Bhai Govind Odhavji
Bhai Govind Odhavji was the first Bhuva who remained on the place until Vikram Samvat 1942 (year 1886 as per Roman Calendar).
Our present identity Sanghrajka has arrived from an incident that took place years ago. Sanghrajka, simply means, those who take part in a Sangh i.e. procession. Our ancestors had organized one such procession and that’s where we Sanghrajkas were born.
There is an interesting story mentioned in our community’s literature pertaining to that eventful procession. It all dates back to that eventuality when our community members were proceeding through village Majevadi, near Junagarh district in Gujarat.
Bhai Govind Odhavji was the first Bhuva who remained on the place until Vikram Samvat 1942 (year 1886 as per Roman Calendar).
Kalidas Thakrsey, baptized in Vikram Samvat 1945 (year 1889), followed him.
Our third Bhuva happened only in Vikram Samvat 1981 (year 1925), following a heavenly occurrence.
It was the auspicious day of Ashadh Vad Choth (25th June 1925), when Satrasia Bapa got himself personified into Dhasa’s Valji Gokaldas’ body. And finally, on Shravan Sud Aatham (11th August 1925), Valji Gokaldas was baptized as our third Bhuva
Amidst this procession, one senior member of our family was quenching his thirst from a vaav (a deep well) when his ring accidentally slipped into the waters. Since it was a very significant ring, the whole procession was disturbed and people gathered around the well to retrieve it.
Villagers suggested that the well is the house of a virtuous snake colloquially known as Nagbapa and the ring could be got back if and only if Nagbapa helped them. Hence, the whole troupe began to devoutly plead to Nagbapa. They even swore to make Nagbapa their prime religious deity, Kuldev (the community god).
Subsequently, Nagbapa was impressed with their true devotion and decided to help them. He not only brought the ring back but also presented them with an idol that was an embodiment of His Holy Self. Later on, Nagbapa also came to be known as Shri Satrasia Bapa. The idol was installed in our community temple at Dhasa village, Bhavnagar District in Gujarat, where it still lay in the Gokh of the temple.