Myths of Kanchi kamakoti Peetam

If you have ever gone to to websites of Kanchi Komakoti Peetam or Wiki or websites related to Kanchi Mutt you will come across the following claims and much more. We will see the following claims.

Claims made

• Shankara established the Kanchi mutt
• Kumbakonam mutt is branch of Kanchi mutt
• Kanchi Mutt is 2500 years old
• Adi Shankara spent last days of his life in Kanchi mutt He is buried in the premises of the mutt
• Kanchi mutt was established as the controlling centre of other mutts.
• Suresvara was appointed as the successor to Shankara at Kanchi mutt.
• Kanchi mutt was shifted to Kumbakonam in 18th century AD due to opposition from the Local kings in Kanchi

Is Kanchi Mutt 2500 years old?
First we have to fix the date of Adi Shankara to know the date of Kanchi mutt as it is claimed to have been established by him. Date of Shankara , We have already seen in another article about dating Shri Adi Shankara. His date is fixed to 8th century AD not 500BC as claimed by Kanchi Mutt. So the question of Kanchi Mutt being 2500 years old do not arise.

No Tamil or Sanskrit literature before 19th century Speaks of Kanchi Mutt , which shows there was no mutt during that period.

Did Adi Shankara established Kanchi Mutt?
Every other Mutt or religious work mentioning Shankara have told there are only four mutts established by Shankara , independent of the other. Each mutt was allotted Upanishads to focus on

Saraswati, Bharati and Puri -------------Shringeri (South)
Tirtha and Ashrama-----------------------Dwarka (West)
Giri, Parvata and Sagara-----------------Jyotir (North)
Vanam and Aranyam----------------------Govardhan (East)

Except Kanchi Mutt and its associates all the Other mutts say that Shankara died in Himalayas. His final days are said like this: Setting off from the Jyotir Ashram (Badrinath) in the Himalayan he headed toward the nearby Mountainous region of Kedarnath, the place that was destined to be his final resting place. His four chief disciples accompanied him part of the way, but then Shankara insisted they go no further as the final part of his journey was to be completed alone.

Kanchi Mutt Chronicles , claim that Adi Sankaracharya had spent the last days of his life in Kanchipuram where he attained samadhi, and not in the Himalayas as is generally believed. A mandapam named after the father of the school of advaita philosophy, seen in the Kamakshi temple premises, is cited as his samadhi. It was originally called `Sankaracharya samadhi', but when it was pointed out there could not be a samadhi inside a Devi temple, the mandapam was renamed `Sankaracharya sannidhi' - sanctum, not a tomb.

So we can see that the Shankara cannot have come to kanchi in the final moments of his life and established the Kanchi mutt.



Kumbakonam mutt is branch of Kanchi mutt
According to the Kanchi chronicles, the math in Kanchipuram had to be shifted in the 18th century AD, in the face of opposition from local kings and hence the shift to Kumbhakonam. (One does not know of any Hindu-hating king near Kanchipuram from the 18th century.)

"Historians, however, hold that the Kumbhakonam math is a branch of the Sringeri math established in 1821 AD by the famous Maratha monarch of Tanjore, Pratap Singh Tuljaji. It is the date of the oldest inscription found in the Kumbhakonam math building. The Inscription is in Kannada. The math refers itself as sarada math. The diety of Sringeri mutt. If the mutt has anything to do with kanchi, it should have been diety kamakshi , the goddess of kanchi not sarada. Kumbakonam Mutt Independence Kumbhakonam math proclaimed independence from Sringeri and established itself as the " Kamakoti peetham.". In addition to denying the historical truth of its origin as a branch of the Sringeri math, the story propagated was that it was originally established by Adi Sankaracharya himself at Kanchipuram, with control over the recognized four maths. Worse, a wholly fictitious story that Adi Sankaracharya ascended a sarvagna-pitha at Kanchi and attained samadhi at Kanchi is propagated as "tradition." The real problem though was that in the course of this campaign, someone with more enthusiasm than scholarship, "fixed" the date of Adi Sankaracharya as 477 B.C. and wrote up a continuous list of gurus of the math from 477 B.C. to the present! This guru parampara is filled with names of sannyasis taken at random, with no thought to chronology.

