Kitawara, Bhuriwara, and Bhogawara are the other three divisions of the Dashanami Sanyasis, who are renunciant ascetics who are devotees (bhakta) of the deity Shiva.
- Each of these organizations is based in one of the four monastic centers (maths) that the philosopher Shankaracharya is said to have founded.
- Each group also has religious ties to one of the four Vedas, a specific region of the Indian subcontinent, one of the "great utterances" (mahavakyas) conveying ultimate truth, a particular ascetic character, and many of the ten Dashanami divisions.
The Anandawara group is linked to the Himalayan town of Joshimath via the Jyotir Math, and hence to the northern part of India.
- Because they are not attracted to worldly pleasures, their Veda is the Atharva Veda, their mahavakya is Ayamatma Brahman (“This Self is Brahman”), and their ascetic character is to be content with whatever food they receive without asking. Giri, Parvata, and Sagara are the Dashanami divisions connected with this group.
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