Ajendraprasadji Pande (August 1949 – present), is the current acharya of the Laxminarayan Dev Gadi of the Swaminarayan Sampraday (May 1984 – present), which is a Hindu Vaishnava Sampraday rooted in Ramanuja’s Vishishtadvaita philosophy [1] and is the 7th successor of Swaminarayan in the South Diocese (Laxminarayan Dev Gadi - Vadtal).[2]
Early life and education
editAjendraprasadji Pande was born on August 16th, 1949 in Gujarat, India. He is the son of Narendraprasad Pande, the 6th Acharya of the Laxminarayan Dev – Vadtal Gadi. He studied at the Sardar Patel University in Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat and had a career in law before he was enthroned as acharya.[3]
Works
edit- Pande established the first two temples of the Vadtal Gadi abroad in Wheeling, IL and Grand Prairie, TX.[4]
- Founded the Swaminarayan Agyna Upasana Satsang Mandal.[5]
- Established over 500 large and small mandirs in India and abroad.[6]
- Founded “SVG Charity”, an organization that has contributed to disaster relief efforts [7][8] through temples of the Vadtal diocese.
Controversies
editThere is a current stay-order by the Gujarat High Court regarding a resolution passed by the Satsang Mahasabha in 2002 for his removal as Acharya.[9] Thus, the court case regarding the legality of his removal by the Satsang Mahasabha is still pending.
Ajendraprasad’s eldest son, Nrigendraprasad Pande (known as Lalji Maharaj Vadtal), was legally granted the title as “Bhavi Acharya” (Acharya-designate) by the Anand District Court in 2012.[10] Therefore, he presides at religious events in the absence of his father. [11]
Sources
edit- Williams, Raymond Brady. An Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism. Cambridge University Press, 2019.
- Melton, J. Gordon. "New New Religions” in North America: The Swaminarayan Family of Religions." The Journal of CESNUR, vol. 4, no. 4, 2020, pp. 89-109.
- Brahmbhatt, Arun (2016b). "The Swaminarayan commentarial tradition". In Williams, Raymond Brady; Trivedi, Yogi (eds.). Swaminarayan Hinduism: tradition, adaptation and identity (1st ed.). New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-908657-3. OCLC 948338914.
References
edit- ^ Brahmbhatt (2016). "Sahajanand explicitly states that his school of Vedanta is Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita".
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "SKSST Dharmakul" (PDF).
- ^ Williams, Raymond Brady (2019). Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism. p. 50.
- ^ Melton, J. Gordan (2020). New New Religions” in North America: The Swaminarayan Family of Religions. p. 102.
- ^ Melton, J. Gordan (2020). New New Religions” in North America: The Swaminarayan Family of Religions. p. 97.
- ^ "H.H. 1008 Acharya Shree Ajendraprasadji Maharaj". Swaminarayan Vadtal Gadi - SVG. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- ^ "Members of Hindu Temple Make PPE Kits for SB Residents". TAPinto. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
- ^ "Sewa International's Houston Chapter Distributes 100,000 Pounds of Food to the Needy". No. 25 June 2020. India New England News.
- ^ "Gujarat High Court Provides Relief to Acharya Ajendraprasad Pande". DNA India. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ "Nrigendraprasad confirmed as Bhavi Acharya of Vadtal (Translated)" "વડતાલના ભાવિ આચાર્યપદે ન્úગેન્દ્રપ્રસાદને માન્ય : કોર્ટ". No. 13 July 2012. Divya Bhaskar.
- ^ "Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday's Acharya". Retrieved 22 July 2023.