New Delhi: The Prayagraj administration has sent a notice to Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati of the Jyotish Peeth of Badrinath over his use of the title of ‘Shankaracharya,’ prompting opposition outrage and a fresh chapter in the monk’s tussle with the Bharatiya Janata Party.‘Shankaracharya’ in Sanskrit means ‘teacher of the ways of Shankara’ and is a title given to the heads of the four Hindu monasteries established by the 8th-century monk Adi Shankara. Avimukteshwaranand is the Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth.The immediate trigger for the tussle goes back to January 18, which was Mauni Amavasya on the Hindu almanac, a day when pilgrims gathered at the Prayagraj Magh Mela. Reports noted that Avimukteshwaranand was stopped and his followers were manhandled by the police near the spot of the Sangam, which is considered holy for bathing on the day.In response, the fair administration issued Avimukteshwaranand a notice asking him why he was using the title of ‘Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth.’ The notice cited a Supreme Court order stating that no religious leader could be enthroned as Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth until the disposal of the appeal.Avimukteshwaranand sat in a protest near the venue for the last 48 hours. Reports say that he sought an apology from senior personnel involved in running the fair and law enforcement.Responding to the notice, Avimukteshwaranand noted according to reports that out that two Shankaracharyas from Puri – which was supposed to have just one Shankaracharya – were permitted to set up their camps at the fair without objection.“You ask why someone who is not a Shankaracharya is using the title.The Shankaracharya of Puri is present here and has a camp.Near his camp, there is also a board of another Puri Shankaracharya, Adhokshajanand Dev Tirth Maharaj, Govardhan Peeth Shankaracharya. How can there be two Shankaracharyas of Puri?” he asked.Avimukteshwaranand’s unhappiness with the Bharatiya Janata Party government is not new. In January 2024, at the time of the much-publicised consecration ceremony of the Ram temple at Ayodhya, at the spot where the Babri Masjid was brought down by Hindutva supporters, Avimukteshwaranand had said that “political Hindus” were happy with the consecration, but not the scores of “religious Hindus”.In the same year, he said that Congress leader and leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had not said anything against Hinduism in his remarks in parliament.Gandhi had said the Hindu deity Shiva had preached non-violence but that “those who call themselves Hindu” spread violence, hate and lies “twenty four hours (a day)”, pointing to BJP MPs sitting in front of him and adding that “you are not Hindus at all”.Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, quoted by The Hindu, said that the government notice marked an unprecedented intrusion into religious traditions.Khera also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of double standards.“Those who once asked Muslims, ‘Kaagaz dikhao (show papers)’, are now asking the same of Hinduism’s top seer,” the Congress leader said.“As long as he did not question the government, he was accepted as a Shankaracharya. Now, papers are being demanded from him,” he said.