Who is who in an akhada — the spiritual thrones, the elected administrators, the marshals and the five-fold councils that have governed the orders for over a thousand years.
The highest spiritual seat of an akhada. The Acharya Mahamandaleshwar is the akhada's supreme teaching authority — he gives diksha, presides over the great rites (including the initiation of nagas at the Kumbh), rides at the head of the Peshwai, and represents the akhada's spiritual voice to the world. He is chosen by the akhada's council from among its most accomplished Mahamandaleshwars and installed with the ancient pattabhisheka (anointing) rites.
A senior preceptor of the akhada — literally "lord of a great circle (mandala)". A Mahamandaleshwar is a sannyasi of recognised scholarship and realisation, formally installed by the akhada, entitled to give discourse and initiate disciples under its flag. The great akhadas have dozens of Mahamandaleshwars; together they form the akhada's spiritual senate.
"Lord of the seat (peetha)" — the head of a specific spiritual seat or throne within the tradition. When a saint is called Juna Peethadhishwar, it honours him as the holder of the Juna Akhada's spiritual throne.
The elected executive head of the akhada — the "prime minister" to the Acharya's "crown". The Sri Mahant leads the akhada's administration through the Kumbh cycle: camps, processions, properties, disputes and daily governance. In the Panchayati akhadas the Sri Mahants are elected by the council with a fixed term measured between Kumbhs.
The head of an akhada establishment — a temple, ashram or seat belonging to the akhada. A Mahant governs his centre, its sadhus and its lands, and sits in the akhada's councils. Senior Mahants are the electors and office-bearers of the order.
"Master of the post (thana)" — the akhada's officer in charge of an outpost or regional seat, guarding its properties and authority in that place. Historically the thanas were the akhada's network of garrisons along the pilgrim routes.
The Kotwal is the akhada's marshal — keeper of discipline in the camp and the processions. The Karobari (business officers) manage accounts and worldly affairs. Above all stands the Panch — the five-fold council in the Panchayati akhadas, the true sovereign of the order: major decisions of a Panchayati akhada are taken by the Panch in assembly, not by any single throne. It is this five-headed, elected governance — centuries older than modern democracy in these lands — that has kept the akhadas intact through empires.
The Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad (est. 1954, Haridwar) is the council of all thirteen akhadas: an elected Adhyaksha (president) and General Secretary coordinate the akhadas' common affairs — above all at the Kumbh, where the Parishad negotiates camp lands, facilities and the sacred order of the Amrit Snan processions with the administration. The bathing order itself follows tradition: at each Kumbh city the recognised sequence of akhadas — Shaiva sannyasis, then Bairagi anis, then Udasin and Nirmal — proceeds to the ghat with banners, drums and naga regiments, each in its appointed place and hour.
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