited by Bahuguna clan. According to the family history, the land of Odali village was purchased by ancestors from a lady of Dungri Village. According to the book Bahuguna Vansh Charit (page 237) written by Dr. Ram Prasad Bahuguna, one of ancestors of Shri Asha Ramji (who belonged to the 13th generation of Shri Achyuta Nandji) came from Village Bughani (Near Srinagar, Garhwal) to settle in Odali in 1870. This is also corroborated by a map of Odali Village prepared by Shri T. F. Freeman from Survey of India in 1892.^[1]

The legend says that about 800 years ago, three men from a Bandyopadhyay (anglicized to Banerjee in the 20th c.) family travelled to the Himalayas. There they came across the king of Garhwal who was suffering from a disease that no one had been able to cure. These 3 men from Bengal were very talented. they had a sound knowledge of medicine and astrology. The head of the group, an astrologer and medical practitioner, managed to cure the king. The overjoyed king asked the group leader to stay back in his kingdom and gave him a village to settle. Also, for his amazing knowledge, the king gave him the title "Bahuguna" which actually means "Man of many virtues (qualities)". The group leader from then on worked with the king and his group settled in that village, which is now in the center of Garhwal region in Uttarakhand state in India.

Bahugunas are Garhwali Brahmins ATRI

gotra but in garhwal they changed gotra into bharadwaj and are classified as Gangari Brahmins in Uttarakhand. They form part of the uppermost wrung of 4 Brahmin clans of Garhwal called "Chauthoki Baman" along with Uniyal, and clans. The Bahugunas do not inter-marry. They were called "Chauthoki Baman" because they held many important positions in the courts of the Garhwali Kings. Some generations ago, the Chauthoki Bamans did not intermarry with other Gangari Brahmins because they held themselves superior in the caste hierarchy.

Notable Bahugunas[]

• Abodh Bandhu Bahuguna (1927–2004), Hindi and Garhwali writer and poet
• Harsh Vardhan Bahuguna (1939–1971), Indian mountaineer, Padma Shri (1972)
• Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
• Jai Vardhan Bahuguna (1948–1985), Indian army officer and mountaineer, younger brother of Harsh Vardhan Bahuguna
• Kamala Bahuguna (1923–2001), Indian Lok Sabha member
• Rita Bahuguna Joshi, former PCC Chief, Uttar Pradesh and Present BJP Leader
• Saurabh Bahuguna, Indian Member of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly
• Sundarlal Bahuguna, the pioneer of Chipko Movement
• Vijay Bahuguna, former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand

References[]