Sunday, July 10, 2011

Marathi: Mangeshkar

How does the famous surname "Mangeshkar" come?

A common custom of Maharashtrians (natives of Maharashtra state in India) is that they take surnames after their ancestral villages' names. Typically a lot of communities add a "kar" at the end of the village's name, to form their parental surname. The famous singer Lata Mangeshkar's surname is no exception. The surname "Mangeshkar" comes from "Mangeshi" town in Goa where her family originally belonged to.

The name "Mangeshi" itself has been derived from Goddess Mangeshi Temple in Goa - goddess Mangeshi who is a form of Durga or Shakti (ref: concept of Power in Hinduism) is considered the deity there and hence the name of the village/town was after this deity. Lord Shiva has also been named as "Mangesh" and his female counterpart is "Mangeshi".

'Lata' is a Sanskrit word meaning creeper in reference to a plant that spreads by means of stems that creep. Many Indian languages use this word, meaning the same.

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