A rawboned figure with incisive eyes, a greying beard and bold lines of sandal paste marking his forehead, Swami Anandavanam Bharati speaks with quiet patience. As a Mahamandaleswar of the Sri Panch Dasanam Juna Akhada in Varanasi, he now commands respect in Kerala’s spiritual circles without effort.
The success of the recently concluded ‘Maha Magha Mahotsavam’ in Kerala, celebrated as ‘Kumbh Mela,’ by the organisers, is largely attributed to his compelling persona. For Hindutva supporters in Kerala, where his fanbase lies, Anandavanam has emerged as a new posterchild: a monk with the backstory of Leftist student activism who chose the spiritual path.
As the festival came to an end on the banks of Bharatapuzha on February 3, a pleased Anandavanam told the assembled crowd in no uncertain terms: “What was witnessed in Tirunavaya was a ‘paramount display of Hindu power.’” It was all about political awakening on religious lines rather than spiritual salvation.
Two years from now, in 2028, a year ahead of the general elections, the banks of Tirunavaya will witness a full-fledged Kumbh Mela, which it has not had a history of ever being celebrated. There is also a chance that Modi himself would fly down to Kerala for a holy dip as he did in Prayagraj in 2025 and praise the “newly awakened national consciousness."
The reinterpretation of the ancient festival of Mamankam, made Instagrammable through rituals like river aarti transplanted from ghats of Kashi, did attract lakhs of people. It is not uncommon for any festival in Kerala, secular or not, to draw crowds. Recently, the presence of US astronaut Sunita Williams at a literary festival in Kozhikode had brought in thousands who jostled to have a glimpse.
Thankfully, despite the Kumbh Mela branding and the social media hype, the festival in Tirunavaya was ignored by secular politicians of the Left and the Congress. None of them trooped to the venue for photo-ops or a chance to share the dais. The only aberration was Shashi Tharoor, a specialist in political dalliance, who posted a video on his social media handle congratulating the organisers. Only two TV channels - BJP-controlled Janam TV and Amrita TV, under the control of Amritananda Mayi Math - allotted significant airtime, and the festival’s success was largely due to YouTubers and social media influencers who flocked to the venue, who were handed down spectacular visuals of the evening aarti shot using drones.
Kerala holds in high esteem people like Sri Narayanu Guru, Chattambi Swamikal and Ayya Vaikundar, whose spirituality is inseparable from the social reformist ideals they espoused. Hindu seers in post-Independence era Kerala, except for Mata Amritananda Mayi, never had any political clout, largely because they stayed away from political interventions. But their clergy counterparts in Christianity and Islam have been guilty of being power centres meddling in politics, often a blot on the image of Kerala’s two secular fronts.
India's sanyasi tradition, inspired by Sree Sankaracharya, follows two paths: maths and akhadas. Math sanyasins are shaastradharis, seekers of knowledge through vedanta philosophy. Akhada sanyasins, while they quote scriptures, are shastradharis— they bear arms and have protection of dharma as a mandate.
Anandavanam’s sophistication and soft demeanour might not easily reveal the militant ascetic nature of Shaivite Akhada sanyasins that Kerala is unfamiliar with. But it is important to understand where the political sympathies of monastic outfits like Juna Akhada, the largest stakeholder of ‘Kumbh Mela,’ lie. In the past few decades, Kumbh Melas have evolved as a political theatre of Hindutva, and it is likely that the experiment in Tirunavaya, located in the Muslim majority district of Malappuram, too would become one in the not-so-distant future.
Pelf, power, and mahamandaleshwars
In the hierarchy of the Juna Akhada, a Mahamandaleshwar serves as a high-ranking spiritual dignitary and a dedicated guardian of Sanatan Dharma, leading a group of Sanyasis. It would be interesting to look at the history sheets of some of Juna Akhada's Mahamandaleshwars. Eruditeness and leadership displayed by Anandavanam may have led to his elevation and being assigned the mandate of extending the monastic order's footprint in the south and the Kumbh Mela enterprise in Kerala.
Since 2021, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, a militant Hindu priest of Dasna Mandir in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, known for hate speeches targeting Muslims, has been a Mahamandaleshwar of the Juna Akhada. His vitriolic statements and criminal cases, including abetment to murder and dacoity, did not come in the way of his anointment. In 2024, a controversy erupted after Prakash Pandey, an underworld don serving a sentence in Almora jail, was appointed as Mahamandaleshwar but Juna Akhada’s patron Mahant Hari Giri Maharaj soon distanced himself from the development and set up an enquiry committee.
In 2012, a similar probe committee was installed after a woman called Radhe Maa, connected to a rich business family, was anointed mahamandaleshwar, allegedly at the behest of Hari Giri, Juna Akhada's international patron. The secretive ceremony held in the middle of the night to avoid attention was questioned by many who alleged money changed hands. Her title was suspended the next day, but there was pressure on Juna Akhada to reinstate her for several years.
Swami Nityananda of the Kailasa fame, a rape accused, was also made a mahamandaleshwar by Mahanirvani Akhada in 2013. It happened three years after news of a sex scandal involving him broke. While Nityananda himself made the request, the title for Nityananda also meant they could now reach out to the south, which they had ignored.
