Kumbh Mela or Kumbha Mela is a major pilgrimage and festival in Hinduism. On 4 February 2019, Kumbh Mela witnessed the largest peaceful public gathering of humans ever recorded. It is celebrated in a cycle of approximately 12 years, to celebrate every revolution Brihaspati (Jupiter) completes, at four river-bank pilgrimage sites: Prayagraj, Haridwar (Ganges), Nashik (Godavari), and Ujjain (Shipra). The festival is marked by a ritual dip in the waters, but it is also a celebration of community commerce with numerous fairs, education, religious discourses by saints, mass gatherings of monks, and entertainment. The seekers believe that bathing in these rivers is a means to prāyaścitta for past mistakes, and that it cleanses them of their sins.
The Daśanāmi Sampradaya, also known as the Order of Swamis, is a Hindu monastic tradition of "single-staff renunciation" Ēkadandis were already known during what is sometimes referred to as "Golden Age of Hinduism". According to hagiographies composed in the 14th-17th century, the Daśanāmi Sampradaya was established by Vedic scholar and teacher Adi Shankaracharya, organizing a section of the Ekadandi monks under an umbrella grouping of ten names and the four cardinal mathas of the Advaita Vedanta tradition. However, the association of the Dasanāmis with the Shankara maṭhas remained nominal.
Akhara or Akhada is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artists or a sampradaya monastery for religious renunciates in Guru–shishya tradition. For example, in the context of the Dashanami Sampradaya sect, the word denotes both martial arts and religious monastic aspects of the trident-wielding martial regiment of the renouncing sadhus.
1954 Kumbh Mela "stampede" was a major crowd crush that occurred on 3 February 1954 at Kumbha Mela in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state in India. It was the main bathing day of Mauni Amavasya, when the incident took place. 4–5 million pilgrims took part in the festival that year, which was also the first Kumbh Mela after India's Independence.
Sanjay Satyendra Pathak is an Indian politician from Madhya Pradesh. He served as the Minister of state in Government of Madhya Pradesh from 2016 to 2018 and is a five-time MLA from Vijayraghavgarh Assembly Constituency of Katni District in Madhya Pradesh.
Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya is an Indian Hindu spiritual leader, educator, Sanskrit scholar, polyglot, poet, author, textual commentator, philosopher, composer, singer, playwright and Katha artist based in Chitrakoot, India. He is one of four incumbent Jagadguru Ramanandacharya, and has held this title since 1988.
Swami Shri Mahamandaleshwar Santosh Puri Gita Bharatiji, is a guru who was born in Delhi, India in 1944. She was the disciple of Shri 108 Mahamandaleshwar Swami Shri Hariharanand Ji Maharaj since the age of three. She showed remarkable talents at a young age, delivering discourses on the Bhagavad Gita at the age of seven years. It was because of her impressive sermons on the holy Gita that she was dubbed 'Gita Bharati' at the age of 10 years by Rajendra Prasad, who was then the President of India. At the age of 14 years, she took Sannyas Diksha and was termed as Mahamandaleshwar at 18 years of age.
Nithyananda, is an Indian self-styled "godman". Following charges of rape and abduction filed in Indian courts, Nithyananda fled India and has remained in hiding since 2019. He is the subject of a court-issued non-bailable warrant relating to the allegations. Nithyananda is also wanted since 2019 for unrelated fraud charges in France.
The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara ParishadABAP, one of the organizations of Hindu sants (saints) and sadhus (ascetics) in India. The ABAP is composed of 14 akharas, or organisations of Hindu sants and sadhus. Nirmohi Akhara and Shri Dattatreya Akhara are two of the prominent akharas which are part of it.
Malini Awasthi is an Indian singer, more commonly referred to as Folk Queen of India. Having been trained classically, she is equally adept in various forms of Hindustani music like vintage Dadra Thumri Kajri Chaiti etc. Her colossal knowledge of music finds a reflection in her renditions of Ghazals and Sufiyaana Kalaams too. A Ganda-baandh disciple of Padma Vibhushan Vidushi Girija Devi, she is a connoisseur of 'Chaumukhi gayan' of Benares Gharana. She commands equally over multiple dialects like Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Bundeli, and Braj.
