At 35, Mahant Balbir Giri is set to become one of the youngest heads of the Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP).
Office-bearers of Shri Panchayati Akhara Niranjani have decided to anoint Mahant Balbir Giri as the next chief of Baghambari Math. He will have to get approval for all the major decisions pertaining to Math by a five-member administrative body.
He would be formally anointed at a coronation ceremony on October 5.
Mahant Balbir Giri, 35, has been the most trusted disciple of Mahant Narendra Giri for the past 15 years. He hails from Uttarakhand and had left his family in 2005 to take sanyas. He was given diksha by Mahant Narendra Giri at Haridwar and is presently looking after the Bilkeshwar Mahadev temple in Haridwar.
Mahant Balbir Giri is also the deputy mahant of Niranjani Akhara. He remained away from media eye after the demise of Mahant Narendra Giri, though he participated in all the post death ceremonies of his guru.
The general secretary of Niranjani Akhara, Mahant Ravindra Puri said, “As desired by Maharaj Ji (Mahant Narendra Giri) in his last will, we have named Balbir Giri as his successor.”
Various senior seers of the 13 akharas under ABAP ambit, along with officials of the district administration, would be invited for the coronation ceremony on October 5.
“This coincides with the ‘Shodashi’ ceremony of Mahant Narendra Giri, a ritual to be performed on the 16th day of the Mahant’s death,” Mahant Ravindra Puri added.
Mahant Balbir Giri will also be the head mahant of the Bade Hanuman temple of Sangam.
Critical time for Hindu society
Hindus are passing through one of the most critical times in our history. Our festivals and temples are under all-out attack, religious and educational institutions are not in our control due to discriminatory laws and state machinery, we have been cleansed from several parts of the country, foreign-funded Christian and Islamic conversion mafia is rampant, and all forms of media are seeped in Hinduphobia. Our youth are confused about their religion and identity, and are slowly drifting away.
74 years after independence, the realization has now clearly dawned on Hindus that the secular state is not our friend. For far too long, we have lived in the illusion that merely voting for the right candidate or party will solve our issues.
Moreover, Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh are being crushed through a gradual genocide. The situation in not much better in other countries where Hindus live.
What we desperately need is Dharmic leadership. We need our akharas, maths, sadhu-sant samaj, and all Dharmic organisations, old and new, to come together and show us the way. They cannot afford to stay passive and confined to a narrow religious role. Dharma needs to be taught and practiced and must guide every sphere of life, again. Whenever this civilization has been under threat, Dharma gurus have shown the way. The need has never been greater.
We hope the young Mahant infuses fresh energy and ideas into our akharas, and is able to bridge the yawning gap that has developed between our Dharmic organisations and the issues facing the common Hindu.
(With IANS inputs)
