Sadhus shut salvation door on foreigners

Hear hear! If you are a crafty foreigner out to lure Haridwar's sages out of their renunciation with your stash of booze and drugs, or among the gullible ones who can be mislead into marriages by scheming sadhus, you are no longer welcome at the holy city's akharas during the 2013 Kumbh Mela, thank you very much. 

In fact, the homes for renunciants will be off limits for you if you're anything but a 'reliable' Indian by nationality. 

The decision was taken by Juna Akhara, one of the oldest abodes of Naga sadhus, at a meeting in Haridwar on Thursday.

We have noticed in recent years how foreigners try to pollute the atmosphere at akharas by bringing in drugs and liquor to tempt the sadhus. This gives the institution a bad name. It is in the wake of such incidents that the verdict was arrived at, with the support of most of the sadhus of the akhara,' Mahant Prem Giri, general secretary of Juna Akhara, said. 

'We have expelled three sadhus for indulging in such activities and will now prohibit the entry of foreigners during the Kumbh Mela,' he added. 

Besides the import of hedonism, the sages are also worried about the antics of some of their fellows who lure woman tourists that visit the akharas - seeking peace, salvation and spirituality - into sham marriages. 

This has been a source of great ill-repute, they say. 

'Some sadhus with scant regard for Hindu morals lure western women and exploit them. This is the reason that we decided to curb opportunities for their interaction at the akhara,' Mahant Parshuram Giri, one of the sadhus at Juna Akhara, said.

Tourists visit the akharas seeking peace, salvation and spirituality

He recalled one particular instance involving sadhu Narayan Giri, of Juna Akhara, who duped many a woman in his day. In 2001, he married two Italian women without informing either that he was a much married man. 

'He even went to Italy with one of the women. But she deserted him after she came to know how he had deceived several women by marrying them,' Parshuram said. 

'There are others of his league, too, who are out to deceive foreigners, with little interest in religious work. So the ban on foreigners at our akhara is an apt decision,' Mahant Prem Giri added. 

Mahant Mahendra Giri, a sadhu at Nirwani Akhara, said, 'We welcome the decision of Juna Akhara, but it doesn't mean that we don't want foreigners at Kumbh Mela. They are free to come and explore their religious curiosities.' 

He added that other akharas may continue to entertain foreigners. 'They don't need to take a similar decision if their sadhus are disciplined renunciants and follow religious and social ethics,' he said.