Hinduism - Where Is Galta In India?


A hamlet in Rajasthan, a few miles east of the state capital of Jaipur.

Galta is well known for its association with the Bairagi Naga ascetics, renunciant traders and warriors who were Vishnu worshipers (bhakta).

According to Bairagi legend, a conference held in Galta in 1756 united the many tribes of Bairagi Naga ascetics into one unified military formation known as the Ramanadis, or "army of Ram," headed by a Bairagi named Balanand.

The Ramanandis were divided into three anis or armies by Balanand: the Digambara Ani, Nirvani Ani, and Nirmohi Ani, which are still the main Bairagi divisions today.

The Naga class of the Dashanami Sanyasis, a rival group of renunciant trader-soldiers who were followers of the deity Shiva, had been attacking the Dashanami Sanyasis, therefore this merger was required, according to tradition.

The conflict arose at the Kumbha Mela event, purportedly over who got first place in the bathing (snana) parade, which was a show of relative prestige.

However, authority and control over a region's resources may have been an underlying factor.

It's impossible to pinpoint the specific conditions under which Ram's armies were founded.

Independent sources clearly reveal that throughout the late eighteenth century, the Bairagis were more cohesively structured, and that some of these bairagi bands used their mobility, wealth, and strength to engage in long-distance trading.

The dispersed structure of monastic life, on the other hand, makes the formation of such an army exceedingly implausible, unless it was the culmination of a previously established tendency. 

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