Udasi

Ascetic community founded by
Shrichandra (traditional dates 1492–
1612), the elder son of Guru Nanak, the
first of the ten Sikh gurus. According to
one tradition, Nanak passed over
Shrichandra as his successor because
Shrichandra had become an ascetic.
Guru Nanak disapproved of this, believing that his followers should live married lives in society. The Udasis have
always been an ascetic sect, and since
their formation they have been seen as
distinct from the two other major
ascetic communities, the Sanyasis and
the Bairagis. The latter are separated on
sectarian grounds: The Sanyasis worship the god Shiva, and the Bairagis the
god Vishnu, whereas the Udasis worship the Panchayatana grouping of five
Hindu deities (Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesh,
Surya, and Durga) rather than one or
another alone. During the bathing
(snana) processions at the Kumbha
Mela, the Udasis march third, behind
the Sanyasis and the Bairagis. Through
the legacy of their founder, they have
retained some informal connections
with the Sikh community, but by and
large they have always been considered
to belong in the Hindu fold. There was
considerable friction between the
Udasis and the Sikh community in the
early twentieth century because the
Sikhs were more self-consciously asserting their separate identity. See also
Panchayatana Puja.