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{{Short description|Indian politician (1894-1969)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Mahant Digvijaynath
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image =
| image_size =
| office = [[Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha]]
| term_start = March 1967
| term_end = September 1969
| constituency = [[Gorakhpur Lok Sabha Constituency|Gorakhpur]]
| predecessor = [[Sinhasan Singh]]
| successor = [[Mahant Avaidyanath]]
| birth_name = Swaroop Singh
| birth_date = {{Birth date text|1894}}
| birth_place = Kankarwa Thikana, [[Udaipur State]], [[British India]] (present-day [[Udaipur district]], [[Rajasthan]])
| death_date = {{Death year and age|1969|1894}}
| death_place = [[Gorakhpur]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], India
| party = [[Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha]]
| other_party = [[Indian National Congress]]<ref name=othersaffron>
{{cite news |first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot |authorlink=Christophe Jaffrelot |title=The other saffron |newspaper=Indian Express |date=6 October 2014 |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-other-saffron/99/ |access-date=2014-10-06}}
</ref>
| spouse =
| children =
| education =
| occupation = Politician, monk
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
| module = {{Infobox religious biography|embed=yes
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| denomination = [[Shaivism]]
| school = [[Yoga]]
| sect = [[Nath|Nath Sampradaya]]
| lineage = [[Guru Gorakhnath]]
| guru = Baba Brahmanath
| disciples = [[Mahant Avaidyanath]]
| post = [[Mahant]]
| temple = [[Gorakhnath Math]]
| ordination =
| period =
| predecessor = Baba Brahmanath
| successor = [[Mahant Avaidyanath]]
}}
}}

'''Mahant Digvijaynath''' (born '''Swaroop Singh Ranawat'''; 1894–1969)<ref name=goraknath>{{cite web |title=Mahant Digvijaynath |url=http://gorakhnath.net/digvijay-nath/ |publisher=gorakhnath.net |access-date=2014-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202172655/http://gorakhnath.net/digvijay-nath/ |archive-date=2 February 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> was the [[mahant]] ({{Lit|head priest}}), of the [[Gorakhnath Math]] in [[Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh|Gorakhpur]], India. He was also a [[Hindutva|Hindu nationalist]] activist and a politician of the [[Hindu Mahasabha]], who was arrested for inflaming passions among Hindus against [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. Nath played a leading role in the [[Ram Janmabhoomi movement]] in 1949, which culminated in the appearance of [[Rama]] idols inside the [[Babri Masjid]], in an effort to revive the [[Hindu Mahasabha]] after its implication in the Gandhi assassination. Nath was elected as the [[Member of parliament, Lok Sabha|MP]] for [[Gorakhpur (Lok Sabha constituency)|Gorakhpur]] in 1967 on a Hindu Mahasabha ticket.<ref name="othersaffron" />

== Early life ==
Digvijaynath was born Swaroop 'Nanhu' Singh in 1894 in Kankarwa Thikana (Mewar) of (Udaipur), [[Rajasthan]] in a Viramdevot Ranawat [[Rajput]] family. His mother (an Udawat Rathore Rajput from Kundoj, Ajmer) died when he was 8 years old. His father was Rawat Thakur Uday Singhji of Kankarwa, President of the Mewar Presidency Council (Mahendraj Sabha). He was given away to a [[Nath]] yogi called Phulnath, who took him to the [[Gorakhnath Math]] in Gorakhpur. He grew up in a monastery and went to study at St. Andrews College in Gorakhpur. He was an average student but excelled in sports, especially, hockey, horse-riding, and tennis. In 1920, he left his education to take part in politics.{{sfn|Jha|Jha|2012|pp=32–33}}

In 1932, Baba Brahmanath became the mahant of the Gorakhnath Math and initiated him into the Nath tradition. After his death in 1935, the leadership of the math passed to Digvijaynath, who was anointed as the mahant on 15 August 1935. Despite being a mahant, Nath continued his pastime of playing lawn tennis as well as his political activities. {{clarify|date=August 2018}} The Gorakhnath math is traditionally venerated by both Hindus and Muslims, especially in lower caste communities.

==Religious career==
Digvijaynath was succeeded by [[Mahant Avaidyanath]] as the head of [[Gorakhnath Math]] in 1969.<ref>{{citation |title=This Muslim volunteer shares a special bond with Yogi Adityanath |url=http://m.hindustantimes.com/india-news/this-muslim-volunteer-shares-a-special-bond-with-yogi/story-rcNFSOsmARB8GrGwlyGB7H.html |work=[[Hindustan Times]] |date=20 March 2017 }}</ref>

== Political career ==
Digvijaynath joined the [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] in 1920, and participated in the [[Non-cooperation movement (1919–22)|non-cooperation movement]] in 1922. He was arrested for taking an "active part" in the [[Chauri Chaura incident]] where a police station was burnt down, killing 23 policemen, causing [[Mahatma Gandhi]] to abort the movement.<ref name=othersaffron>
{{cite news |first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot |authorlink=Christophe Jaffrelot |title=The other saffron |newspaper=Indian Express |date=6 October 2014 |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-other-saffron/99/ |access-date=2014-10-06}}
</ref>

Nath joined the [[Hindu Mahasabha]] in 1937 when [[V. D. Savarkar]] became its President, and rose to become the head of the party in the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]].<ref name=othersaffron/> His status as the mahant of the Gorakhpur Math as well as his political acumen helped him rise fast. He was radically anti-Muslim. He told ''[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]'' in 1952 that, if the Hindu Mahasabha attained power, it would deprive the Muslims of the right to vote for five to ten years, until they proved "their loyalty to India."{{sfn|Jha|Jha|2012|p=33}} He incited Hindus to kill Mahatma Gandhi in a public meeting on 27 January 1948, three days before the actual assassination. He was subsequently arrested, along with Professor Ram Singh and [[V. G. Deshpande]], but released after 9 months.{{sfn|Jha|Jha|2012|pp=28–30}}

Soon after his release from prison, Digvijaynath started making plans to revive the Hindu Mahasabha, which had invited the public's revulsion for its role in the assassination of Gandhi. The capture of the [[Babri Masjid]] in [[Ayodhya]] was a key plank of his plan.

He was elected to Lok Sabha in 1967 General election from [[Gorakhpur (Lok Sabha Constituency)|Gorakhpur]]. He died mid-term in 1969.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

==See also==
* [[Yogi Adityanath]]
*[[Mahant Avaidyanath]]

== References ==

=== Citations ===
<references />

=== Sources ===
* {{cite book |last1=Jha |first1=Krishna |last2=Jha |first2=Dhirendra K. |title=Ayodhya: The Dark Night |publisher=HarperCollins India |year=2012 |isbn=978-93-5029-600-4 }}
{{Hindu Nationalism}}
{{Bharatiya Janata Party}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Digvijaynath}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Politicians from Gorakhpur]]
[[Category:Indian Hindus]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Ayodhya dispute]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian far-right politicians]]
[[Category:Hindu Mahasabha politicians]]
[[Category:India MPs 1967–1970]]

Digvijaynath - Revision history

Sameer481 at 10:45, 7 April 2026