Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Lakshmi Narayan Tripathi, head of Kinnar Akhara, has stepped down from the post in the wake of the controversy surrounding the anointment of Bollywood actor Mamta Kulkarni as a Mahamandaleshwar of the akhara.
A note to this effect was issued on Friday by Rishi Ajaydas, who is the founder of the akhara.
There was widespread criticism over Kulkarni’s induction as Mahamandaleshwar ever since it happened five days ago.
Baba Ramdev had mocked the practice of instantly becoming a saint without following the laid-out path which includes a long period of celibacy.
Ajaydas claimed that he founded the akhara at the Ujjain Kumbh and had appointed transgender activist Tripathi to the post of Acharya Mahamandaleshwar. In 2019, Tripathi entered into an agreement with Juna Akahara which Ajaydas has described as an act of ‘420’ (fraud). He has alleged that this agreement was done without his knowledge or his signature.
Alleging that Tripathi had not only ‘completely strayed’ from the path of Sanatan, he claimed that she was also responsible for inducting ‘traitors’ like Kulkarni into the akhara. He pointed out that instead of being ordained into vairagya (giving up worldly pleasures and embracing asceticism), Kulkarni was directly appointed to a high post.
The removal of Tripathi, which will be conveyed to her in writing, as per Ajaydas, was important in the ‘national interest’.
The agreement with Juna Akhara had destroyed the traditions of the Kinnar Akhara, and moreover, members of the akhara were not following the principles of either, Ajaydas said.
One example given in the note is that members of the Kinnar Akhara were to wear Vaijanti malas (rosaries made of the seeds of a Vaijanti/Canna lily) but these had been replaced by rudraksh beads. Rudrakash is a symbol of sanyas and that cannot be attained without mundan (a shearing off of hair). However, under Tripathi none of these rules were being adhered, Ajaydas has alleged.
At the start of the Mahakumbh, Tripathi had announced that people from all over the world would be coming to the camp of the Kinnar Akhara and that they would be ordained as Mahants and Mahamandleshwars. This had also raised questions about how just anybody could be elevated to a post in the akhara.
