Bhagawan Shri Chitragupta is described among the 14 Yamas. He is mentioned as a record-keeper God of all creatures on the earth, seated near Bhagawan Shri Dharmaraja. The Society believes that Shri Chitragupta is the progenitor of the Kayastha caste. The word Chitragupta is mentioned in the different Vedic and Pauranic scriptures. On the other hand, the word Kayastha is found in the seals of the Gupta period of the Indian history, historically not before the third century AD. The scholars confirm that the word Kayastha was used to denote an administrative officer of the state before this word was established as a noun for indicating the particular caste.
In present times, the word Kayastha denotes the high class caste among the Hindus of Tarai area of Nepal. This group of people is found in the different provinces of India and Bangladesh. Likewise, there is Kayastha sub-caste group in the Newar community in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. Kayasthas are divided into 12 major sub-caste groups, such as i) Ambashtha, ii)Ashthana, iii)Bhatanagar, iv) Gaur, v)Karna, vi) Kulashreshtha, vii) Mathur, viii) Nigam, ix) Saksena, x) Shrivastav, xi) Suryadhvaj and xii) Valmiki. Besides, the Chandraseni-prabhu of Maharashtra province of India and the Patanalakarana of South Indian region are also considered as the sub-group of Kayastha caste. The Kayasthas of Bengal province of India are identical as they received the honour of Bhadraloka.
Birganj is a town situated in Parsa district of Narayani Zone of Nepal. Geographically, the town is located within 270 — 27026′ north latitude and 8408′ — 84027′ east longitude and the elevation is 122 metre. Situated on the land of middle southern Nepal as the gate-way of the country, this town is one of the main industrial and transit trade centre.
The people of Kayastha caste inhabited in Birganj are engaged in different professions. Kayasthas of this region worship Bhagawan Shri Chitragupta on the second day of moonlit half of Kartika month (Kartika Shukla Paksha Dvitiya Tithi). In Birganj, these kinds of Puja functions were managed on personal level by different families. On the other hand, the number of Kayasthas was increasing in town due to the economic, educational and other circumstances. By the time, a thought emerged among some leading personalities of Kayasthas of Birganj that the Puja of Bhagawan Shri Chitragupta should be jointly organized at one place, so that the sentiments of caste-unity, social-identity, harmony and mutual co-operation would have been promoted. In this context, by the motivation and inspiration of such kind of thought, all the people of Kayastha caste awakened and decided to manage the Puja of Bhagawan Shri Chitragupta collectively gathering at one place. For this purpose, an ad-hoc Shri Chitragupta Committee was formed on Saturday, 30th October, 1982 AD. Then, the Puja committee was formed and the Puja of Bhagawan Shri Chitragupta was accomplished collectively at local Mahabirprasad Babulal Tibarewala Dharmashala on Wednesday, 17th November,1982 AD. By the disposal function of the Puja, a splendid pageant procession was marched in the town which was considered as a symbol of identity and existence of the Kayasthas in the society of Birganj.
By the decision of the ad-hoc committee taken on Saturday,1st January,1983 AD, two sub-committees were formed — one for making draft of the legislation of Shri Chitragupta Committee and other for searching the land for building the temple of Bhagawan Shri Chitragupta. The legislation of Shri Chitragupta Committee was passed on Saturday, 15th January, 1983 AD. The land for the temple was donated by Shri Vikrama Singh Bhumihar, an inhabitant of Jeetpur (Bara district, Nepal) and by the then Birganj Nagar Panchayat. In this way, 0.0169.2 hectare area of land located at the Mandir Marg, westward from the Maisthan Chowk was found for the construction of the temple. The foundation stone of temple was laid on Saturday, 17th September, 1983 AD. In building the temple, the contributions of Birganj Nagar Panchayat (Municipality) and the Kayastha community of Birganj and some other places are remarkable. In this temple, a statue of Bhagawan Shri Chitragupta, made in Jaipur, India, was established on Friday, 8th November, 1991 AD (Kartika Shukla Dvitiya).
After two decades, the necessity was felt that the responsibilities of patronage and the management of Shri Chitragupta Committee and the temple should be entrusted to a Trust. For this purpose, a decision was taken by General Assembly of the Kayasthas of the town on Saturday, 23rd August, 2003 AD and a Trust was made of 21 persons. According to an agreement of the trustees, the registration of Shri Chitragupta Committee as a Trust was completed on Tuesday, 21st September,2004 AD. in Parsa District Malpot Office, Birganj. Now, there are Council of Patrons and Working Committee, which are working according to the legislation and rules. This committee is contributing in different ways towards the social, cultural and ritual functions. At present, this temple has a three-storey building consisting of many rooms including one big conference hall.
Besides, there are two other such organizations of the Kayasthas’ in Birganj — one is ‘Shri Chitrans Atithi Sadan’ and other is ‘Shri Chitragupta Atithi Sadan Samiti’ located in Ward No. 3 and Chitragupta nagar ward No. 1 respectively.
