Munagekar is the surname of a number of families in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and abroad. Munagekars generally speak Marathi

Marathi language

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...

 as their mother tongue

First language

A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...

. The origin of this surname can be linked to the village Munge in the Sindhudurg

Sindhudurg

Sindhudurg is a fortress which occupies an islet in the Arabian Sea, just off the coast of Maharashtra in western India. The fortress lies on the shore of Malvan town of Sindhudurg District in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, south of Mumbai.-History:Sindhudurg was built by the great Maratha...

 district of southern Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

. The Munagekars belong to a number of castes

Caste system in India

The Indian caste system is a system of social stratification and social restriction in India in which communities are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called Jātis....

 including Saraswat Brahmin

Saraswat Brahmin

The Saraswats are a Brahmin caste of India.- History :According to the legend, Saraswat Brahmins are Brahmins who lived on the banks of the former Saraswati River that once flowed in northern India. Although it is said that at Prayag the three rivers meet or met.the fact is that the Saraswati never...

s, Karhade Brahmin

Karhade Brahmin

Karhade Brahmins are a predominantly Pancha Dravida Brahmins Marathi and Konkani speaking Hindu community in India.-Etymology and Origin:*The name Karháda or Karáda, is the...

s, Sutars and also some scheduled castes.

Origin

The origin of this surname is primarily linked to the village of Munge. The "kar" at the end is a common feature of Maharashtrian surnames. However there exist quite a number of Munagekars who have no link whatsoever with this village. A number of people who use this surname and are Karhade Brahmins trace their origins to the surname Padhye. Another group trace their origin to the surname Manjrekar.

History

The people who adopted this surname originally lived in Goa

Goa

Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

. It was due to the Portuguese attack on Goa that they had to flee to Munge. It is believed that earlier they were Padye

Padye

Padye Brahmin community hails from Goa, commonly known as "Bhatt" ,they speak a unique dialect of Konkani known as "Bhati Bhasha".-Etymology:...

s. Some of them are Brahmins but most are scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Their deity is Mahalasa

Mahalasa

Mahalasa is the Mohini avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. She is also known as Mhalshi and Mahalasa. In Goa and elsewhere, Mahalasa is considered as the Mohini form of Lord Vishnu and hence she is referred to as "Mahalasa Narayani". The deity, it may particularly be noted, also wears the holy thread,...

 of Mardol, Goa

Mardol, Goa

Mardol is a census town in Ponda taluka, North Goa district in the state of Goa,India.The Marathi- and Portuguese-language radio playwright and short-story writer Ananta Rau Sar Dessai lived and practiced medicine in Mardol....

. However some of these Munagekars have their roots in the village of Godge, which is in Maharastra. It is also believed that some of them tried to gain respect by changing their caste to Brahmin and fleeing to another village.