One of the ten divisions of the Dashanami Sanyasis, renunciant ascetics who are devotees (bhakta) of Shiva.
The Dashanamis were supposedly established by the
ninth-century philosopher Shankaracharya in an effort to create a corps of
learned men who could help to revitalize Hindu life.
Each of the divisions is designated by a different name—in
this case, Saraswati (the patron goddess of learning and culture) (the patron
goddess of learning and culture).
Upon initiation, new members are given this name as a
surname to their new ascetic names, thus allowing for immediate group
identification.
These ten “named” divisions of Dashanami Sanyasis are
divided into four larger organizational groups.
Each group has its headquarters in one of the four monastic
centers (maths) supposedly established by Shankaracharya, as well as other
particular religious associations.
The Saraswati Dashanamis belong to the Bhuriwara group,
which is linked with the Shringeri math in the southern Indian town of Shringeri.
The Saraswati division is unique in that it is one of the
few in the world that will exclusively initiate brahmins (the other such
divisions are Ashrama, Tirtha, and part of the Bharati order).
