Akhara or Akhada (Hindi: अखाड़ा, romanised: Akhāṛā) 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.Akharas and Kumbh Mela What Is Hinduism?: Modern Adventures Into a Profound Global Faith, by Editors of Hinduism Today, Hinduism Today Magazine Editors. Published by Himalayan Academy Publications, 2007. . 243-244. 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.
Etymology The term akhara, is a gender-egalitarian term, which means the circle or more precisely the spiritual core,Carnival of the Soul At India's Maha Kumbh Mela, News Week, Tahir Shah, 3 May 2013 congregation or league,[Three Essays: Cannibalism, The Kumbh Mela, The Legacy of Arab Science, Tahir Shah, pp.42] 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 life. Some strictly practice Brahmacharya (celibacy) 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 (खाड़ा).
History
Foundation dates of martial akharas Jadunath Sarkar documented the founding date of various akharas based on a 19th century manuscript provided to him by the Nirvani Akhara of Dashanami Sampradaya.
Shavite martial akharas: Dashanami Sampradaya has 10 akharas, 6 of which are ancient akharas. The manuscript cited by Sarkar details the genealogy of head of 6 akharas. According to this manuscript, the six military akharas were founded in the following years, Dashanami military kharas had prohibition against eating meat or taking of narcotics:David N. Lorenzen, 2006, Who Invented Hinduism: Essays on Religion in History, Yoda Press, p.51-65. 547 CE, Avahan Akhara 646 CE, Atal Akhara 749 CE, Nirvani Akhara 904 CE, Niranjani Akhara 1146 CE, Juna Akhara which was originally called "Bhairavi Akhara" 1856 CE, Anand Akhara
Vaishnavite akharas: Followers of Vaishnavism are also called Bairagi or Vairagi. Among the Bairagi, those who became part of the military akharas were organised in the 7 akharas founding dates of most of which are unclear. Each of the akhara accepted members from all 4 sects of Vaishnavism. Bairagi military akharas generally did not follow the prohibition against eating meat or taking of narcotics. Vaishnavism has following four major sects and 7 martial akharas: subsects or paramparas Sri founded by Ramananda Brahma founded by Madhava Rudra founded by Vishnusuvamin Sanakadi founded by Nimbarka Martial akharas - total 7: Dadupanthis: Armed martial akharas were first likely formed by the Dadupantji guru Jait Sahib (1693–1734 CE) 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 Indian Rebellion of 1857, Dadupanthis acted as auxiliaries who assisted the East India Company forces. 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.https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.61973 |Chapter XV Satnamis revolted against the rule of mughal king Aurangzeb. Sikh's martial akharas: Khalsa armed akharas were formed by Guru Govind Singh in 1699 against the Mughal Empire, 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.
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 (c. 400 BCE text describing 900 BCE era) 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 (2002) 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 (musti-yuddha), wrestling (maladwandwa), chariot-racing (rathachalan), horse-riding (aswa-rohana) and archery (dhanurvidya).
When the 8th-century philosopher Adi Shankaracharya (788–820 CE) founded the Dashanami Sampradaya, he divided the ascetics into two categories: Shastradhari (Sanskrit: शास्त्रधारी, lit. scripture-bearers) intelligentsia and Astradhari (Sanskrit: अस्त्रधारी, lit. weapon-bearers) warriors. Shankaracharya established Naga sadhus as an astradhari armed order. He also popularised the Char Dhams during the reign of Katyuri dynasty of Garhwal Kingdom., p.26
In 904 CE and 1146 CE, Niranjani Akhara and Juna Akhara were founded respectively.
In 1567 CE, Jogis (Giris) and Sannyasi (Puris) 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 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 (60,000 died) and Haridwar mela (1,800 died).
In 1770-1820 CE, during Sannyasi rebellion against Company rule in India, Akharas played a key role specially the Dashanami akhara.
In 1780 CE, the East India Company administration establish the sequence of order of procession for royal bathing by the akharas at Kumbh Mela to eliminate disputes.
In 2018, the Kinnar Akhara was established by the hijra(transgender) community. It is under the Juna Akhada (Shri Panchdashnaam Juna Akhada).