Kanchi Mutt origin
In 1839 AD, the head of the Kumbhakonam math applied for permission to the English Collector to perform the kumbhabhishekam of the Kamakshi temple in Kanchipuram. In 1842 AD, he was appointed sole trustee of the Kamakshi temple by the English East India Company Government. This is well documented because the original priests of the Kamakshi temple, who were thereby deprived of their rights, complained to whomever they could possibly complain to. Numerous petitions, counter petitions, letters, and other suchdocuments are available from this period.

Thus the Kanchi math as an institution dates from 1842 AD. The headquarters continued to be at Kumbhakonam but the sannyasi head would periodically visit Kanchipuram to assert his rights over the Kamakshi temple.This math originally had a limited following in the Tanjore and Kanchipuram areas, but soon embarked on a massive propaganda campaign that ensured it prominence. The Kumbhakonam math shifted to Kanchipuram in accordance with its new story.
Suresvara was appointed as the successor to Shankara at Kanchi mutt. The Kanchi chronicles explain that before his demise, Shankaracharya established a fifth math at Kanchi which he intended to be a controlling centre of all the other maths. Sri Sureswaracharya, Sankara's prime disciple was placed in charge of it. Interestingly, the Sringeri math also claims Sureswaracharya as their first pontiff. If Sankaracharya did not establish the Kanchi math at all, where was the need to appoint a successor there?!! It is the Kanchi math that "claims" Sureswara. The Sringeri math does not "claim" so. In fact, a very old structure that is reputed to be Sureswara's samadhi is still preserved outside the Sarada temple at Sringeri.



Conclusion
We can see that the Mutt is anything but lies one after another. Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, who lifted a math disintegrating in Kumbhakonam and re-established it in Kanchipuram, according it a position of pre-eminence. But the chronicles are just out of this world. So many lies left, right and centre. Not surprising that the math has such scandalous history. The Mutt is known for More political connections then spirtual quests. To conclude Here is an institution

• A mutt Not even 200 years old claiming as 2500 years old.
• Kanchi Mutt is a branch of kumbakonam mutt, which inturn is the branch of Sringeri Mutt. What kanchi mutt claims is the other way around, brushing aside all the historical facts.

Source
Real History of Kanchi Mutt by Vidyasankar Sundaresan

The Truth about the Kumbhakonam Math, Sri R. Krishnaswamy Aiyar and Sri K. R. Venkatraman, Sri Ramakrishna Press, Madurai,1977.

Kanchi Kamakoti Math - a Myth - Sri Varanasi Raj Gopal Sarma, Ganga Tunga Prakashan, Varanasi, 1987.

The Illustrated Weekly of India, "The Weekly Cover Story" - K. P. Sunil, September 13, 1987.

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Origin of Seuna Dynasty

The Seuna, Sevuna or Yadava dynasty (Marathi: देवगिरीचे यादव ,Kannada: ಸೇವುಣರು)(850 - 1334) was an Indian dynasty, which during their peak ruled present day Maharashtra, north Karnataka and parts of Madhya Pradesh from their capital at Devagiri (present-day Daulatabad in Maharashtra).

They initially ruled as feudatories of the Western Chalukyas and around the middle of the 12th. century, declared their independence. At their peak under Singhana II, they ruled a large kingdom stretching from the Tungabhadra to the Narmada rivers.

Who are these rulers has been of considerable debate between Scholars, Whether they are Yadavas or Marathi or Kannada stock. let us see.

Yadava
The Suena dynasty claimed descent from the Chandravanshi Yadavas of north India. According to the verse 21 of Vratakhand (a Sanskrit work by Hemadri), the Seunas were originally from Mathura and later moved to Dwaraka. Hemdari calls them as Krishnakulotpanna (i.e. descendants of Lord Krishna). The Marathi saint Dnyaneshwar describes them as yadukulvansh tilak as well. Some of their inscriptions call them Dvaravatipuravaradhishvaras ("masters of Dvaravati or Dwaraka").

A stone inscription found at Anjaneri near Nasik says there was a minor branch of the Yadava family ruling over a small district with Anjaneri as the chief city. The inscription indicates that a ruler called Seunadeva belonging to Yadava family called himself Mahasamanta and made a grant to a Jain temple.

