Akhada Parishad opposes recognition to all-female ‘Akhada Pari’ during Mahakumbh 2021

Sadhvi Trikal Bhavanta of Akhada Pari has demanded from Kumbh mela administration facilities at par with those offered to all the thirteen major Akhadas.

The Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad has sternly opposed the demand of the all-female Akhada, which calls itself the Akhada Pari, to get recognition like other Akhadas, allocation of land for setting up of camps and right to Shahi Snaan (royal bath) during Mahakumbh 2021 in Haridwar.

Sadhvi Trikal Bhavanta who claims to be head of Akhada Pari. (HT Photo)

Sadhvi Trikal Bhavanta, 50, a self-proclaimed female Shankaracharya of Akhada Pari, which was founded in 2014, on Thursday demanded from Kumbh mela administration facilities at par with those offered to all the thirteen major Akhadas falling under the umbrella of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad - the apex body of all the major recognised Akhadas.

Citing some facilities offered during the previous year during the Prayagraj and Ujjain Kumbh, Sadhvi Trikal Bhavanta, in a memorandum to Haridwar Kumbh mela administration, has sought facilities and allocation of a time slot for Shahi Snaan as provided to all thirteen Akhadas.

“I have been meditating for the past two decades. I am the head of the Gayatri Triveni Prayag Peeth. We had been given some facilities during the Ujjain Kumbh in 2016. We demand similar facilities from the mela administration during Haridwar Mahakumbh. We are raising voice for women seers and half of the population of the country,” said Sadhvi Bhavanta after meeting assistant Kumbh mela officer Harbeer Singh.

Terming Sadhvi Trikal Bhavanta as fake, Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri Maharaj questioned the pontiff’s status of Shankaracharya as claimed by the female seer.

“There are only four revered peeths (seats) of Shankaracharya in Sanatan Dharma, everyone knows it and there is no female Shankaracharya seat so far. Just wearing saffron clothes and claiming to be a pontiff of a so-called Akhada doesn’t mean she can claim to be a recognised seer and get facilities for Mahakumbh,” he said.

Mahant Narendra Giri alleged that misleading common people, mela administration and media won’t help her get any benefits or recognition from the Akhadas and the administration.

Cautioning Kumbh mela administration against any such proposal and claims from such self-proclaimed head of all-female Akhada, general secretary Akhada Parishad Mahant Hari Giri Maharaj said that Trikal Bhavanta was not allocated any land by respective mela administration during Prayagraj-Nashik Kumbh fairs as Pari Akhada is in no way associated with Akhada Parishad.

He further added that recognised female Sadhvis like Sadhvi Ritambhara, Uma Bharati, Lalita Jyoti and others are given due respect and even allowed to attend Peshwayis (Kumbh royal procession) and take sacred Ganga dip as well.

Kumbh mela additional district magistrate Harbeer Singh said Sadhvi Trikal Bhavanta have submitted a memorandum listing facility they want during Kumbh at par with other Akhadas. “Any decision will be taken on this issue only after considering various aspects,” he said.