Akhara

A ceremonial procession of akhara marching over a makeshift bridge over the Ganges river, during Kumbha Mela at Allahabad, 2001

Akhara or Akhada (Sanskrit and Hindi: अखाड़ा, shortened to khara Hindi: खाड़ा) 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 monastery for religious renunciates.[1] 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.[2]

Etymology

The Sanskrit origin term akhara, is a gender egalitarian term,[3] which means the circle or more precisely the spiritual core,[4] congregation or league,[5] 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 (celibacy) and others may require complete renunciation of worldly life. For example, wrestlers are expected to live a pure life while living at akahara 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 [ɽ] sound as a d. The Haryanvi and Khari Boli dialects shorten this to khada (खाड़ा).

History

The historic Jarasandha's Akhara at Rajgir, mentioned in the Mahabharata.

In its earliest usage, akhara referred to training halls for professional fighters. Govind Sadashiv Ghurye translates the term as "military regiment".[6] 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. When the 8th-century philosopher Adi Shankaracharya founded the Dashanami Sampradaya, he divided the ascetics into two categories: Astradhari (Sanskrit: अस्त्रधारी, lit. weapon-bearers) or warriors and Shastradhari (Sanskrit: शास्त्रधारी, lit. scripture-bearers) or intelligentsia. The former referred to the Naga sadhus, an armed order created by Shankaracharya to act as a Hindu army. These highly militant sadhu used to serve as mercenaries and thus were divided into akhara or regiments.[2] Although they still carry weapons, the modern Naga sadhu rarely practice any form of fighting aside from wrestling. Niranjani Akhara and Juna Akhara were founded in 904 CE and 1146 CE respectively.[7] In 1398, 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.[7] Akharas of Saivites and Vaishnava sects fought each other in 1690 CE and 1760 CE at Nashik mela (60,000 died) and Haridwar mela (1,800 died).[7] In 1780, British establish the sequence of order of procession for royal bathing by the akharas.[7]

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 (All India Akhara Council), Nirmohi Akhara, Shri Dattatreya Akhara and Guru Hanuman Akhara.

Astra Martial Arts Akhara

Astra (HIndi: अस्त्र), 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.[8] 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.[9] Based on such accounts, Svinth (2002) traces press ups and squats used by South Asian wrestlers to the pre-classical era.[9]

In modern usage, akhara most often denotes a wrestling ground[2] 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.[10] 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.

Major Martial Arts Akharas

India wrestling akhara training

The major traditional Indian-origin martial arts akhara, mostly focused on wrestling and Pehlwani, by state include:

Shashtra Monastic Akhara

Front facade of Naya Udasin Akhara, Kankhal

Shastra (Sanskrit and Hindi: शास्त्र) means treatise, scriptures or the school of thoughts based on those. There has been a long monastic tradition of obtaining "Shashtra Vidhya" (knowledge of sashtras) in various 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 (architecture), Vaimānika Shāstra (ancient aerospace technology), Jyotiḥśāstra (astrology), Nadi sashtra (fortune telling), Rasa shastra (medicine), Shilpa Shastras (arts and craft), Natya Shastra (dance, drama and performing arts),[3] Tantra, Para Vidya (Higher scholar), Madhu-vidya (knolwedge of bliss), 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 (divisions) and 52 Matha (Sanskrit: मठ) or Marhi (Hindi: मढ़ी). 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.[24]

Sri Pancha

According to the texts, the top administrative body of each of the akhara is the Sri Pancha (sacred body of five), representing Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and Ganesha. It is elected by consensus from among the Mahants of Matha or Marhi (Sanskrit: मठ and Hindi: मढ़ी ) 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 (at an individual village level) and Khap (grouping of the related villages within a union).

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:

Sampradaya-based Classification of Akharas

Nashipur Akhara Chandeliers
A young boy practising, Gatka, SIkh martial art of Udasi Akhara

At highest level, akhara are classified into one of the four different Sampradaya (sects) based on their traditional systems:[25][26] 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.[24]

(Note: these are the types of akharas, not the names of akharas)

Still-extant Ancient Akharas

The still-extant seven Shastradhari or monastic Hindu akhara founded by the 8th-century philosopher Adi Shankaracharya (also the founder of four Mathas) 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:[1]