Dr.Kolarkar also believe that Yadavas belonged to North India.

Marathi
Prof. George Moraes, V. K. Rajwade, C. V. Vaidya, Dr. A.S. Altekar, Dr. D.R. Bhandarkar, and J. Duncan M. Derrett, the Seuna dynasty rulers were of Maratha descent. The Seunas patronised the Marathi language. Digambar Balkrishna Mokashi noted that Yadava dynasty rule was "what seems to be the first true Maratha empire". In his book Medieval India, C.V.Vaidya states that Yadavas are "definitely pure Maratha Kshatriyas".
Dr. O. P. Varma, state that Yadavas themselves were Marathi speakers and the age of the Yadavas.

The Yadavas of Devagiri patronised Marathi and Marathi was their court language. It is said that Kannada might be a court language during Seunachandra's rule,however Marathi language was the only court-language of Ramchandra and Mahadeva Yadavas. The Yadava capital Devagiri became a beacon for learned scholars in Marathi to showcase and find patronage for their skills. The origin and growth of Marathi literature is directly linked with rise of Yadava dynasty.

Kannadiga
C M Kulkarni, Colin Masica, Shrinivas Ritti etc. believe that the Seuna Yadavas were Kannada-speaking people. Linguist Colin Masica believes that the Yadavas were originally Kannada-speaking and used Kannada in their inscriptions (along with Sanskrit). However, by the time of Muslim conquest, they had begin to patronize Marathi, and Marathi phrases or lines were beginning to appear in their inscriptions. Dr. Shrinivas Ritti's speculates that Seunas must have been originally from Kannada-speaking region and migrated northwords due to political situation in the Deccan at that time

Many Seuna rulers had pure Kannada names and titles like "Dhadiyappa", "Bhillama", "Rajugi", "Vadugi" and "Vasugi", "Kaliya Ballala". Other kings had names like "Singhana" and "Mallugi" which were also used by the Southern Kalachuri dynasty. Records show that one of the early rulers "Seunachandra II" had a Kannada title Sellavidega. The Seunas had very close matrimonial relationships with royal Kannada families through out their rule . Bhillama II was married to Lachchiyavve from a Rashtrakuta descendant family in Karnataka area. Vaddiga was married to Vaddiyavve, daughter of Rashtrakuta chieften Dhorappa. Wives of Vesugi and Bhillama III were Chalukya princess.

Also, over five hundred inscriptions belonging to the Seuna dynasty have been found in Karnataka, the oldest being of the rule of Bhillama II. Most of these are in Kannada language. some others are in Kannada language but Devanagari script . The Seuna coins from the early part of the rule itself have Kannada legends. Many scholars such as Dr. O. P. Varma, therefore believe that Kannada was certainly a court language along with Marathi and Sanskrit during Seuna times.

During the rule of the Seunas, ruling chieftains who were related to the Seuna Kings were from Kannada-speaking families, like the Seunas of Masavadi-140 in present day Dharwad. Dr. A. V. Narasimha Murthy opined that during the later part of the Rashtrakuta rule from Manyakheta, Seuna chieftains were despatched from the Karnataka region to rule near Nasik.

Kannada was one of the court languages since early Seuna times, as is evident from a number of Kannada-language inscriptions. Kamalabhava, patronised by Bhillama V wrote Santhishwarapurana, Achanna composed Varadhamanapurana in 1198, Amugideva composed many Vachanas or devotional songs. He was patronised by Singhana II. Chaundarasa of Pandharapur wrote Dashakumara Charite.

Eventhough Marathi Scholars claim ,Marathi was the only court language
in Ramachandra and subsequent Seunas rulers period, there are abundant
kannada inscriptions in Maharastra, Karnataka and Andhra.

Conclusion
It is common for rulers to claim alligence to historical characters in the past, especially in karnataka as it they followed Manu philosophy to get a divine right to rule. So all the rulers since Maurys have claimed to belong to some divine castes to differeniate themselves from the people they ruled. So calling themselves to be yadavas from north should not be taken seriously unless there is evidence for that. Here there is no evidence.

