Who Are the Nirmohi Akhara?

[canny surya]

Krishna Pokharel And Tripti Lahiri

The Allahabad High Court delivered a complex verdict in the Babri Masjid case today, dividing the sacred site into three parts – one for Muslims and two for Hindus.

They had to deal in their case with a most unusual cast of characters, including the Hindu god Lord Ram himself, who was named as a party to the case by one of the (human) Hindu litigants.

Here is a glossary of some terms from the case that may not be familiar to all:

Nirmohi Akhara

One third of the site will go to the Nirmohi Akhara, a group of Hindu ascetics who are devotees of none other than Lord Ram. Their name means, roughly, “Group Without Attachment.” They have given up the material world for the company of their god. They are “sadhus” – or Hindu holy men often characterized by the hermetic tendencies. They claimed in court that there is no mosque called Babri Masjid at the site in Ayodhya, nor did the Mughal commander Babur make any conquest or any occupation of territory in India. They also claimed the site is of ancient antiquity and has existed before the living memory of man. Lord Ram and his court representatives receive another third of the site.

Ram Janmabhoomi

Literally, this phrase means “the land Ram was born on.” Hindu groups refer to the property in Ayodhya where the medieval Babri mosque stood, and that was at the heart of the 60 year dispute with this phrase. Ram is one of the most revered incarnations of one of the deities of a Hindu trinity—the god of preservation, Vishnu.

Sunni Waqfs Board

This is an elected legal body that oversees Sunni Islamic properties endowed for religious or charitable purposes. The plaintiff in the case that was decided Thursday was the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Board of Waqfs, which supervises these properties in the state where the town of Ayodhya is located. The board gets the third portion of the site.

Ram Lalla

This refers to Hindu idols placed in the central dome of the mosque, allegedly in 1949. The phrase specifically refers to Ram as a baby or a young child. Parts of the Hindu suits revolved around seeking access to these idols and having them remain there, while the Muslim plaintiffs wanted them removed.

[Santa Banta]

Nirmohi Akhara

Nirmohi Akhara is a Hindu religious denomination following its own religious faith and customs . It is one of the 14 akhadas recognized by the Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad, and belonging to the Vaishnava sampradaya . It is headed by Mahant Bhaskar Das.

The group has been in light in connection with the Ayodhya debate since 1959 when it filed a suit to take over the disputed site of Babri Mosque.

Nirmohi Akhara filed a suit in January 1885 with the sub-judge of Faizabad, seeking consent to construct a temple for the Indian God Rama in the area called the Ram Chabutra, adjacent to the Babri Mosque. The sub-judge held then that two large religious structures in close proximity could potentially be a threat to public order. Permission was declined, though the Nirmohi Akhara has since kept up its effort to reclaim the land and construct the temple.

On September 30, 2010, a Lucknow panel of three judges of the Allahabad High Court pronounced the verdict on the case deciding to give a third part of the land to each party namely the Sunni Waqf Board and the Hindu Mahasabha, with Nirmohi Akhara getting the areas named Sita Rasoi and Ram Chabutara, within the disputed site.