Shankaracharya refutes mela allegations, says he used traditional palanquin
Amid the ongoing controversy over his interaction with the police and the Magh Mela administration during the Mauni Amavasya bath, Jyotir Math Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati dismissed on Thursday as baseless the charges that he used a horse-drawn ‘bagghi‘. He warned of legal action if any unfair action is taken. He was responding to a second notice issued by the mela administration.
In this notice, the mela administration had asked why the land and facilities allotted to Swami Avimukteshwaranand’s institution should not be cancelled and why he should not be permanently barred from entering the mela. In his reply, he said the allegation that he went for the Mauni Amavasya (on January 18) bath, riding a horse-drawn carriage (bagghi), is completely baseless and motivated. It was claimed that at present there is no such carriage either at the Swami’s camp or at any of his ashrams.
The mela authority, in its notice, had alleged that Saraswati broke the barrier installed at the reserved Bridge number 2 and proceeded with the crowd while riding the carriage. At that time, the notice said, there was a huge rush of pilgrims, and only pedestrian movement was permitted. Responding to this, the Swami said he was proceeding to the Sangam bath in a special traditional palanquin. The palanquin has steel wheels of six-inch diameter, which are occasionally pushed forward by devotees, and it has no provision for horses or any motorised mechanism.
On the allegation of breaking the barricade, the reply said that the Swami had spoken to the police personnel deployed at the barricade and got it opened. The reply also warned the mela administration that if any illegal, unconstitutional, malicious, or unfair action is taken by its officials, they would be compelled to initiate appropriate civil, criminal, and constitutional proceedings against the erring officials in a competent court.
In its notice, the mela administration had said that due to Swami’s act, the mela police and administration faced serious difficulties in crowd management and that the possibility of a stampede and consequent loss of life could not be ruled out. It further stated, “Why should the land and facilities being provided to your institution not be cancelled, and why should you not be permanently barred from entering the mela due to this act?”
Commenting on the notice, Jyotir Math Shankaracharya’s media in-charge Shailendra Yogiraj alleged that the government was acting with a sense of vendetta. He said the notice was pasted behind the Shankaracharya camp pandal, backdated to January 18, and that they came to know about it only after being informed by an administration employee. Earlier, the mela administration had also issued a notice to Saraswati, citing a Supreme Court order in a pending civil appeal, which said that until the appeal is decided, no religious leader can be enthroned as the Shankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth.
The notice said it was clear that no religious leader had been enthroned as the Shankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth so far, yet during the Prayagraj Magh Mela 2025-26, Swami Avimukteshwaranand had displayed boards at his camp projecting himself as the Shankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth.
The earlier notice stated that no religious leader had been anointed as the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth so far, yet Saraswati had projected himself as the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth on boards displayed at his camp during the 2025-“26 Prayagraj Magh Mela
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