Seuna rule saw the development of Marathi, and it was the golden age of Marathi. That should not make them blind to Kannada origin, Kannada rulers have ruled all over India have patronised the local language everywhere Telugu (Chalukyas, Vijaynagar, Rastrakuta), Tamil (Gangas, Chalukya, Rastrakuta), Gujarathi( Chalukya, Solanki), Bengali (Pala, Sena), Oriya(Ganga), Nepali(Malla) and various prakrits in present day Rajasthan, MP, UP , Bihar by , satavahana and subsequent Rastrakuta rulers like Rathores(Rathod). And partronising the local language has given a edge to the kannada rulers in a alien territory.

Around 10th century Kannada was the predominant language in Maharastra should not be missed.

So the seunas are kannada origin

origin of Chatrapati Shivaji

Shivaji Bhonslé, also known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhonslé was the founder of the Maratha empire in western India in 1674 which was instrumental in the downfall of the Mughal Empire. He is also remembered for being the only secular king in medieval India; (Marathi: छत्रपती शिवाजीराजे भोसले).
Let us see controversies behind his origin.

Rajput Origin
Bhosle family considers that it descended from the Sisodia Rajputs of Udaipur. It is quite possible that some Ksatriya clans of the Rajputs came down to the Maratha country form the north during the long ascendancy of the Muslims. Nevertheless, it is a historical fact that there were Ksatriya families in the deccan like the Rastrakutas, the Calukyas and the Seunas. The Rajputs infact evolved from Chalukyas, Rastrakutas of South India.

Kannada Origin
Dr. Ramachandra Chintamana Dhere argues that Shivaji's ancestor is Balipa or Baliyappa hailing from a place called Soratur near Gadag in north Karnataka. Another important claim apart from the geographical origins of Shivaji by Dr. Dhere is that Shivaji is not a Rajput but a Yadava or a Gowli as is popularly known in Maharastra or a Golla in Karnataka. The author also dwells into the origin of the word Bhosale, which is believed to be Shivaji's second name. According to the author Bhosale is a verbal distortion of the word "Hoysala," which is a name of a dynasty that ruled Karnataka. Likewise the author also takes a clue from the deity Shivaji worshipped, "Shikara Shinganapura Shambhu Mahadeva." According to Dhere's findings, the deity is none other than "Shreeshaila Mallikarjuna," which also corroborates the fact that Shivaji is not a Rajput. To this effect Dhere provides sufficient historical and evidences from folklore.



Bhonsle Family origin
The Bhosle family is counted among the royal or Ksatriya clans of the Marathas. The Bhosle house to which Chatrapati Sivaji, the founder of Maratha Kingdom belonged, hailed from Verul near Baulatabad. The Bhosle of Nagpur are known as Hinganikar as one of their ancestors who was probably a contemporary of Maloji, the grandfather of Chatrapati Sivaji, rehabilitated the village Beradi near Hingani in the present district of Poona, the two brothers Mudhoji and Rupaji of Hingani-Beradi were contemporaries of Sahaji Bhosle the father of Shivaji. Like Chatrapati Bhosle house, the Nagpur Bhosle family, too, considers that it descended from the Sisodia Rajputs of Udaipur. It is quite possible that some Ksatriya clans of the Rajputs came down to the Maratha country form the north during the long ascendancy of the Muslims. Nevertheless, it is a historical fact that there were Ksatriya families in the Maratha country like the Rastrakutas, the Calukyas and the Yadavas.

The family tree in the bakhar of the Bhosle of Nagpur denotes ancestors who were common to this house and also to the Bhosle house of the Chatrapatis. The Bhosles of Nagpur and the Chatrapati house belonged to the same Kshatriya clan. However, there is no independent historical evidence to establish common ancestry between the two families in the few generations preceding Chatrapati Sivaji. The account in the bakhar of the Bhosle of Nagpur, therefore, has to be taken with a grain of salt,

In the biography of Chatrapati Sambhaji by Malhar Ramrav Citanis it is stated that after the death of Sivaji his obsequies were performed by Sabaji Bhosle, as Sambhaji the eldest son, was in confinement of the fort of Panhala. But james Grant Duff in his "A History of the Marathas" vol. I. P. 243, says that Sivaji's funeral rites were performed by one 'Shahjee Bhonslay' (Sahaji Bhosle). There is no unanimity among contemporary writers about the person performing Sivaji's funeral rites. If however, Sabaji Bhosle performed the obsequies there is every possibility that this Bhosle the ancestor of the famous Raghuji Bhosle of Nagpur was a known blood relation of the Chatrapatis.



