Shri Panch Dashnam Juna Akhara

श्री पंच दशनाम जूना अखाड़ा

ॐ

सदाशिवमारम्भां शंकराचार्यमध्यमाम् ।
अस्मदाचार्य पर्यन्तां वन्दे गुरूपरम्पराम् ।।

–

We offer our reverence to the Tradition of Gurus,
beginning with Lord Sadashiva
to the present Acharya,
with Shri Shankaracharya in the middle.

–

श्री पंच दशनाम जूना अखाड़ा
श्री गुरू दत्तात्रेयो विजयतेत् राम्

ॐ

Juna Akhara

With more than 400,000 sannyasi members, Juna Akhara is by far the largest order of sadhus in India, today, the vast majority are Naga Babas. They have been called the defenders of the Sanatan Dharma. The word Naga, in this case, is derived from the Sanskrit word, nagna, meaning “naked.” And indeed Naga Babas are known for marching naked, covered with ashes, during the colorful sacred bathing rites at the Kumbh Mela.

History of Juna Akhara

According to Oral Tradition and its derived texts, such as Vidyaranya’s “Sankaradigvijaya,” in the 5th century B.C., India’s greatest philosopher and commentator on sacred texts, Adi Sankara, organized the Brahmanical lineages of sadhus, yogis and shamans into India’s first monastic order, the Order of the Sannyasis of the Ten Names (Dashnami Sannyasi Sampradaya) which exists until this day. Adi Sankara founded four great mathas, monasteries, in the four corners of India, in each of which he established one of his four primary disciples, Padmapada (Govardhan Math in Orissa), Sureshvaracharya (Sringeri Sarada Math in Kerala), Hastamalakacharya (Dwarka Math in Gujarat), and Totakacharya (Jyotir Math in the Himalayas).

From these four shishyas, disciples, and the corresponding mathas sprung ten names, Puri, Giri, Bharti, Saraswati, Tirtha, Ban, Aranya, Sagar, Parvat, and Ashram. All of the lineages, that spread like the branches of a tree, are attached at their roots to one of these ten names.

In the 7th century A.D., 52 lineages within the Order of Sannyasis formalized their age-old network into an elite brotherhood, a society, that was known originally as Dattatreya Akhara, then Bhairon Akhara, and after other new akharas were formed, it simply became known as Juna Akhara, the “old” akhara (as juna means “old” in Gujarati Language), or the “Ancient Circle”.

Administration of Juna Akhara

Juna Akhara does not resemble modern religious or spiritual organizations in their linear or pyramidal infrastructure.

Juna Akhara is a traditional society in which the sadhu families of the 52 lineages are represented by their acknowledged elders in a grand council of the akhara, which in turn is represented by elected Secretaries and a Sabhapati (President). Once elected to any position, the appointment is for life.

The decisions of the greater and ruling councils have to do with the operation of the society as a whole, not with the functioning or behaviour of a lineage, family, or individual. All matters are divided into two main categories, “samaj“, dealing with the society as a whole affecting all, and “ghar”, that which relates to a sadhu family. These council members are all Naga Babas.

The elections and initiations take place during a Kumbh Mela, which gives great significance to this event for Naga Sadhus. Juna Akhara also elects a Shri Ramta Panch, a roving authority of the akhara, who protects and worships the ishta devata of the akhara, the ever-roving Guru Dattatreya. At each Kumbh Mela, each of the 4 marhis, the divisions of the akhara according to the Ten Names, corresponding to the 4 Mathas, elects a Shri Mahant (the authority of the Marhi), Ashtakosul Mahant (his leutenant), Pujari (for making rites and rituals), Bhandari (who keeps the supplies), and Kothari (who keeps the books), who along with other Naga Babas accompany Guru Dattatreya as He traditionally walks from one Kumbh Mela to the next. The Marhi also hosts the Viraja Havan, the Sannyas initiation, during the Kumbh Melas. I write about Juna Akhara in my autobiographical novel, Autobiography of a Sadhu – an Angrez among Naga Babas.

H.H. Swami Avdheshanand Giri Ji & H.H. Dalai Lama

H.H. Swami Avdheshanand Giri Ji Maharaj is the Acharya Mahamandaleshwar (chief religious authority) of the Juna Akhara, appointed in 1998.

A great yogi, a scholar, and a well-recognized authority on Vedanta, Swami Avdheshanand relates equally to his two worlds, that of the Naga Sanyassis, who he initiates, and that of an international public he serves with spiritual discourses, teachings, and a number of social projects ranging from hospitals to water harvesting.
In addition to his position as Head Trustee of the Acharya Mahasabha, the organization of all of India’s traditional religious leaders, he is a member of the World Council of Religious Leaders, he has appeared at the United Nations on many occasions, and he is a close friend of the Dalai Lama.

H.H. Swami Avdheshanand Giri Ji Maharaj was made the Acharya or Spiritual preceptor of the prestigious and acclaimed Sri Panch Dasnaam Juna Akhara, designating him as PRIME SAINT in 1998 at the Haridwar Maha Kumbh.
Thousands of saints across India and elsewhere have been initiated by the Acharya, Mahamandaleshwar Swami Avdeshanand Giri Ji.