Hindu Religious Violence from Within

The most devastating recorded incident of intra-Hindu violence occurred at the 1789 Nashik Kumbh Mela, where a copper plate inscription of the Maratha Peshwa documents that “12,000 ascetics died in a clash between Shaivite sanyasis and Vaishnavite bairagis”. This bloodbath originated from disputes over bathing order, which determined the ritual status and social hierarchy of different akharas (warrior monk organizations).¹²

The violence was so severe that “Peshwa Sawai Madhavrao had to limit Vaishnavs to take the Kumbh dip in Nashik while Shaivaites were limited to the distant village of Trimbakeshwar” in an attempt to prevent future conflicts.³

1760 Haridwar Kumbh Mela: A major clash erupted between “Shaivite Gosains and Vaishnavite Bairagis (ascetics), resulting in hundreds of deaths”. This conflict established Shaivite dominance in northern India’s most important pilgrimage site.⁴

1796 Haridwar Violence: “Violence broke out between the Shaivites and the Udasis on logistics and camping rights”, demonstrating how territorial disputes escalated into sectarian warfare. The East India Company reported that “violence in Haridwar’s kumbh had taken 500 lives and a British armed unit with cannon had to be called in”.⁵⁶

During the 17th and 18th centuries, “the akharas competed for ritual primacy, priority rights to who bathes first or at the most auspicious time, and prominence leading to violent conflicts”. These warrior-monk organizations functioned as armed militias, with historical records showing “Conflicts during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries seemed to be decided mostly in favor of the Saivas”.⁷⁸

The systematic nature of this violence is evident from contemporary accounts: “Responding to the threat of violence between gosains and the much more powerful bairagis during the main bathing day of the festival, local rulers solicited” British intervention.⁹

Sectarian conflicts persist even today. At the 2015 Nashik Kumbh Mela, “the ascetics of the Vaishnava sect decided to boycott the flag hoisting ceremony, and proposed to hold a separate one” while “sadhus of Trimbakeshwar, who are Shaivites, have agreed to take part in Tuesday’s flag hoisting ceremony”. This reflects the enduring legacy of the 1789 massacre.¹⁰

One of the most brutal episodes of intra-Hindu violence occurred in medieval Tamil Nadu, where sectarian fanaticism reached genocidal proportions. “One Pandya king is said to have impaled 4000 Jain monks in Madurai because they refused to honor the deal that they’d adopt Shaivism if they lost the debate with the Shaivite monk”.¹¹

This systematic persecution was part of a broader Shaivite campaign to eliminate Jainism from South India. Historical accounts describe how “Some of the Chola emperors became fanatical Shaivites. One of them tried to capture Sri Ramanuja (Vaishnavite saint) and force him to accept Shaivism”, demonstrating that violence extended beyond anti-Jain campaigns to include intra-Hindu sectarian persecution.¹²

The 12th-century rise of Lingayatism (Veerashaivism) in Karnataka precipitated some of the most systematic religious violence in Indian history, predating Muslim invasions by centuries.

Temple Destruction Campaigns: Historical evidence documents “large-scale destruction of Jain basadis (temples)” as part of Veerashaiva expansion. Specific examples include the “Megudi temple in Hallur and the Doddappa Temple at Adargunchi, Karnataka” which “stand testimony to the radical way in which Veerashaivism wrested power from Jainism”.¹³

Systematic Conversion Violence: Unlike reform movements that sought gradual change, Veerashaivism was “an anti-establishment movement” that “militantly opposed Jainism, the religion that dominated Karnataka in the 12th-13th centuries”. The violence was so systematic that scholars note “Shaivites wiped out Jain influence in medieval Karnataka 200 years before Delhi Sultans”.¹⁴¹⁵

Contemporary Accounts: A telling comment from a discussion reveals the ongoing sensitivity: “First of all Jainism also converted Hindus with brutal methods. Kings were convinced by Jain saints, force-closed temples, massacred the Hindu worshipers in several places of South India”, indicating that sectarian violence was bidirectional and systematic.¹⁶

Long before Islamic invasions, Hindu rulers systematically destroyed Buddhist institutions in what amounts to religious genocide.

Pushyamitra Shunga Massacres (185 BCE): The Brahmin ruler “overthrew the Buddhist Mauryan dynasty, destroyed the Ashokan pillared hall and the Kukutarama monastery in Pataliputra”. He “is also said to have vandalised the famous Sanchi Stupa, burnt down the Ghositaram monastery in Kaushambi, and killed Buddhist monks wantonly”.¹⁷

According to Buddhist sources, Pushyamitra “demolished 84,000 Buddhist stupas which had been built by Ashoka the Great” and “announced a prize of one hundred dinars for every head of a Shramana”.¹⁸

Kashmir Sectarian Violence: The Rajatarangini documents extensive anti-Buddhist violence: “Jalauka, a Shaivite king, destroying Buddhist monasteries even when the Mauryan emperor Ashoka was likely alive”. “King Nara burning thousands of monasteries in retaliation against a monk who had seduced his wife”, and “the 10th-century ruler Kshemagupta destroyed a Buddhist monastery to build the Kshemagaurishvara temple”.¹⁹