# Akhara Subsidiary Akhara Sub-subsidiary Akhara
1 Niranjani Akhara
Founded in 904 CE[7] 		Ananda Akhara, attached to Niranjani Akhara -
2 Juna Akhara
Founded in 1146 CE[7] 		Avahan Akhara, attached to Juna Akhara Agni Akhara, attached to Juna Akhara
3 Mahanirvani Akhara Atal 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 (Juna, Niranjani and Mahanirvani) and three minor akhara (Avahan affiliated with Juna, Ananda affiliated with Niranjani and Atal affiliated with Mahanirvani). The 7th, small Brahmachari (celibate) 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 (ABAP) (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय अखाड़ा परिषद, transliterated as All India Akhara Council), founded in 1954,[27] is the apex organisation of 13 akharas of Hindu Sants (saints) and Sadhus (ascetics) representing the largest followership in India.[28][29] These are entitled to the special privilege of the Shahi Snan at Kumbh Mela and Ujjain Simhastha mela in a pre-determined sequence.[26]

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.[30][31]

1- MAHANIRVANI WITH ATAL AKHARA 2- NIRANJANI WITH ANAND AKHARA 3- JUNA WITH AHVAHAN & AGNI AKHARA 4-NIRVANI 5-DIGAMBAR 6-NIRMOHI 7-NAYA UDASIN 8-BADA UDASIN 9-NIRMAL

References

  1. 1 2 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. ISBN 1-934145-00-9. 243-244.
  2. 1 2 3 James G. Lochtefeld (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M. The Rosen Publishing Group. pp. 23–4. ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8.
  3. 1 2 Art and Culture: Painting and Perspective, Volume 2, Ahsan Jan Qaisar, Som Prakash Verma.2002
  4. ↑ Carnival of the Soul At India’s Maha Kumbh Mela, News Week, Tahir Shah, 3 May 2013
  5. ↑ [Three Essays: Cannibalism, The Kumbh Mela, The Legacy of Arab Science, Tahir Shah, pp.42]
  6. ↑ "The Wrestler’s Body". Publishing.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kumbh Mela was originally known as Magh Mela, Outlook India
  8. ↑ "Kalarippayattu, The divine martial art of Kerala". 16 May 2009. Archived from the original on 16 May 2009.
  9. 1 2 Kim Taylor. "Kronos: A Chronological History of the Martial Arts and Combative Sports". Ejmas.com. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
  10. ↑ Chakravertty, Shreya (26 August 2008). "Life in Satpal’s akhada: Early mornings and lots of ghee". Indian Express. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 Adopt a akhara scheme
  12. ↑ Phogat to launch Hisar wrestling nursery on Feb 15, India Timea, 15 Feb 2017
  13. ↑ About Hindu Public School
  14. 1 2 Gurugram akharas.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Top 10 Indian akhara training centres, ScoopWhoop
  16. ↑ http://kushtiwrestling.blogspot.sg/2013/09/guru-leelu-akhada-in-ladpur-haryana.html Guru Leelu Akhara]
  17. ↑ Dangal effect? Mahavir Singh Phogat’s akhara finally gets wrestling mat, Economic Times, Aman Sharma, 02 Jan 2017
  18. ↑ Akhara praised by Gandhi lies unsung on its centenary in Amravati, DNA News, 1-May-2012
  19. ↑ Chandgi Ram Akhara promoting women wrestling since 40 years, DNA News, Bhanvi Arora, 20-February-2015
  20. ↑ Guru hanuman akhara
  21. 1 2 Ranjit Akhara
  22. ↑ Hindu origin of Sikh religion and martial arts, www.shastarvidiya.org
  23. ↑ Fight clubs of varanasi, The Hindu Business Line, 7 Nov 2014
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 [South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora, Knut A. Jacobsen, ISBN hardback 978-0-415-4373-3, ISBN ebook ISBN hardback 978-0-203-93059-5]
  25. ↑ "Akhada". www.firstfoundation.in. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Akharas At Simhastha Kumbha Mela Ujjain, 17-Jan-201
  27. ↑ Tussle between Akhara members, WebDuniya
  28. ↑ "Akhara Parishad welcomes verdict on Ayodhya". The Hindustan Times. 2010-09-30. Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
  29. ↑ "Akhara Parishad do not see eye-to-eye with VHP". The Hindu. 2005-06-14. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  30. ↑ Kumbha Mela Students' Britannica India, by Dale Hoiberg, Indu Ramchandani. Published by Popular Prakashan, 2000. ISBN 0-85229-760-2.Page 259-260.
  31. ↑ Maha Kumbh Mahakumbh: The Greatest Show on Earth, by J.S. Mishra. Published by Har-Anand Publications, 2007. ISBN 81-241-0993-1. Page 21.

Indian martial arts

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.