AGARWALA

important mercantile caste in India, belonging to that group of merchants, bankers, landowners, and shopkeepers that are called Bania in northern and western India. According to caste tradition, its members are descended from a naga, or snake goddess; hence, they do not molest snakes, and they observe a special form of snake worship that is peculiar to them. The caste goddess is Laksmi (Lakshmi), goddess of good fortune, who is thought to have blessed the original union of the snake goddess. The Gauda branch of northern Indian Brahmins act as priests for the Agarwalas, who tend to be orthodox in their conduct and diet. The majority are Vaisnavas, worshippers of the god Vishnu, but about 14 percent of the caste members follow the Jaina religion.