Two Akhara Parishad factions clash during meeting on Mahakumbh in Prayagraj

Two factions of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad (ABAP) on Thursday clashed during a meeting of seers in Prayagraj after an argument between them took a violent turn.

The seers had assembled at the auditorium of Prayagraj Mela Authority office to discuss allotment of land for the Mahakumbh-2025 when the incident occurred.

By the time the administration officials arrived for the meeting, the situation had worsened. The officials remained engaged in ensuring a reconciliation between the upset seers of the two groups till late night.

For Mahakumbh, the representatives of all the 13 recognised ancient Akharas had to inspect the land where each of them would be setting camps for the mega religious fair.

At 3 pm, the seers and the officials were to gather in the Prayagraj Mela Authority office. A large number of seers gathered at the office at around 2.30pm. 3

They included Niranjani Akhara’s secretary and ABAP president Mahant Ravindra Puri, general secretary Mahant Hari Giri, head Mahant Devendra Shastri from Bada Udasin Akhara, Mahant Shivanand Kothari, Mahant Devendra Shastri and Mahant Hemant Das from Vaishnav Akharas.

Everyone took their seats and soon no place was vacant. The seers began reciting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ and ‘Ganpati Vandana’ there. Mela Adhikari Vijay Kiran Anand was still at his office meeting visitors.

Around 3pm, when the general secretary of the other faction (Rajendra Das faction) of ABAP and secretary of Ani Akhara Mahant Rajendra Das reached the spot, all seats were full.

As soon as he arrived, he moved towards the front row of seats to find a place to sit but no chair was vacant and none of the seers sitting there offered him a seat.

The seers sitting there suddenly started moving forward for the land inspection shouting ‘Har Har Mahadev’. During this, there was an argument between the seers of the two factions as soon as Juna Akhara president Mahant Premgiri said ‘Har Har Mahadev’.

The seers sitting in front surrounded him and soon a fight broke out after an exchange of words between them on the spot. After this, Kumbh Mela Adhikari Vijay Kiran Anand, SP (mela) Rajesh Dubey, ADM (Kumbh) Vivek Chaturvedi, ADM (Kumbh) Dayanand Prasad and Mela manager Vivek Shukla reached the spot and a police force too arrived.

The Mela Adhikari took both the factions to his room to pacify them. Later, seers of Mahant Hari Giri group were sent for land inspection while the other party sat on a dharna there. The Mela Adhikari spoke to them after returning from inspection even as the other group kept demanding registering of an FIR over the fight.

“We were singing bhajans peacefully. During this, bhajan was opposed. Abusive words were used against the president of the Akhara, due to which some seers got into a scuffle,” said Mahant Ravindra Puri, president, ABAP (Hari Giri faction).

Mahamandaleshwar Santosh Das ‘Satua Baba’ of Vaishnav sect said, “Seer society is meant to present an ideal behaviour at all times. Dispute between seers is not right. If someone has assaulted someone, it is wrong. Police and administration should investigate this and do the needful.”