Yogi Adityanath is going to become the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second time. He will take oath in the presence of PM Modi and other celebrities at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium. In the year 2017, when the BJP had stamped the name of Yogi for the first time, then many people were shocked. Born on June 5, 1972 in Garhwal (Panchur village) of Uttarakhand, the story of Ajay Singh Bisht becoming Yogi Adityanath is very interesting.
This is how I met the Guru: Young Ajay Singh Bisht was studying MSc in Rishikesh in those days. There was a wave of Ram Janmabhoomi movement across the country. Young Ajay was not interested in studies. His mind repeatedly turned towards the movement. In the early years of 1993, Ajay Singh Bisht came to Gorakhpur from Rishikesh. Here he directly reached the Gorakhnath temple and met Mahant Avaidyanath. Earlier in the year 1990, young Ajay had a brief meeting with Mahant Avaidyanath.
The Guru had said – One day he has to come here: Mahant Avaidyanath listened carefully to Ajay Singh Bisht and said that ‘You are a yogi and have to come here one day’. In the year 1993 itself, Ajay Singh Bisht again went to Gorakhnath temple and expressed his desire to learn yoga by meeting Mahant Avaidyanath. When they started returning, Mahant Avaidyanath asked them to stay at Gorakhnath temple, but till then they could not reach any decision.
Meanwhile, after a few months, Mahant Avaidyanath became seriously ill and was brought to AIIMS Delhi for treatment. Ajay Singh Bisht immediately came to Delhi after hearing the news. Here Mahant Avaidyanath urged him to come back to the Math, citing his illness. This time the talk of Mahant Avaidyanath sat in Ajay’s mind. They returned home. Then in November 1993, leaving his family, village and studies, he came to Gorakhnath temple.
The family thought going to work: In an interview given to ABP News, his father had said that ‘when he was going to Gorakhpur, the family thought that he was going to work there. Ajay also did not tell anything to anyone. He quietly packed his things and left. We came to know much later. His eyes filled with tears as he said this.
Ajay Singh Bisht took initiation from Mahant Avaidyanath on the day of Basant Panchami, about two months after coming to Gorakhnath temple, and leaving his old life on the new path and got the name ‘Yogi Adityanath’. After the death of Mahant Avaidyanath on 12 September 2014, Yogi Adityanath became the Mahant of Gorakhnath temple.
Noted writer Shantanu Gupta has described the journey of Yogi Adityanath in a very interesting way in his biography ‘The Monk Who Became Chief Minister’ from Panchur to Gorakhnath temple and then becoming the Chief Minister of the country’s largest state, UP. They write that Yogi Adityanath wakes up every day at 3 am. Do daily kriya and yoga till 3-5 o’clock. After that they do puja. Then they study from 6.15 to 8.30.
Don’t do lunch often: Shantanu Gupta writes in his book quoting Pradeep Rao, a close aide of Yogi, that Yogi Adityanath often does not eat lunch. Even what they eat for breakfast or dinner, may not be liked by everyone. Eating with them is like punishment in a way. Yogi Adityanath takes sweet or salty porridge, gram and buttermilk for breakfast. Sometimes they work with fruits only. In dinner, boiled vegetables, roti-rice and lentils are taken. Vegetables or lentils contain negligible salt, spices and oil etc.
Shantanu Gupta writes that when Yogi Adityanath came to Lucknow after becoming CM, he followed almost the same routine. Yes, Janata Darbar is still held in Gorakhpur in his absence. Yogi’s chair remains vacant, but his close aide, 65-year-old Dwarka Prasad Tiwari, holds the Janata Darbar in the same way, listens to people’s problems and takes note.