The campaign to rescue the group of the Patidar caste, which was getting engulfed in the Khanapanthi sect, regained momentum only after the massacre of Hindus in Punjab, Calcutta, and other provinces in 1947.

If we do not remember our pioneer reformers Pujya Narayanji Bapa, Kesharabapa, and Odhavjiram, we would be considered ungrateful. Our sect had forgotten our Ishtadev (chosen deity) and Kuldevta (family deity) and had become engrossed in the worship of people like Imamshah. Our brave men worked very hard to extricate a large section of the caste from the Khanapanthi sect. They worked extremely hard to show the right direction to the caste while bearing the brunt of insults.

During the India-Pakistan war of 1971, a large number of Sodha Hindu families were forced to migrate from Pakistan. Upon coming to Kutch, they narrated their ordeal of the tyrannical language of Muslims to our elders and appealed to them to embrace the Hindu religion. At such a time, the shops of Khanapanth running in the interior villages of Kutch slowly began to shut down. The transformation tactics of the Satpanthi masters did not work. The attempts to rename the ‘Khana’ (Pirana place of worship) to Imamshah’s Jagya, Jyotidham, Jyotimandir, Nishkalankidham, and finally the temple of Nishkalanki Narayan have gone in vain.

Today, Vithon, Dhavda, Sangnara, and Sayra (Yaksh) villages of Nakhatrana Taluka are almost entirely Sanatani villages. In the villages, only one or two families still speak the language of ‘curd and milk’ (double-talk/mixed faith).

In Anandsar (Vi.), 50 years ago, our own elder Late Karshan Meghji Limbani accepted the change and reality and took the initiative to make the Patidar people of the village Sanatani. He himself removed Imamshah’s Pat (religious seat) and installed the Pan Murti (image on leaf) of Laxmi Narayan. He also lowered the flag of the Satpanth religious place, i.e., “Jagya,” and started the Sanatani movement in the village; at that time, misleading propaganda and threats were also issued by the Khanapanthis. But Karshan Bapa remained steadfast and took up the challenge to lead the Patidar society on the true path.

After converting the ‘Jagya’ into a temple, he also took up the responsibility of performing the service and Aarti of Bhagwan Laxminarayan, and the village elder Karshan Meghji Limbani has made a valuable contribution in creating a Sanatani atmosphere in the village. In this way, the Sanatani movement began in many villages and achieved success.