Tirtha Dashanami

One of the ten divisions of the
Dashanami Sanyasis, renunciant
ascetics who are devotees (bhakta) of
the god Shiva. The Dashanamis were
supposedly established by the ninthcentury philosopher Shankaracharya,
in an effort to create a corps of learned
men who could help revitalize Hindu
life. Each of the divisions is designated
by a different name—in this case, tirtha
(“sacred site”). On initiation, new members are given this name as a surname to
their new ascetic names, thus allowing
for immediate group identification.
Aside from their individual identity,
these ten “named” divisions are divided
into four larger organizational groups.
Each group has its headquarters in
one of the four monastic centers
(maths) supposedly established by
Shankaracharya, as well as other particular religious associations. The Tirtha
Dashanamis belong to the Kitawara
group, which is affiliated with the
Sharada math in the city of Dwaraka,
on the shore of the Arabian Sea. The
Tirtha division is unique in that it is one
of the few that will initiate only brahmins. (The other such divisions are
Saraswati, Ashrama, and part of the
Bharati order.)