Swami Achyutanand coronated as Shankaracharya

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, February 24

Spiritual guru Swami Achyutanand Maharaj of Bhooma Peethadeeshwar was today coronated as Shankaracharya in the presence of noted saints.

Swami Achyutanand Maharaj has been made the Shankaracharya of Sharda Peeth. He claimed that he had been blessed by Shankaracharya Swami Swarupanand Saraswati.

Despite objections by Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad, Swami Achyutanand and his supporters went ahead with the naming ceremony called ‘Pattabhishek’, at Adbhut temple in Hari-Pur-Kalan.

The Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad, the governing body of 13 akhadas, had warned Swami Achyutanand and saints supporting him of boycott. The Parishad had claimed that his appointment was unauthorised and not as per the norms laid by Jagad Guru Adi Shankaracharya.

Parishad president Mahant Narendra Giri said Adi Jagdguru Shankaracharya had formed four peeths of Shankarcharya—Jotirmath, Sharda, Dwarka and Shringeri. Naming of the Shankaracharya for all these four seats is done by a fixed procedure from centuries but this procedure had not been adhered to in naming Swami Achutyanand as Sharada Peeth Shankaracharya, of which Swami Swaroopanand Maharaj is Shankaracharya at present. He is Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath Peeth (Shri Badrinath shrine) also.

“A person to be named Shankaracharya should have the knowledge of all Vedas and scriptures. He also needs to have knowledge of all religions and there is an academic session in which the Shankaracharya is questioned by Vedic experts on various aspects. Also, the consent of all seven Sanyasi Akhadas is imperative for naming a new Shankaracharya, which has not been taken in this case. Swami Achyutanand is himself claiming to be next Shankaracharya, which is not right,” said Shri Mahant Narendra Giri.

Meanwhile, Rajendra Sharma, spokesperson for Swami Achyutyanand Maharaj, said the Akhada Parishad should not interfere in this matter as Swami Achyutanand Maharaj deserved to be Sharada Peeth Shankaracharya.

He alleged that the Akhada Parishad was not adhering to norms in making Maha Mandaleshwar.