Prayagraj (UP), April 30 (IANS) For the first time ever, a seer belonging to the Scheduled Caste, has been conferred the title of ‘Jagadguru’.

Juna Akhara, one of the 13 Akharas of the country, conferred this title on Mahamandaleshwar Mahendranand Giri.

Mahendranand’s disciple Kailashanand Giri was given the title of Mahamandaleshwar and Ram Giri was given the title of Shri Mahant.

Both these seers too belong to the Scheduled Caste.

These seers were ordained amid chanting of mantras at Siddha Baba Mauj Giri Ashram of Juna Akhara here at Prayagraj on Monday.

Swami Mahendranand is originally a resident of Banala village of Saurashtra Rajkot district of Gujarat.

All three seers are originally residents of Gujarat.

Kashi Sumeru Peethadhishwar Jagadguru, Swami Narendranand Saraswati, who is also the international president of Juna Akhara along with Shri Mahant Prem Giri, Shri Dudheshwar Peethadhishwar, Juna Akhara and international spokesperson Shri Mahant Narayan Giri, Mahamandaleshwar Vaibhav Giri garlanded the seers who received the titles.

During the ceremony, Mahendranand and Kailashanand were seated on the throne and presented with umbrellas.

Shri Mahant Prem Giri said, “Juna Akhara is working towards eliminating caste and class discrimination in the sanyasi tradition. The need was felt to further enrich this tradition to stop the process of conversion by creating differences among Hindus by other religions.”

Taking important decisions in the same direction before Maha Kumbh-2025, Scheduled Caste seers are being conferred with important titles like Jagadguru, Mahamandaleshwar and Shri Mahant, he added.

After conferring the title, everyone took a holy dip in the Sangam and had the darshan of the city deity Lord Veni Madhav. Jagadguru Swami Narendranand Saraswati said that the decision of Juna Akhara is inspiring and after receiving the title of Jagadguru, devotion and dedication towards Sanatan Dharma has increased.

In 2021, at the Haridwar Kumbh, Juna Akhara conferred the title of Mahamandaleshwar on Mahendranand.

Swami Narendranand Saraswati said, “Juna Akhara is following the path of social harmony shown by Lord Shri Ram. Mahamandaleshwar Kailashanand pledged to connect those Scheduled Caste people who have been converted to Sanatan Dharma”.

The five elected Sri Panchas of the akhara, headed by the secretary, hold the positions in decreasing order of seniority.

Acharya Mahamandaleshwara is the senior most teacher of the spiritual order of God.

Jagadguru is a prominent, well-versed, and highly knowledgeable seer of the akhara.

Mahamandaleshwara is the senior divisional leader of the spiritual order of the God. Mandaleshwara is the divisional leader of the spiritual order of God. Sri Mahant is the senior spiritual leader who looks after the affairs of the akhara.

Each Math (marhi) within the akhara is governed by five mahants, all of whom can be considered gurus. They collectively elect the secretary among themselves.