Varanasi (UP), Jan 30 (PTI) Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who was allegedly prevented from taking a holy dip at the Sangam in Parayagraj, on Friday told Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to stop beef export from the state and declare cow as "Rashtra Mata" to prove his commitment as a "Hindu sympathiser".

The seer had left the Magh Mela ground last Wednesday "with a heavy heart", ending his sit-in protest outside the Shankaracharya camp since January 18 over the issue of not being able to take the dip at Sangam -- the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati river.

Speaking to reporters in Varanasi on Friday, the seer said, "When I sat there for 11 days, no official asked me to take a dip. Now it is too late. I will go to the Magh Mela next year and take a respectful bath." He also issued a challenge to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, asking him to stop cow slaughter within 40 days to prove his commitment as a "Hindu sympathiser".

"Our credentials were asked for, and we submitted them. Now you have to give proof of being a Hindu sympathiser," Avimukteshwaranand said.

"The first step of being a Hindu is love for cows. Declare the cow as 'Rashtra Mata' and stop the export of cow meat from Uttar Pradesh. Then we will accept that you are a Hindu sympathiser," he added.

On January 18, Swami Avimukteshwaranand was riding a palanquin to the Sangam on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, when a dispute broke out as administrative and police officials asked him to dismount and proceed for the ritual bath on foot, citing heavy crowds.

The Mela administration alleged that the Shankaracharya and his supporters broke a barricade on a pontoon bridge and moved towards the ghats, creating serious difficulties for the police in managing the situation.

Amid the row, the mela administration issued a notice asking him to explain how he was using the title of Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth. The notice referred to a civil appeal pending before the Supreme Court, in which the court had ordered that until the appeal is disposed of, no religious leader can be consecrated as the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth.

Hitting back, the seer had questioned how camps of two Shankaracharyas from Puri were allowed at the same mela. He had asked why the mela administration failed to notice a board claiming the presence of another Shankaracharya of Puri at the fair ground. PTI COR KIS NSD NSD

Religious leader demands ban on beef exports and declaration of cow as national personification following contested ritual access. A religious leader protested denial of ritual access and demanded a ban on beef exports and declaration of the cow as a national personification; mela authorities issued a notice challenging his use of a contested religious title while citing a pending civil appeal that restrains consecration, and officials reported a barricade breach raising public-order and crowd-management concerns.