An akhara is a “wrestling ground” in the village or city where young men gather to train, tone, and compete in the most basic sense.
Wrestlers typically begin by worshiping Hanuman, a god associated with strength and power, thus such activities at an akhara are not just a form of physical training but also a kind of religious devotion.
The term akhara implies something similar to "regiment" among the Dashanami Sanyasis' Naga class.
- The Dashanami Nagas were ascetics who used to work as merchants and mercenary warriors before becoming ascetics dedicated to the deity Shiva.
- These Nagas were divided into akharas based on the army paradigm, and the term mainly refers to group allegiance, but it may also allude to the structures in which the group resides.
- The Juna or Bhairava, Agni, Avahana, Niranjani, Ananda, Mahanirvani, and Atala are the seven major akharas of the Nagas.
- The greatest division of forces among the Bairagi Naga ascetics—militant ascetics who are devotees (bhakta) of the deity Vishnu—is anis (“armies”), which are subsequently split into akharas.
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