7th Century Royal Violence: “King Shashanka cut the down Bodhi tree, under which Buddha gained enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, and replaced the Buddha’s statue with that of Shiva in a local temple”.²⁰

Historical evidence reveals a pattern of “hundreds of the Buddhist statues, Stupas and Viharas were destroyed in India between 830 AD and 966 AD in the name of the revival of Hinduism”. “Indigenous and foreign sources, both literary and archaeological, speak volumes of the havoc done to Buddhism by the Nazis in India”.²¹

The systematic nature is evident: “Hindu ruler, Pushyamitra Sunga, demolished 84,000 Buddhist stupas” while “thousands of Buddhist monks were mercilessly killed”.²²

The Vijayanagara Empire, often celebrated as a Hindu revival, witnessed extensive sectarian conflicts. The empire’s support for Veerashaivism came “at the cost of the religion’s fundamental tenets” and involved systematic appropriation of Jain religious sites.²³

Temple Wars: Evidence shows that “the Megudi temple in Hallur and the Doddappa Temple at Adargunchi, Karnataka stand testimony to the radical way in which Veerashaivism wrested power from Jainism”, indicating violent appropriation of religious sites.²⁴

“Later on from the Pallava times in South India, Shaivism became the state religion. Mahendra Pallava abandoned Jainism and took up Shaivism”. This transition involved systematic persecution: “Most of South India adopted Shaivism as their state religion (Chalukyas, Pallavas and later, Cholas, Pandyas and others)”.²⁵

The violence was systematic: “Jains lost popularity as Shaivite monks could defeat them in debates” but when debates failed, rulers resorted to mass murder, with “one Pandya king” reportedly “impaled 4000 Jain monks in Madurai”.²⁶

The transformation of Hindu asceticism into armed militarism created systematic violence. “Recall, for example, that Rajendragiri comes to the aid of Safdar Jang at Allahabad while visiting the Triveni at Prayag in 1750-51”, showing how religious festivals became recruitment grounds for mercenary armies.²⁷

Warrior Monk Economics: The violent akharas functioned as military contractors: “the kumbh in the eighteenth century had become the staging ground for the mobilization, recruitment, and mercenary employment of the armed akharas”.²⁸

Systematic Armed Conflict: “Conflicts during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries seemed to be decided mostly in favor of the Saivas. Decisive victories occurred in particular at the Hardwar kumbh — which had become by the mid eighteenth century a major commercial event in northwest India — in 1640 and 1760, and at the Nasik kumbh in 1789”.²⁹

The tradition of sectarian violence continued into independent India. The 1954 Prayag maha-kumbh mela witnessed “armed naga sadhus, who tore indiscriminately into the throng of jostling, hapless pilgrims”. Witness testimony described how “The Sadhus, instead of helping the distressed…began to assault [them] indiscriminately…with their long Chimtas”.³⁰

Even today, sectarian violence persists. In November 2024, “A violent clash broke out between rival factions of seers at the Kumbh Mela meeting in Prayagraj” over “land allocation dispute”. The incident demonstrates that “Both factions, led by presidents based in Haridwar, have a long-standing history of disputes”.³¹

The documentation reveals that intra-Hindu sectarian violence often exceeded inter-religious conflicts in both scale and brutality:

• 1789 Nashik: 12,000 deaths in single incident
• 1796 Haridwar: 500 deaths requiring British military intervention
• 1760 Haridwar: “Hundreds of deaths” between Shaivites and Vaishnavites
• Medieval Tamil Nadu: 4,000 Jain monks impaled by single Pandya ruler
• Pushyamitra Shunga: 84,000 Buddhist stupas destroyed, systematic monk massacres

Unlike spontaneous communal riots, these conflicts demonstrate systematic institutional violence, with “Nazi leaders like the Sankaracharyas and many kings and rulers took pride in demolishing the Buddhist images aiming at the total eradication of the Buddhist culture”.³²

Much sectarian violence centered on economic control: “the lucrative tax and trading opportunities at Kumbh melas in the 18th century attracted the attention of the East India Company officials”, showing how religious authority translated to financial power worth fighting over.³³

Contemporary Hindu nationalism exhibits striking historical amnesia about intra-sectarian violence. As one scholar noted, “It is quite surprising to note that the Hindu Nazi-led Indian Govt. supported by all other Hindu Nazis has condemned the Taliban action” while ignoring that “hundreds of the Buddhist statues, Stupas and Viharas were destroyed in India between 830 AD and 966 AD in the name of the revival of Hinduism”.³⁴

The persistence of sectarian tensions is evident in modern conflicts: “This year, too, the ancient quarrel had a re-run, with Trimbak priests and Nashik sadhus tussling over a flag-hoisting ceremony”, directly referencing the 1789 massacre.³⁵