Name of one of seven subgroups of the
Naga class of the Dashanami Sanyasis,
renunciant ascetics who are devotees
(bhakta) of the god Shiva. The subgroups are known as akharas and are
similar to regiments of an army. Until
the beginning of the nineteenth century
the Nagas were primarily mercenary soldiers but were also active in merchandise trading; neither of these
characteristics applies in contemporary
times. Members of the Juna Akhara
revere the sage Dattatreya as their “tutelary deity,” the primary deity from
which they learn; each of the akharas
have different tutelary deities. Some
accounts say Bhairava was the patron
deity of the Juna Akhara in earlier times,
which would explain the fact that the
group is also known as the Bhairava
Akhara. The literal meaning of the present name and its connection with
Bhairava imply that it is very old. In contemporary times it is a large organization found only in northern India. In
some places it is given low status for
admitting members from the lower
social classes.
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Juna (“Old”) Akhara
Up until the middle of the present century, the Juna Akhara marched with the
Niranjani Akhara in the bathing (snana)
processions during the Kumbha Mela and
was thus considered a subsidiary part of
that akhara. For most of this century the
Junas were upset that they held subordinate status despite the fact that they have
far more members than any other akhara.
The Junas began their attempt to gain the
status of a separate procession with the
1903 Haridwar Kumbha Mela, but were
not accorded this position until 1962. The
akharas agreed that during a Haridwar
Kumbha Mela, the Junas would lead the
Sanyasi processions for the bathing on the
festival of Shivaratri. However, the
Niranjanis would be first for the other two
major bathing days—the new moon in
Chaitra and the Kumbha bath on April 14.
This arrangement broke down at the 1998
Kumbha Mela in Haridwar, when the Junas
demanded that they be allowed to go first
at the Chaitra bath as well, based on their
status as the largest akhara. On the day of
the second bath, this disagreement erupted into a full-scale riot between ascetic
groups and police in which many people
were hurt. There was great worry that such
violence would recur on the main bathing
day, but the day came off without incident
when the Juna Akhara boycotted the
bathing processions.