By Dr. Jhunjhunwala
?In the eighth century Adi Shankaracharya founded four mathas, one was Govardhan pith at Jagganathpuri, second was Sharada Pith at Sreengari, third was Dwarka Pith in Gujrat and fourth was Jyotir Pith at Badrinath. The chief of these pithas or mathas are called Shankaracharya and have always had male heads.

The selection process of these Shankaracharyas for the last 12 centuries has been dominated by males. Mahamandleswar Maa Yoga Shankti, about a decade ago, had been contemplating as to why women could not hold the religious position, render discourses and perform pujas and rituals. Why there could not be a women mathadish and why not a Parvatacharya or a mahila Shankaracharya. Maa Yoga Shakti has been fighting all her life to uplift the condition of women, and she was appointed the first ever MahaMandleshwar.
Shankaracharya came from Lord of Lords SHANKARA, a male God who dominated the world by his power. His wife Maa Parvati also known as Maa Durga, Maa Kali also created her own dominance in the world of spirituality. Mahamandleswar Maa Yoga Shakti thought the same way and created a religuous position of Parvatyacharya, a female dominance, from the spirit of Goddess Parvati.
In 1998, during Kumbhmela, it was decided that Parvayacharya should be awarded to Pujya Gurumaa Jyotishanand Saraswati, but there was a lot of resistance from the Mathadish of Haridwar who could not see the dominance of a Woman. They could not tolerate a woman in a position at par with the men. Today in the 21st century, a woman has dominated and come to the highest position in politics, a woman, Prime Minister of England, a woman President of Chile, a woman President of of Philipines and a woman President of India. In 2008, after a lady became the President of India, Maa Yoga Shakti at the age of 81 decided to take this bold step, a decade after she had originally decided on conferring this title to GuruMaa. She invited all the Mathadish of different Aakharas. This time, she wanted to take all the Mathadish of Haridwar into confidence and shower the position Parvatyacharya to Gurumaa Jyotishand Saraswati in the presence of all spiritual leaders - mend and women. But, the Mathadis could not agree to have such a position given to a woman. All were headed by men. It was not a surprise. Ma Yoga Shakti in the end thought of showering this special, unusual highest award to Gurumaa Jyotishanand Saraswati on the 14th day of January 2008, an auspicious day of Makar-Sankranti, at her kankhal Yoga Shakti Ashram in Haridwar. Maa Yoga Shakti did the rituals in her Ashram and showered rose petals on Gurumaa who became embedded in the heaps of rose petals. Maa Shakti presented GuruMaa with a silver Dandd and Chattar, as a symbol of Parvatyacharya. Anant Sri Bibhusit GuruMaa Jyotishanand Saraswati, popularly known as GURUMAA, a founder spirit of Vedic-Heritage in India and USA, became the first PAVATYACHARYA.
I have been the Executive Trustee of the Lonavala Math, and have known Her Holiness for a number of years. I am so proud to be associated with Her and Vedic Heritage. When Maa Yoga Shakti is asked to articulate the reasons behind her selection, she says, that I have come across many, many qualified women 'sants' for this title. But, one quality which GuruMaa stands out for, is Her 'courage'. She has more courage than anyone she has met, which along with Her spiritual powers and qualities makes Her the ideal candidate.
As the First Parvatyacharya, She will need the courage to establish the 'Pith', lay a strong foundation so that this new tradition can continue for centuries to come!
Jai Sri Hanuman!

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