Akhara


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 renunciate sadhus.

Etymology

The term akhara, is a gender-egalitarian term, which means the circle or more precisely the spiritual core, congregation or league, it is similar to the Greek-origin word academy and the English word school, can be used to mean both a physical institution or a group of them which share a common lineage or are under a single leadership, such as the school of monastic thought or the school of martial arts. Unlike the gurukul in which students live and study at the home of a guru, members of an akhara although train under a guru but they do not live a domestic or homely life. Some strictly practice Brahmacharya and others may require complete renunciation of worldly life. For example, wrestlers are expected to live a pure life while living at akhara with other fellow wrestlers, refraining from sex and owning few material possessions.
In some languages such as Odia the word is officially transcribed as akhada, by way of rendering the flapped sound as a d. The Haryanvi and Khari Boli dialects shorten this to khada.

History

Foundation dates of martial akharas

documented the founding date of various akharas based on a 19the century manuscript provided to him by the Nirvani Akhara of Dashanami Sampradaya.
  1. 547 CE, Avahan Akhara
  2. 646 CE, Atal Akhara
  3. 749 CE, Nirvani Akhara
  4. 1146 CE, Juna Akhara which was originally called "Bhairavi Akhara"
  5. 1856 CE, Anand Akhara
  6. 1904 CE, Niranjani Akhara
  1. Dadupanthis: Armed martial akharas were first likely formed by the Dadupantji guru Jait Sahib when he recruited armed Naga sadhus. In 1733, Dadupanthis were tax-paying farmers in Jaipur State and martial naga sadhus used employed to enforce the payment of taxes. In 1793, Dadupanthis and Jaipur State had an agreement under which Dadhupanthis provided 5000 armed soldier sadhus to defend the Jaipur State. During the 1857 rebellion, Dadupanthis acted as mercenaries who helped British raj.
  2. Satnami martial akhara: Satnamis are an offshoot/subsect of Ravidassia sect which in turn is a Ramanandi Sampradaya of Vaishnavism founded by the 14th century sadhu called Ramananda. Satnami revolt was a major rebellion against Aurangzeb, the Mughal Emperor, occurred in Narnaul and surrounding localities in the year 1672. The revolt was caused by the oppression led by the revenue officials of the Mughal Emperor. A large reinforcement was sent to contain the revolt and in the following battle thousands of Hindu Satnamis were killed. Satnamis revolted against the Islamist zeal of mughal king Aurangzeb.
  3. Sikh's martial akharas: Khalsa armed akharas were formed by Guru Govind Singh in 1699 against the Islamist zeal of mughals, most notably against Aurangzeb. Banda Singh Bahadur, also called Banda Bairagi, who fought against Mughals was originally a Vaisnavite Bairagi. Udasi are a Sikh martial akhara.
  4. Partial list, please help expand.

    Historical timeline

In its earliest usage, akhara referred to training halls for professional fighters. Govind Sadashiv Ghurye translates the term as "military regiment". Ancient use of the word can be found in the Mahabharata epic which mentions Jarasandha's Akhara at Rajgir. Legendary figures like Parashurama and Agastya are credited as the founders of the early martial akhara in certain regions of India.
Svinth traces press ups and squats used by South Asian wrestlers to the pre-classical era. Many of the popular sports mentioned in the Vedas and the epics have their origins in military training, such as boxing, wrestling, chariot-racing, horse-riding and archery.
When the 8th-century philosopher Adi Shankaracharya founded the Dashanami Sampradaya, he divided the ascetics into two categories: Shastradhari intelligentsia and Astradhari warriors. Shankaracharya established Naga sadhus as an astradhari armed order. He also popularised the Char Dhams during the rein of Katyuri dynasty of Garhwal Kingdom.
In 904 CE and 1146 CE, Niranjani Akhara and Juna Akhara were founded respectively.
In 1398 CE, Islamic fanatic Timur massacred thousands of Sadhus of various Akharas and Hindus at Haridwar mela after sacking Delhi to punish the Tughlaq Dynasty's Nasir-ud-Din Mahmud Shah Tughluq's perceived lack of brutality towards Hindus.
In 1567 CE, Jogis and Sannyasi battled each other as detailed in the Tabaqat-i-Akbari, both are 2 of the 10 orders of Dashanami Akhara. Puris were outnumbered by 200 to 500 by Jogis, Akbar asked his soldiers to smear ash and join Puris to help them, this led to the victory of Puris,
In 1657/1672 CE, Satnami revellion against Aurangzeb's Islamic zeal of persecution of Non-Muslims.
In 1664 CE, Dashanami Akhara possibly battled Aurangzeb.
In 1690 CE and 1760 CE, Akharas of Saivites and Vaishnava sects fought each other at Nashik mela and Haridwar mela.
In 1770-1820 CE, during Sannyasi rebellion against the British raj, Akharas played a key role specially the Dashanami akhara.
In 1780 CE, British company raj establish the sequence of order of procession for royal bathing by the akharas at Kumbh Mela to eliminate disputes.
Today, akhara may be used for religious purposes or for the teaching of yoga and martial arts. Some of the noted Akhara organizations include Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, Nirmohi Akhara, Shri Dattatreya Akhara and Guru Hanuman Akhara.

