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

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: A nearly 300-year-old tradition was broken at Ayodhya’s famous Hanuman Garhi temple for the first time in nearly 300 years when the chief priest (Gaddi Nasheen) Mahant Prem Das stepped out of the premises on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya on Wednesday and visited the Ram temple in a procession after taking a ritual bath in the Saryu river.

According to the centuries’ old tradition of the Hanuman Garhi temple, it is mandatory for the presiding Mahant (chief priest) to never leave the premises, which is defined as an area of 52 bighas, for the rest of his life after being ordained to the position of Gaddi Nasheen.

But on Wednesday, riding on elephants, horses and camels, hundreds of Naga sadhus took part in the ‘Shahi Juloos’ (procession) led by Mahant Prem Das with the Nirvani Akhara’s ‘Nishaan’ (insignia) to the accompaniment of music and dances by local performers who followed.

The departure from tradition came after the Panch (members) of Nirvani Akhara, which manages the Hanuman Garhi temple, were moved by the desire of the chief priest to visit the Ram temple and they unanimously granted him permission to do so.

Mahant Sanjay Das, a senior mahant (priest) of Hanuman Garhi temple, said: “The tradition (of the chief priest not stepping out of the premises) has been going on for 288 years (since 1737). This is because the head priest is dedicated solely to serving Lord Hanuman. The constitution of Hanuman Garhi was documented in 1925, where the traditions that had been followed since the beginning were formally recognised by the Naga Sadhus. After assuming the position, the head priest resides within the Hanuman Garhi complex. They serve Lord Hanuman there, and their only their body can leave the premises (after death).”

Sanjay Das, a senior mahant (priest) of Hanuman Garhi said, “The civil court also respects this rule of Hanuman Garhi. In any civil lawsuit, the representative of the Akhara appears in court instead of the presiding Mahant. If necessary, the court itself comes to Hanuman Garhi to record the statement of the presiding Mahant.”

Though the distance between Hanuman Garhi temple and Ram temple is just about 1 km, the entire Wednesday’s event lasted about seven hours with the procession covering 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 bath in the river. Next, the procession moved towards the Ram temple, said Mahant Ramkumar Das, the chief of Nirvani Akhara. The procession returned to Hanuman Garhi from Ram Temple at around 1 pm.