At the time of Sahu Chatrapati's home coming when Tarabai and her partisans purposely cast doubt about Sahu being the grandson of Sivaji, it was Parasoji of the Nagpur Bhosle house who dined with Sahu and dispelled the doubt. Then again during the last years of Sahu's reign it was strongly rumoured that he would select an heir to the a GADI of Satara from the Bhosle of Nagpur as he had no son. Later, the English offered to seat one of the Bhosle's of Nagpur on the Gadi of Satara. All these events indicate the possibility of a common ancestor of the Bhosles of Satara and Nagpur through direct historical evidence is not yet forthcoming to establish the fact. The two Bhosle brothers Mudhoji and Rupaji were contemporaries of Sahaji Bhosle and were noted roving soldiers. Rupaji it seems was residing at Bham in the district of Yavatmal where he had a JAGIR. He was childless. Of the sons of Mudhoji, Parasji and Sabaji stayed with their uncle at Bham and served in the army of Chatrapati Sivaji.

whatever be his origin , he is a marathi king. The claims are not without any political mileage

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Seuna Origin
Marathi origin
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Konkani Literature Myths

Prior to the arrival of the Portuguese there was highly developed Konkani literature, which was destroyed by them.

There was no literature in Konkani at the time of Portuguese occupation of the tiny island or adjoining Konkan Kshetra. There is no historical or archaeological evidence to support the theory that the Portuguese destroyed literature in Konkani. If they had destroyed Konkani literature than it would have existed in the adjoining areas of the Nova Conquistas, which did not face the wrath of the Inquisition. The Church played a major role in producing religious litereature in primarily in Konkani and secondarily in other languages.


Konkani written in Devanagari script is of high quality and Konkani written in Roman script is of sub standard quality.

The Devanagari is the natural script for Konkani language advocated first by a Portuguese scholar Monsenhor Sebastio Rudolf Dalgado in 1905 and later adopted in the first Konkani Sahitya Parishad in 1939 in Goa. Vaman Varde Valaulikar stressed that ‘Konkani had right to Sanskrit’s script as any other Indian tongue’ (Pereira 1973: 69). The scholars argue against the use of the Roman script because it is not suited for the native languages. William Jones argued against use of the Roman script. He claimed the English alphabet and orthography are disgracefully and almost ridiculously imperfect. Sir William Kirkpatrick stated ‘he employed Devanagari characters to help the student to pronounce more correctly than he or she could be taught either by Persian or English’ (Wakankar 1986: 8).

'16'th century was the golden era of Konkani literature.

Konkani saw better days in the 16th century when European missionaries embarked upon its systematic study and created religious literature in it. The establishment of the printing press in 1556 helped to publish books in as well as about Konkani.This good work continued for about five generations of European missionaries, that is, from about 1550 to about 1675. And then began the dark period. At the instance of the new generations of European missionaries, the King of Portugal issued the Decree of 1684, which abolished the use of Konkani in education as well as other fields. So Konkanis consider the 16th century as the golden era of konkani literature.

Sravana Belagola Inscription
The undated Shravana Belagola inscription ascribed to 983 A.D has the following line in nagari script Konkani language: “Sri Chavunda Rajem Karavailem” meaning that Sri Chavunda Raya caused the statue of Gomateshwara to be constructed.
In marathi 'Chamundaraye Karaviyale' meaning built by Chamundaraya. This statue of lord Gomateshwara was created around 983 AD by Chamundraya, a minister of the Ganga King, Rajamalla
Probablity: It is in prakrit. Both Konkani and marathi are from Prakrit. The first insription in prakrit is neither in konkani nor in Marathi ,but in prakrit. Eventhough the installation of statue is 983AD, the date of the inscription is still in Doubt, it is said to be of later date.

Myth of Maharastri Prakrit

The meaning of ‘Prakrit’ is ‘Natural’. The word prakrit is used for the group of languages spoken in ancient India.

