Religion
Vanjaris comes under Hindu religion and worship all Brahminic gods, of the regular Hindu fasts they keep only Gokulashtami in August. Their priest is a village Joshi, who conducts their marriages. They make piligrimage to Jejuri in Pune Pandharpur in Solapur District and Tuljapur in Nizams country. Their religious and social customs are as those of Maratha kundies in Maharashtra. Description: The name Vanjara is supposed to be derived from the Persian word "Berinj Arind", means "dealers in rice" (Shakespear's Dictionary). Vanjari or Vanjara is the corrupt form of "Vanaskara" i.e. moving about in forest. Caran or Cháran also comes from the same root. Vanjara means burners or the inhabitants of woods, while yet others say that the word means an arrow. It may, with equal plausibility, be referred to Vanachara (Sanskrit meaning wanderer in the forest), on account of the nomadic character of the tribe. The true derivation is perhaps from the Sanskrit term "Vanja" (trader, merchant) which is also responsible for the term Bania and Banijiga (meaning trader).
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