A Padma award from Modi government has reopened an old rift in Ayodhya

By: Dhirendra Jha

The conferment of a Padma Vibhushan award on Chitrakoot-based Swami Rambhadracharya has reignited an old feud among the ascetics of the Ramanandi order, a sect that was founded by the 14th century philosopher Ramandacharya and accounts for the largest number of Hindu sadhus in India.

The feud had erupted in 2005, when Rambhadracharya, a blind Ramanandi preacher known for his leanings towards the Vishva Hindu Parishad, published a critical edition of Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas.

His book greatly incensed Ramanandi sadhus, who worship Lord Ram as their titular deity and consider the Ramcharitmanas as their most sacred text. They accused Rambhadracharya of committing “blasphemy” by changing the wording of several verses. Ever since, they have not allowed Rambhadracharya to enter Ayodhya, which is considered the birthplace of Lord Rama and is therefore the nerve centre of the Ramanandi order.

“Ramcharitmanas is like mantra (sacred words) for us,” said Satyendra Das, chief priest of the Ramjanmabhoomi temple, who was incensed at Rambhadracharya getting the Padma Vibhushan. “How can anybody dare to play around with it?”

Rambhadracharya told Scroll.in that he had merely edited Ramcharitmanas. “Nothing in it has been altered,” he said. “The sadhus of Ayodhya are fools. They want to malign me and extort money.”

’Appropriate lesson’

In November 2009, the sadhus of Ayodhya asked him to withdraw the edited version of the Ramcharitmanas. Rambhadracharya refused, though he expressed regret for any annoyance or pain caused by the book.

The feud peaked during the Haridwar Kumbha Mela of 2010. There, one morning, while Rambhadracharya was preaching to his followers, a group of Ramanandi sadhus entered into his camp and assaulted him badly. They removed his tents, threw out his belongings and debarred him from the Ramanandi order.

“He later acknowledged his mistake and sent an apology,” says Baba Hathyogi, a Haridwar-based Ramanandi sadhu, who was part of the group that taught Rambhadracharya “an appropriate lesson”. “But we didn’t allow him to return to the Ramanandi order till he gave us a bhandara (community feast) of [Rs] 5 lakh.”

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