Jainism has a great relation with Prakrit Languages. In ancient India Sanskrit was spoken only by Vedic Brahmins, while common people’s language was Prakrit. Jains always promoted their religion through people’s languages. So most of ancient Jain literature was written in various Prakrit Languages.

Some of the Prakrit Languages:
a) Ardhmagadhi Prakrit: Ardhmagadhi was the language of people in Magadh (today Bihar). This language is spoken between 600 BCE to 100 CE. Vardhman Mahavir and his Ganadhars gave sermons in Ardhmagadhi. Mahavir teachings were transmitted to next generation through the oral tradition. Later Shrideverdhigani compiled the teachings in 454CE. The famous & popular Namokar-Mantra is in Ardhmagadhi language.

b) Shourseni Prakrit: Shourseni was being spoken at Shoorsen (Mathura) region of North India between 100BCE to 500CE. Digamber Jains wrote their philosophical literature in Shourseni language. The Shatkhandagam and Acharya Kundkund’s works are in Shourseni. In Sanskrit dramas of Bhas, Kalidas etc. Shourseni is used for dialogs of servants, jokers, Labours etc.

c) Apbhransh: The meaning of Apbhransh is ‘Vulgar’ or ‘Impure’. Apbhransh is not a single language but there are many Apbhransh languages that were born from various Prakrit Languages. Apbhransh languages were spoken between 500CE to 1000CE. There is lot off Jain literature written in Apbhransh languages in medieval period.

d) Maharashtri Prakrit: This language is said to be later used by Jains.

Many today modern languages have roots in these prakrits.

Western Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi ------->Shourseni Apbhransh
Eastern Hindi--- --------------------->Ardhmagadhi Apbhransh
Marathi, Konkani -------------------->Maharashtri Apbhransh
Bangla, Udia, Assamese, Bhojpuri----->Magdhi Apbhransh
Gujrathi, Rajasthani ------------------>Nagar Apbhransh
Kashmiri----------------------------->Paishachi Apbhransh

The classic Sanskrit language also has its roots in old Prakrit language spoken in North-India in Vedic & Pre-Vedic period.

Now we have good sources for the other Prakrit. But when we see Maharashtri Prakrit, we have lot of doubts regarding the same. Basically because of the condition of the evidences suggested.

1.It is all Prakrit, little variations.
All the above are Prakrit and apart from the religious leanings there is no evidence of different Prakrits.

2. No parallel history with other prakrits
No Maharashtri Prakrit texts exist to verify whether the Maharashtri Prakrit is different at the time we are talking about Ardhmagadhi or Shourseni Prakrit. After the Ardhmagadhi Prakrit and Shourseni Prakrit eras we find only one Prakrit that is Maharashtri Prakrit. We don’t have any evidence to show all merged into one Prakrit.

3.All languages are like rivers, change in various stages
Like all languages Prakrit has undergone a change. Maharashtri Prakrit is also one of the stages not necessarily one of the branches. We find a Jain literature using early Prakrits in later stages using Maharashtri Prakrits. So it is just evaluation not branch of Prakrit. Jains who want to preach in local languages just picked up the most local of them at that time, which has many Kannada words in them.

4.Maharastri Prakrit does not show any natural characteristic like other Prakrits to show it is different.

Hence Maharashtri Prakrit is a myth that is has propagated to stretch the antiquity of Marathi.

Myths of Konkani Language

Konkani Language carry many myths- Let us see one by one.

1. Konkani is a daughter of Sanskrit.
Konkani like its sibling marathi evolved from Shouraseni Prakrit.

2. Konkani is the mother tongue of over 50 lakhs of people.
Government 1991 Figures put 17,60,607 (17Lakhs)

3. Konkani is an Aryan language. Therefore Devanagari script is the natural script for Konkani.
Konkani evolved from Prakrit, but devanagari script is used for both Marathi and
konkani from Mid 20th century onwards only. Previously Kannada script was used.

4. Konkani sounds cannot be correctly written in Roman script.
Again it depends on konkani of which area. In Goa english is used even in village
meetings and in this case appropriate script will be Roman, but it cannot be said
about konkani in Karnataka, kerala or Madhyapradesh.

5. Those who know Devanagari script can easily read and write Konkani.
Yes , but not understand. Konkani remains mutually intelligible to konkani's form
different states.

