One of the Bairagi Naga ascetics' four branches (sampraday).
The Bairagi Nagas are followers (bhakta) of the deity Vishnu
who are arranged into several anis or "armies" in a military form.
Their principal activity until the beginning of the
nineteenth century was as mercenary troops, while they also had significant
commerce interests; both of these have mostly vanished in recent times.
The Shri Sampraday traces its spiritual heritage back to the
poet-saint Ramananda, who is said to have been Ramananda's master, the southern
Indian philosopher Ramanuja.
This assertion is reflected in the sampraday's name, since
Ramanuja's descendants, the Shrivaishnavas, devote their devotion to Vishnu and
Shri (Lakshmi).
However, the Ramanandi ascetics worship a completely
separate set of deities—Rama and Sita—and any links between the Ramanandis and
the Shrivaishnavas were publicly relinquished in 1921 at the Ujjain Kumbha
Mela, at the Shrivaishnavas' request.
The claim to be linked to a prominent religious person, like
with another Bairagi organization, the Brahma Sampraday, seems to be a means to
attain the authority and status of an old and established institution.
The Shri Sampraday is the biggest and most significant of
the Bairagi Naga orders even without this claim.
For further detail, read Peter van der Veer's 1988 book,
Gods on Earth.
