In a first, Dalit seer to be ordained as mahamandaleshwar
ALLAHABAD: A dalit seer Kanhaiya Prabhu Anandgiri is likely to become Mahamandaleshwar of Juna Akhara as the Akhara has opened doors for the Dalits to hold coveted posts.
“As part of age old ritual, we today provided Kanhaiya Prabhu Anandgiriji Asan, Chata, Chadi, Chaddar, Chaur and Gaddi at the Baba Maujgiri temple. Now, we’ll do some background check to ensure that he had a clean past. If everything is fine, Kanhaiya Prabhu Anandgiriji can become Mahamandaleshwar or can hold other high post in the religious order of the Akhara,” claimed Mahant Harigiriji Maharaj of Juna Akhara and general secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP).
“By offering a high post to a Dalit seer, we want to set an apt example of social equality. The Dalit seers have been ordained as Naga sadhus in Juna Akhara for long now,” he added.
Juna Akhara is one of the 13 akharas that form the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the apex organisation of Hindu sants and sadhus in the country.
On Tuesday, some rituals were held at the Juna Akhara’s Sidh Baba Maujgiri temple on the banks of Yamuna to formally ordain Anandgiri as member of the Juna Akhara.
A resident of Barauni village in Azamgarh, Anandgiri took ‘sanyas diksha’ from Mahant Panchanan Giri of Juna Akhara at Kali temple during Ujjain Kumbh in 2016.
After the ceremony on Tuesday evening, he went to Sangam to propitiate the rivers with milk and other holy items.
He also offered prayers at Akshayvat temple in the Allahabad fort.
Swami Narendragiri, president of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP), and Mahant of Niranjani Akhara said it would give a very positive message in the society if a Dalit seer was given such a high position in the Akhara as famous as Juna.