6. In Goa Roman Konkani and Devanagari Konkani are found.
Goa became active in konkani only after konkani language was made scheduled
language.

7. Compared to Catholics, Hindus speak pure and good Konkani.
Konkani is corrupted or influenced by the surroundings, whereever they are and not
with respect to religion. Kerala- Malayalam, karnataka- Tulu, kannada, Goa-
English ,Portuguese, Madhya pradesh- Hindi.

8. Konkani spoken and written by the Saraswats is the standard Konkani.
Agari of Kolaba ,Parabhi (Kayasthi, Damani) ,Koli ,Kiristav ,Dhanagari ,Bhandari , Thakuri (Thakari, Thakri, Thakua, Thakura) ,Karhadi , Sangamesvari (Bakoti, Bankoti) ,Ghati (Maoli) , Mahari (Dhed, Holia, Parvari ,Standard Konkani (Goan) ,Bardeskari (Gomantaki) ,Sarasvat Brahmin, Kudali (Malvani) , Daldi (Nawaits) , Chitpavani (Konkanasths) , Mangalore are the dilects of Konkani. So saraswats of konkani spoken in Goa is not the only konkani spoken. There is no evidence to show Saraswats speak pure konkani. Since it is the state language of Goa, it gets much legitemacy.

9. Spoken Konkani is inferior compared to written Konkani.
There is again no standard konkani. Konkani is mainly a spoken language. So the idea itself is absurd.

10. Portuguese missionaries corrupted Konkani language of Goan Catholics.
Konkani got revived because of Portuguese. Portuguese introduced first printed works. When Mangalore can retain konkani , why cant Goa.

11. Missionaries learnt Konkani to spread their faith and not out of love for Konkani.
That is true , which may be controversial.

12. Konkani written in Devanagari script is Marathicized Konkani.
Devanagari is just a script , so many languages are written in Devanagari.

13. One, who knows to speak, read and write only Konkani is a semi-literate.
Not necessarily.

14. The original inhabitants of Goa were Austro-Asiatic people and Konkani vocabulary is influenced by Mundari language.
Konkani derives its name from konka tribe who lived in present day konkan, They migrated to other regions due to unknown reasons. There is no evidence to suggest konka's spoke konkani. Konkani is related to Bengali and Assamese.

15. In the 16th century there was only one standard Konkani, namely that of Salcete. Gradually other dialects emerged from it.
Konkani existed as dilects before portuguese introduced the printing. They resurrected a dying language. All the dilects emerged from single language, but not salcete.

16. Konkani words of Portuguese origin are to be replaced by native words.
Each language is enriched by its vacabulary , so it goes with konkani.

Origin of Marathi

Marathi is the language of more than fifty million people mostly residing in Maharashtra, the region in western India with Bombay as its capital. However, the name Maharashtra does not occur in the Ramayana, nor in the Mahabharata. The Chinese traveler Yuan-Chwang referred to this area, in the seventh century as Mo-ha-la-cho. In tenth century Al Beruni mentions the Marhatta region with Thane as its capital. Till then Konkana was not included in this area; Soparak was its other name (modern Sopara, the harbour).

There is no unanimity amongst scholars about the origin and antiquity of this language. The first written form is in Vijayaditya's Copper-plate, dated 739 A.D., found in Satara. In 983 A.D., the stone inscription at the feet of Shravanabelgola Gomateshwar- Chavundarajen Karaviyalen (Built by Chavandaraja, the king), is considered to be the oldest. An interesting couplet in the Jain monk Udyotan Suri's Kuvalayamala in the eighth century, refers to a bazar where different people speak differently, selling their goods: the Marhattes speak Dinnale, Gahille (given, taken).

