An unpleasant confrontation between two Shankaracharyas over Sai Baba issue has turns the Sangam in Allahabad into a battlefield.
The two Shankaracharyas are camping at the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati (Sangam) rivers in Allahabad, where the Magh Mela is held every year.
The two Shankaracharyas Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati of Dwarkapeeth and Swami Vasudevanand Saraswati of Jyotishpeeth were at loggerheads over Sai Baba issue whether he was a Hindu or a Muslim.
While Swami Swaroopanand said that Sai Baba was a Muslim and his followers will remove the idol of Sai Baba from a temple at Connaught Place in New Delhi on Basant Panchmi, Vasudevanand has said that Sai Baba was a Hindu and he also disagree with Swaroopanand’s call to remove Sai Baba idol from the temples.
Swaroopanand’s claimed that Sai Baba was a Muslim, who was a non-vegetarian and used to recite Quran, to which Vasudevanand strongly oppose and said:
“Such information has been spread against Sai Baba with ulterior motive. I have done enough research on him and can say that he was a Hindu”.
But Swaroopananwho has been campaigning against Sai Baba called a meeting of the saints in Sangam and passed a resolution against Sai Baba
“He was neither a god nor a saint. The Hindus must stop worshipping him. There is no question of allowing such a person’s idols in the temples of Hindu gods and goddesses.”