Akharas within Guru–Shishya traditional Sampradaya-Paramparas

is a particular system of belief and within it a particular guru's lineage is called parampara. There are 3 distinct belief-system Sampradayas, each of which follows one of 3 types of Guru–shishya parampara lineage, each sampradaya-parampara may have several akharas of shastradhari or astradhari, and larger akharas may have own one or more permanent mathas.
Sampradaya translated as ‘tradition’, 'spiritual lineage' or a ‘religious system’. It relates to a succession of masters and disciples, which serves as a spiritual channel, and provides a delicate network of relationships that lends stability to a religious identity. Sampradaya is a body of practice, views and attitudes, which are transmitted, redefined and reviewed by each successive generation of followers. A particular guru lineage is called parampara. By receiving diksha into the guru–shishya traditional parampara of a living guru, one belongs to its proper sampradaya. One cannot become a member by birth, as is the case with gotra, a seminal, or hereditary, dynasty. In the traditional residential form of education, the shishya remains with his or her guru as a family member and gets the education as a true learner. In some traditions there is never more than one active master at the same time in the same guruparamaparya.

Two types of Akhara: Shashtradhari and Astradhari

When the 8th-century philosopher Adi Shankaracharya founded the Dashanami Sampradaya, he divided the ascetics into two categories:
, the weapons or martial arts have a long tradition in India. The oldest recorded organized unarmed fighting art in South Asia is malla-yuddha or combat-wrestling, codified into four forms and pre-dating the Vedic Period. Stories describing Krishna report that he sometimes engaged in wrestling matches where he used knee strikes to the chest, punches to the head, hair pulling, and strangleholds. Based on such accounts, Svinth traces press ups and squats used by South Asian wrestlers to the pre-classical era.
In modern usage, akhara most often denotes a wrestling ground and is typically associated with kushti. For wrestlers, the akhara serves as a training school and an arena in which to compete against each other. The akhara used by wrestlers still have dirt floors to which water, red ochre, buttermilk and oil are added. Aside from wrestling, other fighting systems are also taught and practiced in akhara, which are commonly named after their founder. Indian martial artists may still practice in regional versions of traditional akhara today, but these are often replaced with modern training studios outside India.

Dangal

While akhara is a place where practicing martial artists lodge and train under a martial art guru, akhara is also usually an arena for the dangal organised among the competing sports person. While living at akhara, pehlwan practice celibacy, stay smoke free and alcohol free and they eat nutrition tradition diet usually rich in milk, ghee, dried nuts and roti. Dangal is originally a Punjabi language word which means Sparring or competition in akhara. Sparring is a form of training common to many combat sports which may vary in its precise form varies, but it is relatively 'free-form' fighting, with enough rules, customs, or agreements to make injuries unlikely.

Langot

or langota, also Kaupinam or kaupina, is a traditional style of Indian loincloth for men, worn as underwear in dangal held in akharas. It is now mainly used by men when exercising and other intense physical games especially wrestling, to prevent hernias and hydrocele.
Langota, mostly worn by wrestlers, is a sewn undergarment which covers the buttocks and groin. A kaupina, mostly worn by ascetics or by older men in poorer parts of India, is a similar but unsewn garment that does not cover the buttocks and instead it passes between the buttocks.

Major Martial Arts Akharas

The major traditional Indian-origin martial arts akhara, mostly focused on wrestling and Pehlwani, by state include:
In terms of national and international medals, Haryana is India's power house for the power sports due to its Jat culture's focus on hard work, soldiery and sportsmanship.
at Nidani village in Jind district.
at Kharkhoda.
at CCSHAU Giri Center in Hisar.
at Chaudhariwas village of Hisar district, in collaboration with Mahavir Phogat.
at Hansi
at Gurgaon, other akharas in the city are at Tripari, Sohna, Nathupur, Daultabad, Badshahpur and Farukhnagar
at Ladpur in Jhajjar district.
at Arjangarh village of Gurgaon.
at Hisar.
at Chara village in Jhajjar district
at Balali village of Charkhi Dadri district, founded by Mahavir Singh Phogat, the father and coach of Olympian Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari, inspired from their hard work with help of its story line Amir Khan made a movie and made crores out of it Dangal
at Shukrawar Peth or Pune, founded by Mhaskaji Damodar Pandit in 1773 during the Peshwa rule of Narayan Rao.
at Mahatma Phule Peth in Pune, founded by Samarth Ramdas in the 16th century.
founded in 1914 at Amravati.
founded in the 1930s at Arthur Road in Mumbai.
founded by master Chandgi Ram in 1975, first women's wrestling akhara in India.
at Chhatrasal Stadium.
founded by Guru Hanuman in 1925 at Maujpur.
founded in the mid 20th century.
founded by Guru Hargobind at Akal Takht in Amritsar.
founded in 1661 for the Nihang martial arts, such as gatka.
at Varanasi, said to be founded by the Tulsidas
at Mathura.
Shastra means treatise, scriptures or the school of thoughts based on those. There has been a long monastic tradition of obtaining "Shashtra Vidhya" in various Sampradaya schools of thoughts in Hinduism, where disciples could learn one or more of the following in a monastic setting: Hindu scriptures, Yoga Sashtra, Vastu shastra, Vaimānika Shāstra, Jyotiḥśāstra, Nadi Sashtra, Rasa shastra, Shilpa Shastras, Natya Shastra, Tantra, Para Vidya, Madhu-vidya, and so on.