About the geneology of the language scholars have different views: C.V. Vaidya maintained that it developed from Sanskrit, Sten Knonow maintained that it developed from Maharashtri Apabhramsa, others regard it as one of the Pancha Dravida (five Dravidian) groups. Khaire has recently found several loanwords in early and spoken Marathi from Tamil (adgule-madzule). There were many borrowings from Telugu (tup, tale) and Kannada words are the highest in Marathi spoken under Yadavas (1180-1320). In 1290A.D. the Hoyasala minister Perusmala at Mailangi made ``provision for masters to teach Nagar, Kannada, Telugu and Marathi'' (B. Lewis Rice in Mysore and Coorg from inscriptions) Later Marathi, in Shivaji's times imbibed many words from Persian, Arabic, Portugese and English Maharashtra Shabdakosh (in eight volumes edited by Y.G. Date and C.G. Karve) has 1,12,189 words, out of which the words from Persion-Arabic stock are 2,900 and from European stock 1,500. The script used for Marathi writing is the same as Devanagari, with an additional ``L'', old Marathi historical documents are found in Modi script. In 1622, Father Stephans wrote Khrista-Purana in chaste Marathi. The language was enriched by several writers who were Muslims (like saint Sheikh Muhammad, the Sufi) or Rev. N.V. Tilak (1865-1919).

So how did marathi originate?Lot of people say it originated from Maharastri Prakrit. But however we find no evidence of both Maharastri prakrit and marathi before 13h century AD. Vijayaditya plate, Shravanabelgola incription are said to be Prakrit. And Jain monk Udyotan commentry is said to be in Konkani. So there is no definite works before 13h century until seunas or Yadava period, when later part of their rule they also made marathi official language.

Though Marathi was called Deshi or a Desha-bhasha in Narada-Smriti, as Dr. Tulpule writes in the An Old Marathi Reader, ``Marathi can be rightly described as a re-oriented form of its immediate predecessor viz. Apabhramsa, with a number of borrowed Sanskritisms. . . This linguistic change must have synchronized with the revival of the Vedic religion at the hands of Shankaracharya'' in the ninth century.



The Mahanubhava sect founded by Chakradhar, a Gujarati princely Brahmin, in 1267 A.D., had its holy books written in cryptic scripts (Sagala, Sundari), in prose and deal with Krishna bhakti or the devotion to Dattatreya, the three-headed god, combing Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in one, followed by four dogs (the four Vedas). This was a sect which deliberately flouted the upper caste monopoly of Sanskritic learning. In Mhai-Bhata's Lila Charitra (1286 A.D.) or in the first Marathi poetess Mahadaisa's Dhavale songs, one finds this script of revolt.

The other important devotional sect was Varakari Panth. It was a combination of the Natha Panth of Gorakhnath and the Yoga practises of the Siddhas, combining the worship of God in the form of Vitthala or Vithoba, a form of Vishnu, whose main shrine is in Pandharpur. Around this god, both Aryan and Dravidian, Vaishnava and Shaiva forms of worship centred many important saint-poets beginning with Jnanadeva or Jnaneshwara (1271-93), who composed a remarkable classic in verse Jnaneshwari, a comentary on Gita in 9000 stanzas, composed at the age of nineteen. He proclaimed the equality of man in the eyes of God and openly revoked against caste tyranny and orthodoxy.
Namdev (1270-1350) was another great saint-poet, tailor by caste, who composed poems in Marathi, Hindi and Punjabi (61 of his padas are found in Adi Granth, the Sikh scripture).
From 1350 to 1550 A.D. it was a dark period, as wars and famine disturbed the people. After the great saint-poets like Eknath (1548-99) and Tukarama (1588-1649).



Mukteshwara (1608-60) translated Mahabharata, Vamana Pandita (1615-78), Raghunath Pandita (C-1650), Shridhar (1678-1728) and Mayur Pandita or Moropanta (1729-94) were the well-known scholar poets, who were well-versed in Sanskrit and mostly verified the epics, on the classical lines. Now Marathi language was highly Sanskritized and became restricted to the Brahmanic elite class. Samartha Ramdas Swami (1608-82), with his Dasbodh, introduced a more virile and forthright note and his poetry reached to the rustics by its rhetoric.

From the above stanzas one can see this is a language developed in opposition to the braminical sanskrit. Eventhough today it is called sanskrit language today.
Lot of confusion regarding maharastri prakrit, Marathi -Language, Maratha- caste, Maharastra -state exist. Even today there is opposition to being called maratha in Vidarba and konkan areas.

So marathi is language that has developed in Opposition to brahminical sanskrit domination. And its origins are definitely prakrit, the language borrows heavily from languages spoken in that area, mainly Kannada, telugu,gujarati , persian and tamil ( where marathas ruled with tanjore as base).