‘Our protest will continue’: Swami Saraswati leaves Magh Mela without dip after row over ‘misbehaviour’

“We will come to Prayagraj for the next Magh Mela and sit on dharna… we will not enter the shivir (tent) as no one came to escort us with due respect for the ritual bath this time,” he added.

He said they were on their way to Varanasi, where they planned to stay for a day or two.

The Mela authorities refused to respond when contacted for comment.

Over the past 10 days, the Mela Authority had issued two notices to Saraswati, alleging he and his supporters attempted to “force their way” towards the Triveni Sangam on January 18 which might have led to a stampede. In one notice, it asked why the Swami should not be barred from future melas and sought his response. In another notice, the fair officials cited a 2022 Supreme Court order to question his use of the title “Shankaracharya”.

Sarkar said they have submitted their responses to both notices to the Mela Authority.

The row had also taken a political turn, with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress extending their support to Saraswati and attacking the ruling BJP for “disrespecting Sanatan Dharma”. However, the BJP appeared to be divided over the row, with most party leaders opting to stay silent while others made reconciliatory efforts towards the agitating seer.

Speaking to the media before leaving the mela site, Swami Avimukteshwaranand said he had come to the sacred confluence seeking spiritual peace, but was forced to return with deep pain and a heavy heart—something he never imagined.

“Whatever that happened in Prayagraj has not only shaken our souls but also raised a serious question on our faith in justice and humanity. Bathing in the waters of the Sangam is not merely a religious ritual but also a path to spiritual fulfillment,” he said.

The administration, he added, later sent them a proposal saying whenever they wished to go for the holy bath, they would be taken with respect from their camp to the Sangam in a palanquin, and that they would make all necessary arrangements for the ceremony.

The proposal also mentioned the officers who were present at the Sangam on the day of Mauni Amavasya and witnessed the incident would be there to welcome them by showering flowers, he claimed.

“It also mentioned that in the future a special operating procedure (SOP) will be prepared for all four Shankaracharyas for bathing on Mauni Amavasya and that its draft could be shared with us if we wished,” he said.

But there was not a single word of apology in the proposal for what happened that day, he asserted. “Had we accepted the offer and gone for the bath, allowed flowers to be showered on us, it would mean accepting these privileges at the cost of the humiliation and deprivation faced by sannyasis, brahmacharis, elderly, saints, and batuks,” he added.