Nirmal Akhada

At a glance

• Family — Nirmala sampradaya — the third family, with the two Udasin akhadas
• At the centre — the Guru Granth Sahib, enthroned with a granthi in attendance; the Vedas, Gita and Upanishads also venerated
• Founded — 7 August 1862, by Mahitab Singh — originally at Patiala
• Seat — Kankhal, Haridwar
• Size — around 15,000 sadhus across 32 branches; open to all castes without restriction

A book at the centre

Walk into the principal hall of most akhadas and you will find a murti — Dattatreya, Kartikeya, Ganesha, the sage Kapila. Walk into a Nirmal centre and you will find the Guru Granth Sahib enthroned, with a granthi whose office is its recitation.

The Nirmala sampradaya blends Vedic thought with Sikh gurbani, and its sadhus venerate the Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads alongside the Granth. Its members keep the Five Ks of Sikh practice and wear uncut hair under a turban. Like the Udasins, the Nirmals occupy a position that neither of the two larger traditions entirely contains — and that is precisely their identity, not a confusion in it.

Foundation and character

The akhada was founded on 7 August 1862 by Mahitab Singh, established originally as the Dharamdhaja Panchayati Akhara Nirmala at Patiala, and its seat is now at Kankhal in Haridwar. It counts around fifteen thousand sadhus across thirty-two branches in India.

One feature deserves stating plainly: the akhada admits members of all castes, with no restriction. Against the historical background of Indian monastic orders that is a substantive position and not a formality, and it is consistent with the gurbani that sits at the akhada's centre.

The name nirmala means the spotless — and the tradition's emphasis has always been scholarly: the Nirmal sadhus were, historically, teachers and expositors of scripture rather than a fighting order.

At the Kumbh

Nirmal processes and bathes with the third family, after the Shaiva and Vaishnava blocs. Its camp at the Mela is among the places where a visitor can hear continuous scriptural recitation — the akhada's characteristic sound, as the drum and conch are Juna's.

The Nirmal Akhada is recognised as one of the thirteen by the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, and it participates in the Parishad's decisions on the snan order and camp allotment like every other member.