Prayagraj (UP), Jan 20 (PTI) Upset over a notice issued to him by the Magh Mela administration for using the title of ‘Shankaracharya’, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati on Tuesday questioned how camps of two shankaracharyas from Puri were allowed at the same mela.
Targeting the mela administration, he asked why it failed to notice a board claiming the presence of another Shankaracharya of Puri at the fair.
“You ask why someone who is not a Shankaracharya is using the title. The Shankaracharya of Puri is present here and has a camp. Near his camp, there is also a board of another Puri Shankaracharya, Adhokshajanand Dev Tirth Maharaj, Govardhan Peeth Shankaracharya. How can there be two Shankaracharyas of Puri?” he said.
Trouble broke out on Sunday when Saraswati along with his supporters was on his way to take dip in the Sangam on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya and the police allegedly stopped him.
Following the incident, Saraswati sat in protest outside his camp, giving up food and water, and demanded an apology from senior officials of the mela administration and the police. The protest is still going on.
The Mela administration on Monday issued a notice to Saraswati asking how he was projecting himself as the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth despite a Supreme Court order stating that no religious leader could be enthroned as Shankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth until disposal of the appeal.
Alleging discrimination, Saraswati said the mela administration had permitted another Shankaracharya’s camp to harass the “real” Shankaracharya of Puri.
Reacting to the notice issue, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav wrote on X that the action was “highly condemnable” and said those seeking certificates should first present their own credentials.
He accused the BJP and its allies of being divisive and arrogant.
Saraswati said notices were selectively issued against him because he raised demands related to cow protection.
He said a reply to the notice would be sent via email on Tuesday and that he would also serve a notice to the mela administration, questioning why it was citing what he described as incomplete orders of the Supreme Court.
Saraswati further argued that as the Jyotish Peeth matter was still pending before the Supreme Court, the mela administration had no authority to decide who was a Shankaracharya and who was not.
Referring to past litigation, he said a case related to Jyotish Peeth was first heard in an Allahabad district court in 1999, which ruled that Swami Vasudevanand should not function as the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth.
He said the Allahabad High Court also held that Vasudevanand was not proven to be a ‘dandi sanyasi’.
Saraswati claimed that although Vasudevanand did not get relief from the Supreme Court, boards outside his camp still described him as ‘Jagadguru Shankaracharya Jyotishpeethadheeshwar’, yet no notice was issued in that case.
He also pointed out that in the official souvenir of Mahakumbh Prayagraj 2025, his photograph carried the description of ‘Jagadguru Shankaracharya Jyotishpeethadheeshwar’, while the mela administration was now questioning his use of the title.
Saraswati has been critical of the mela administration since he was allegedly stopped by police and officials from taking a holy dip on Mauni Amavasya during the Magh Mela on Sunday. PTI RAJ ABN NB
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