Organization of Monastic Akhara

According to some texts, an akhara is governed by the sacred body of five Sri Pancha and divided into 8 dava and 52 Matha or Marhi. The maths are permanent centres of monastic practice with physical structures, led by a mahant or spiritual leader. Though not all akharas follow this structure, mainly due to the insufficient size. For example, smaller akhara, some as small as having only one marhi, may be set up either as a subsidiary affiliate to a larger and more established older akhara group or occasionally an independent akhara due to the disagreements over succession. Akharas can march as subsidiary akhara under the current preferential order of sequence in the Shahi Snan during Kumbh Mela or they are given the last place if their claim for the independent akhara is approved by the authorities.

Sri Pancha

According to the texts, the top administrative body of each of the akhara is the Sri Pancha, representing Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and Ganesha. It is elected by consensus from among the Mahants of Matha or Marhi that make up an akhara on every Kumbha Mela and the body holds its post for 4 years. It is a concept similar to centuries-old Indian republican consensual elective system of Panchayat and Khap.
Among the five elected Sri Pancha of the akhara, they hold the following positions in the decreasing order of seniority, all of which can be considered guru in their own right:
At highest level, akhara are classified into one of the four different Sampradaya based on their traditional systems: Each sampradaya has several paramparas, each started by a guru based on the guru-shishya tradition. The subsidiary status is as per the traditional Shahi Snan preferential sequence of procession, though time to time several subsidiary akharas have unsuccessfully tried with authorities to have this sequence altered as the number of their followers grew.
Initially there were only 4 akharas based on the sampradaya, which have split into subsidiary akharas due to differences in the leadership and expansion in the followership. In January 2019, there were 13 akharas that are allowed to participate in Prayagraj Kumbh Mela and they have formed the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad with 2 representatives from each of the 13 akharas to manage the akhara-related affairs across all kumb melas and across the nations.
1. Niranjani Akhara and its subsidiary 2. Ananda Akhara,
3. Juna Akhara and its subsidiaries 4. Avahan Akhara and 5. Agni Akhara.
6. Pari Akhara, an exclusive akhara of female sadahavi, was included in Prayagraj Kumbh for the first time starting from 2013 as a subsidiary akhara of one of the existing akhara.
7. Kinnar Akhara, an exclusive akhara of transgender people, was included in Prayagraj Kumbh for the first time starting from 2019 as a subsidiary akhara of the Dashanami Akhara.
8. Mahanirvani Akhara and its subsidiaries 9. Atal Akhara,
10. Nirmohi Akhara and 11. Digambar akhara, and 12. Khalsa akharas.
13. Nirmal Akhara.
The still-extant seven Shastradhari or monastic Hindu akhara founded by the 8th-century philosopher Adi Shankaracharya can be classified, in terms of affiliation and the number of followers, as three major akharas, three minor akharas under major akharas and one smaller akhara under the major akhara:
#AkharaSubsidiary AkharaSub-subsidiary Akhara
1Niranjani Akhara
Founded in 904 CE		Ananda Akhara, attached to Niranjani Akhara-
2Juna Akhara
Founded in 1146 CE		Avahan Akhara, attached to Juna AkharaAgni Akhara, attached to Juna Akhara
3Mahanirvani AkharaAtal Akhara, attached to Mahanirvani Akhara-

The akhara with the most sadhu is Juna Akhara, followed by Niranjani Akhara and Mahanirvani Akhara. Among these, today, three are considered major akhara and three minor akhara. The 7th, small Brahmachari akhara named Agni is also affiliated with Juna Akhara.

Akharas Today

There are numerous other still-extant akharas, founded by the disciples of the existing akharas, that are usually loosely or directly aligned under one of the existing akhara lineage. The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad , founded in 1954, is the apex organisation of 13 akharas of Hindu Sants and Sadhus representing the largest followership in India. These are entitled to the special privilege of the Shahi Snan at Kumbh Mela and Ujjain Simhastha mela in a pre-determined sequence.

Akharas Sequence At Kumbh Mela's Shahi Snan

The monastic akhara and their Sri Pancha of various sects meet during the Kumbha Mela. The Naga sadhu and the various akhara traditionally lead and initiate the bathing rituals before the general population steps in.
The order of procession is 1. Mahanirvani akhara with Atal akhara, 2. Niranjani akhara with Anand akhara, 3. Juna akhara with Ahvahan and Agni akhara, 4. Nirvani akhara, 5. Digambar akhara, 6. Normohi akhara, 7. Naya Udasin akhara, 8. Bada Udasin akhara and 9. Nirmal akhara.

Citations