Today, akhara may be used for religious purposes or for the teaching of yoga and martial arts. Some of the noted Akhara organisations include Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (All India Akhara Council), Nirmohi Akhara, and Shri Dattatreya Akhara.
Akharas within Guru–Shishya traditional Sampradaya-Paramparas
Sampradaya is a particular system of belief and within it a particular guru's lineage is called parampara. There are 3 distinct belief-system Sampradayas (Vaishnava, Shaivite and Dashanami sampradaya), each of which follows one of 3 types of Guru–shishya parampara lineage (Deva, Rishi and Manav parampara), each sampradaya-parampara may have several akharas of shastradhari (intellectuals) or astradhari (warriors), and larger akharas may have own one or more permanent mathas.
Sampradaya (Sanskrit : सम्प्रदाय IAST ) 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 (initiation) 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.A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Srimad Bhagavatam 7.12.1, The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1976, In some traditions there is never more than one active master at the same time in the same guruparamaparya (lineage).Padoux, André. "The Tantric Guru" in David Gordon White (ed.) 2000. Tantra in Practice, p. 44. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press
Sampradaya: three sampradayas are Vaishnava, Shavite and Advait Vaishnava sampradaya: has 4 major Guru–shishya traditional paramparas Sri Sampradaya parampara of guru Ramanujacharya, Madhva Sampradaya parampara of guru Madhvacharya, Rudra Sampradaya parampara of guru Viṣṇusvāmī/Vallabhacharya Kumara sampradaya parampara of guru Nimbarka
Shaivite sampradaya: has 6 major Guru–shishya traditional paramparas Nandinatha Sampradaya parampara of guru Tirumular (now known as Siddha Sampradaya of Shaiva Siddhanta) Meykandar SampradayaMathew Chandrankunnel (2008) "Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics" P. 720 parampara of guru Meykandar (now known as Saiva Adheenams of Shaiva Siddhanta in South India) Adinath Sampradaya parampara of guru Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath (now known as Nath Sampradaya of Siddha Siddhanta)Nisargathatta maharaj Trika Sampradaya (also known as Ragasya Sampradaya and Trayambaka Sampradaya)P. N. K. Bamzai (1994) "Culture and Political History of Kashmir"V. N. Drabu (1990) "Śaivāgamas: A Study in the Socio-economic Ideas and Institutions of Kashmir (200 B.C. to A.D. 700) Indus Publishing parampara of guru Durvasa and Vasugupta who follow Kashmir ShaivismLakshmanjo Academy Lingayat Sampradaya parampara Srouta Sampradaya parampara
Advaita Sampradaya (also known as Ekadandis, currently known as Dashanami Sampradaya): After the decline of Buddhism, a section of the Ekadandis were organised by Adi Shankara in the 8th century in India to be associated with four maṭhas paramparas to provide a base for the growth of Hinduism. Dashanami Sampradaya, "Tradition of Ten Names", is a Hindu monastic tradition of Ekadandi sannyasins (wandering renunciates carrying a single staff)Journal of the Oriental Institute (pp 301), by Oriental Institute (Vadodara, India)Indian Sadhus by Govind Sadashiv GhuryeAdvaitic Concept of Jīvanmukti by Lalit Kishore Lal Srivastava generally associated with the Advaita Vedanta tradition. Bhogavala parampara of guru Padmapāda at Govardhana Pīṭhaṃ (Puri in Odisha) Bhūrivala parampara of guru Sureśvara at Sringeri Śārada Pīṭhaṃ (in Karnataka) Kitavala parampara of guru Hastāmalakācārya at Dvāraka Pīṭhaṃ (Dwaraka in Gujrat) Nandavala parampara of guru Toṭakācārya at Jyotirmaṭha Pīṭhaṃ (Jyotirmath in Uttrakhand)
Paramparās: 3 types (Daiva, Rishi and Manav) Daiva-paramparā Nārāyaṇa Sada Shiva Padmabhuva (Brahmā) Ṛiṣhi-paramparā Vaśiṣṭha Śakti Parāśara Vyāsa Śuka Mānava-paramparā Gauḍapāda Govinda bhagavatpāda Śankara bhagavatpāda, and then Shankara's four disciples Padmapāda Hastāmalaka Toṭaka Vārtikakāra (Sureśvara) and others
Two types of Akhara: Shashtradhari and Astradhari