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Karjura the brewer-The Rustic Indian Brewer

a story of the first brewer in south India.A story of a community passed through generations.

According to folklore,Karjura was the village medicine man on the banks of Godavari river. With ancestrally passed knowledge of roots ,berries,and leaves he cured many a people of minor health conditions.He kept himself busy in the service of others,he never married and had become a sadhu, living off the donations of food from the village people.

Once a wealthy trader in the village lost his wife from a deadly snake bite and was devastated of the loss. He committed his entire wealth of farm land and cattle to the cause of medicine.He approached Karjura in order to convince him to create a antidote to King Cobra venom, which was the cause of many a deaths in the neighboring villages as well.

Karjura informed the business man that the knowledge passed on to him from decades has not helped him develop a medicine for a snake venom but vouched that he will continue to research, as long as the business man helps the poverty infested village. Karjura then traveled across the south of India till he reached the foot of vindhya range in central India. He had spoken to every sadhu, sant and village medicine man to understand the suffering and solution of a venomous snake bite. I was late in the evening and a famished Karjura approached a near by village to rest.The village which was empty due to the constant attacks of a man eating tiger.It was getting dark and the safest place to be was indoors.

Karjura was hungry after the twelve hour trek in the rocky foothills and started searching for nuts and berries that were accidentally left in the empty huts.When all hope was lost, he found an earthen pot with a concoction of rotten berries and rice grains in water which was left behind a fleeing family.As he was desperate and hungry and with the stories of a man eating tiger on the prowl, he filtered the contents of the pot with his turban and consumed the sticky broth,praying to the gods that they save him from any illness.The weary traveler then slept and woke up afresh at dawn.

He realized that his body had its desired rest and started his journey back home, knowing that he failed in his mission.While on the journey back,he constantly thought of the embarrassing event of the earthen pot and wondered if it has any medicinal qualities.A year later he reach his native village and told the businessman of his adventures and perils and told him about the concoction of berries and fermented rice .He told him that he is unsure of the medicinal qualities of the concoction but it made him ecstatic. Karjura then started researching the effects of various combinations of grains and fruit to recreate the concoction he had in that abandoned house.

He asked the farmers and fishermen of the village to visit him some evenings and gave them the fermented liquids he brewed.He realized that the tired and weary villagers would sing and dance through the evening and retire to their respective homes happy.The villages would give him broken grain and rotten wild berries in return.Soon the news spread of a miracle drink brewed on the banks of the Godavari and people started to flock for a bowl of happiness.It is said that caravans of ox driven cart,used to patiently wait outside the hermits riverside hut,sometimes for days.

Karjura lived to a ripe old age,building his legacy all over the kingdom.The businessman provided him with bags of grain from his journeys to parts of central India.

Many believe that what Karjura brewed is medieval beer.The story of a happiness drink was passed through generations until it stopped.

Karjura was the first known brewer hailing from South India.