Chief priest steps out of Hanuman Garhi, visits Ram temple in ‘Shahi Juloos’

: A virtually 300-year-old custom was damaged at Ayodhya’s well-known Hanuman Garhi temple for the primary time in almost 300 years when the chief priest (Gaddi Nasheen) Mahant Prem Das stepped out of the premises on the event of Akshaya Tritiya on Wednesday and visited the Ram temple in a procession after taking a ritual bathtub within the Saryu river.

In line with the centuries’ previous custom of the Hanuman Garhi temple, it’s obligatory for the presiding Mahant (chief priest) to by no means go away the premises, which is outlined as an space of 52 bighas, for the remainder of his life after being ordained to the place of Gaddi Nasheen.

However on Wednesday, driving on elephants, horses and camels, lots of of Naga sadhus took half within the ‘Shahi Juloos’ (procession) led by Mahant Prem Das with the Nirvani Akhara’s ‘Nishaan’ (insignia) to the accompaniment of music and dances by native performers who adopted.

The departure from custom got here after the Panch (members) of Nirvani Akhara, which manages the Hanuman Garhi temple, had been moved by the need of the chief priest to go to the Ram temple and so they unanimously granted him permission to take action.

Mahant Sanjay Das, a senior mahant (priest) of Hanuman Garhi temple, mentioned: “The custom (of the chief priest not stepping out of the premises) has been occurring for 288 years (since 1737). It’s because the top priest is devoted solely to serving Lord Hanuman. The structure of Hanuman Garhi was documented in 1925, the place the traditions that had been adopted because the starting had been formally recognised by the Naga Sadhus. After assuming the place, the top priest resides throughout the Hanuman Garhi advanced. They serve Lord Hanuman there, and their solely their physique can go away the premises (after demise).”

Sanjay Das, a senior mahant (priest) of Hanuman Garhi mentioned, “The civil court docket additionally respects this rule of Hanuman Garhi. In any civil lawsuit, the consultant of the Akhara seems in court docket as a substitute of the presiding Mahant. If crucial, the court docket itself involves Hanuman Garhi to document the assertion of the presiding Mahant.”

Although the space between Hanuman Garhi temple and Ram temple is nearly 1 km, the whole Wednesday’s occasion lasted about seven hours with the procession overlaying a distance of about 6 km.

The procession first reached the banks of the Saryu River (2 km from Hanuman Garhi). Thereafter, the chief priest and Naga Sadhus took a ritual bathtub within the river. Subsequent, the procession moved in the direction of the Ram temple, mentioned Mahant Ramkumar Das, the chief of Nirvani Akhara. The procession returned to Hanuman Garhi from Ram Temple at round 1 pm.