Dugar

The Dugar (also called Duggar, Duggad, Dugad) is a Gotra belonging to the Jain (Oswal) community of Rajasthan.

According to Mahajan Vansh Muktavali: The King of Maarwar, Surdeo Khich was a brave Rajput King. He had two sons, named Dugar and Sugad. Both the brothers established a new city Aghat in Mewar. Once the criminal tribes surrounded the Aghat City and started killing the innocent people, both the brothers arrested and punished them. When the Nawab of Chittorgarh Berisal Singh Sisodia heard that Dugar and Sugad had arrested such notorious criminals; he became pleased and called them to his palace and honoured them with the title of Shri Raoraja.

There was an old temple of Naharsingh Dave outside the boundary of Aghat City. The people of Aghat destroyed the temple so Dave became angry, and began to create nuisance and violence in the city and started torturing and killing the women and children. Both of the Raorajas Dugar and Sugad tried a lot but failed to stop him.

Then coincidentally, Manidhari Acharya Shri Jinchandra Suri came to Aghat city and were notified about the nuisance created by Dave. Acharya Shri prayed to Padmavati Devi and asked her to come and help them. Padmavati Devi appeared and caught Naharsingh Dave and punished him to death.

By seeing this miracle, both the brothers adopted Jainism. Manidhari Acharya Shri Jinchandra Suri made them Oswals in V.S. 1217 and their gotras were named Dugar and Sugad. As they were rajputs, Acharya Shri told them to worship 'Ashapura Mata' as their Kuldavi. Her temple is situated at Nadol, Pali District, Rajasthan, India.

Chittorgarh Nawab Berisal Singh Sisodia was so impressed by this incident that he also became Oswal and adopted Jainism. His gotra was named Sisodia. His Deewaan Khetani also became Oswal, so his family was named Khetani.

In V.S. 1229, the marriage of Shri Satidas Surana's daughter “Suswani” got fixed with Dugar. She was very beautiful and Nawab of Nagor heard about her and fell in love with her. He expressed his wish to merry 'Suswani' in front of her father, but her father said that the girl was an incarnation of the Mata Ambe and it was not in his power to bestow her on any body. The nawab got angry and threatened to obtain her by force.

Suswani agreed to marry him with the condition that she will stand 7 feet in distance from the nawab and he has to catch her then she will marry him. Nawab agreed on her terms. Par the condition, she started running on foot and Nawab on the hors. Nawab could not catch her up to Morkhana village and the distance between them was as it is. She kept on running and when she got tired, she went to a small shrine Mahadeva (lord Shiva) and prayed to Mahadev to save her. Immediately, a lioness appeared on which she mounted and entered in the Kera tree. There she was entered into the earth, the chasm which has opened in the earth close up again.

Soon after, Malahdas Surana, the younger brother of Shri Satidas Surana, saw a dream in which Suswani in the form of Devi (Goddess) ordered him to construct a temple at the place where she entered into the earth. When Malahdas Surana expressed the lack of money to construct the temple, Devi told him about a place with hidden treasure in his ‘Goshala’. Malahdas constructed a temple of Suswani Mataji with the help of that money.

Since then Suswani Mataji is the Satimata of Dugar as well as Surana and Sankhala Gotras. Her temple is situated at Morkhana, Bikaner District, Rajasthan, India.

The three categories of Dugar's under Shwetamber sect are Sthanakwasi, Terapanthi and Murtipujak.