The Tulsi Peeth edition of the Ramcharitmanas is a critical edition of the Ramcharitmanas edited by Jagadguru Rambhadracharya and published by the Tulsi Peeth. It has more than 3000 differences compared to the popular editions of the scripture.
Baba Rampuri, born William A. Gans is an American born Sadhu. He claims to be the first westerner to become a Naga Sadhu, having been initiated in 1970. He is the author of the 2010 Destiny Books published book Autobiography of a Sadhu: A Journey into Mystic India, originally published in 2005 by Harmony/Bell Tower as Baba: Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Yogi, and now released by Amarpuri Wellness in 2016 as Autobiography of a Sadhu: An Angrez among Naga Babas which has also been translated into German, Russian, Czech, Croatian, and Serbian. He was initiated into the religious order the Naga Sannyasis after traveling to India on a spiritual quest from his native California in 1969, at the age of 18. Like many Sadhus, he has stopped using his birth name since his initiation, refuses to give it, and is unwilling to talk about his past. He is Shri Mahant at Shri Panch Dashnam Juna Akhara.
Swami Vishwadevanand Puri was a Hindu monk and a traditional teacher of Advaita Vedanta. He founded the Vishwakalyan Foundation Trust in Haridwar.
Haridwar Kumbh Mela is a mela, associated with Hinduism and held in the city of Haridwar, India held every 12 years. The exact date is determined according to Hindu astrology: the Mela is held when Jupiter is in Aquarius and the Sun enters Aries. The event possesses deep religious significance to Hindus as well as other spiritual seekers. Historically, it was an important commercial event and was attended by merchants from as far as Arabia.
Ujjain Simhastha is a Hindu religious mela held every 12 years in the Ujjain city of Madhya Pradesh, India. The name is also transliterated as Sinhastha or Singhastha. In Hindi, the fair is also called Simhasth or Sinhasth. The name derives from the fact that it is held when the Jupiter is in Leo.
Kinnar Akhara is an akhara established in 2018 by the hijra community. It is under the Juna Akhada. The organization showcased itself at the 2019 Kumbh Mela. The organization promotes discussion of Hinduism and LGBT topics.
In December 2021, a dharma sansad of Hindu ascetics was held at Haridwar in Uttarakhand, India, where hate speeches were delivered in which the speakers called for a genocide against Muslims in the name of protecting Hinduism. The government's apathy in the face of the hate event has been condemned by a wide cross section of Indian society, including retired military leaders, civil society activists, students, academics, and retired judges.
Deepak Rawat is an Indian civil servant who serves in the Uttarakhand cadre of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Rawat is currently posted as the Commissioner of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand and additionally as Secretary to Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
Mahant Narendra Giri was an Indian Hindu leader from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He served as the President of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the largest organized body of Hindu seers and ascetics in India, for two consecutive terms from 2014 until his death. Giri was the head of Baghambari Math, a more than 400-year-old Hindu monastery, since 2004. He was the chief priest (Mahant) of Allahabad's Bada Hanuman Temple, one of India's most-visited temples, which is also administered by Baghambari Math. Giri died by suicide at his residence in Prayagraj on 20 September 2021. His death case is being investigated by the CBI.
Mahamandaleshwar Swami Akhileshwaranand Giri is an Indian spiritual leader and preacher. He currently serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Gopalan and Livestock Promotion Board and Chairman of the Executive Council of the Madhya Pradesh Cow Husbandry and Livestock Promotion Board, appointed by the Madhya Pradesh government in 2021. He is also a Cabinet Minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhan's cabinet and holds the status of Minister of State (MoS) in the Madhya Pradesh government. Additionally, he serves as the Chairman of the Madhya Pradesh State Gau Samvardhan Board.
