trading castes to the Arya Samaj as a means of social mobility associated with their prosperity during the British rule. He cites N.G.Barrier to show that the philosophy of the Arya Samaj founder, Dayananda Saraswati, was responsible for the aspirations of these Vaishya castes from Punjab to higher status: In a study of cultural geography and pilgrimage in India, it was recorded that "Khatri-Aroras are surely among the most numerous Hindu caste groups" in the areas of Punjab and Delhi. Khatri-Arora along with Brahmans and Mercantile castes "dominated the total mass of pilgrims" at Badrinath Dham. Similarly, the total number of pilgrims at Haridwar and Jwalaji were also predominated by the Khatri-Arora. At Chintapurni pilgrim, the Arora was found to be numerically dominant pilgrim group particularly during the Shravan Ashtmi fair. See also Arora (surname) References Citations Bibliography Indian castes Punjabi tribes Social groups of Haryana Social groups of Punjab, India Social groups of Delhi Indian surnames People from Sukkur District