To Dasanami akhadas, mahamandaleshwars are also a source of income. Those who need the title need to pay them a hefty amount called Pukar. They are also required to make liberal donations to akhadas during Kumbh Melas. The akhadas once collected money from princely states, revenue generation has become the responsibility of mahamandaleshwars. The Juna Akhada, which played a major role in the Tirunavaya ‘Kumbh Mela’, and announced plans to set up a base there, are probably hoping to build an additional revenue source.
Kumbh Melas as political theatre
Juna Akhada is considered the biggest and most influential among the 13 akhadas that form the powerful Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP). They follow the Dasanami tradition of having ten names - Giri, Puri, Bharati, Van, Aranya, Parvat, Sagar, Tirth, Ashram and Saraswati - which the seers adopt. Headquartered in Varanasi, they have permanent ashrams in Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik.
The status of Dasanami sadhus as a preeminent monastic power was famously documented by historian Dr Jadunath Sarkar in his seminal work, A History of Dasnami Naga Sanyasis.
During the volatile 18th century, as the Mughal Empire crumbled and British influence surged, armed bands of Shaiva and Vaishnava sadhus became highly sought-after military assets. Leading this charge were the legendary Dasanami Naga warlords—Rajendra Giri Gosain and his brothers, Anup and Umrao Giri. Vast armies of ash-smeared, matted-haired men with hardly a string around their loins often served as mercenary forces for diverse patrons, including Mughal rulers, clashing with the Hindu King of Banaras, the Afghans, or the Marathas.
In his book Ascetic Games: Sadhus, Akharas and the Making of the Hindu Vote, Dhirendra K Jha offers an uncompromising look at the world of sadhus. He argues that behind the facade of sacred knowledge lies a gritty reality of men competing for the same worldly prizes as anyone else: power, profit, and political clout.
Jha traces the consolidation of the Hindutva influence on sadhus to the 1960s. A major flash point involving Akhada sadhus happened on November 7, 1966. Over one lakh sadhus gheraoed the Parliament, demanding a prohibition on cow slaughter. Attempts were made to storm the Parliament and All India Radio. It was seen as a move to undermine parliamentary democracy. Seven people were killed and around 140 were injured in police firing. Sadhus had to retreat because of the resolute stance taken by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The stranglehold of Hindutva gathered pace in the 1980s and soon threw the old monastic orders into turmoil. The book also documents a powerful effort to convert the Kumbh Mela into a political theatre during the recent decades. These changes have forced Dasanami Akhadas to adopt desperate measures to make the Kumbh show look grand and also expand outside. Their entry into South India should be seen in this backdrop.
The use of Kumbh Mela as a platform for politics has a long history that dates back to pre-Independence. Both Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru tried to connect with the Akhadas, but no one was as successful as Hindutva organisations like the VHP and the RSS, writes Jha. It was during the Dharma Sansad organised by the VHP held alongside the 1989 Allahabad Kumbh Mela that a resolution on building the Ram Temple using 'Ram Shilas' in Ayodhya was passed. Three years later, karsevaks brought the masjid domes down, leading to riots and bloodshed.
A large number of current Akhada sadhus were once associated with the RSS as pracharaks or activists. While Jha says there is no evidence of this being intentional, he cites a 1982 report in the Organiser about 100 VHP men initiated as sanyasins by various akhadas as part of its Sanskriti Raksha Yojana. The sadhus don't seem to have grasped the long-term implications of their entanglement with politics on such a large scale, writes Jha.
In January 2025, during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, ABAP issued diktats restricting Muslims from setting up shops within the mela grounds. It said only Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist or Jain shopkeepers will be allowed. "If they are given these shops, they will spit and urinate, and our Naga saints will be forced to take action,” said Mahant Ravindra Puri, ABAP chief. Divisive fear-mongering and inflammatory rhetoric targeting Muslims are normal in their events.
"This might be the last Maha Kumbh Mela if the population of jihadists increases and they make India an Islamic nation. Even a single temple will not be left," said Yati Narsinghanand during the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj.
In Tirunavaya, Sreeshakti Saanthananda Maharshi, associated with the Chenkottukonam ashramam, echoed a similar sentiment: “Aren’t we all sitting in Malappuram. Should I explain to you what is happening here? Wake up and act. Our future should not be what is experienced by Hindus in Bangladesh. The fate of Hindus in Pakistan should not befall Hindus in Kerala,” he said while speaking at an event held during the ‘Kumbh Mela. The reference to Malappuram was in the context of it being a Muslim-majority district.
A 2023 research paper - The electoral consequences of mass religious events: India’s Kumbh Mela - by Siddhartha Baral, Gareth Nellis and Michael Weaver says that Kumbh Melas boosts Hindu nationalists’ vote share by increasing religious orthodoxy. Districts within 450 km of a Kumbh site where a festival has occurred within the past year experienced a 7.6 percentage point increase in Hindu nationalist vote share, their research showed.
Display of religious orthodoxy was evident in Tirunavaya, which gave high importance to Brahminic priestly rituals while giving space to esoteric practices by various subaltern groups, including those from tribal communities. Kerala’s secular fabric has mostly remained intact despite efforts to polarise on religious lines, and given its demography and the influence of the Left, it isn’t easy to replicate here the kind of sentiment manipulation the north has witnessed. While it remains to be seen whether it would help prospects of the BJP in an election, history demands a cautious approach to staged political theatres.
Views expressed are the author’s own.