A born Muslim and now a renowned seer and saint, Sri M is drawing devotees in dozens in the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Haridwar.
Born Mumtaz Ali Khan to a Muslim family in Kerala, the present-day seer was drawn to yogi life from an early age. He ran away from home at the age 19, walked all the way from Rishikesh to Badrinath, dressed as a wandering Sadhu. He met his Guru finally, a Himalaya Yogi, who initiated him into the ancient Nath sampradya (the same in which UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath is initiated).
For three years he travelled with his Guru in the Himalayas, during which he says he was initiated into ancient scriptural teachings. He now holds talks on yoga sutras, Upanishads and other Vedanta texts.
At Kumbh, he has set up his own akhada, Yoga Dham, where there are daily discourses on scriptures, sadhu sevas. Gita and chanting of bhajans.
“God is known by different names…but he is one and the same. Once we have this knowledge, we see that everyone is seeking the same,” he says, as per a report.
Sri M was awarded Padma Bhushan last year because of his spiritual and philanthropic work. His organisation Satsang Foundation runs schools and clinics for the underprivileged at Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh.
Many of his followers are devout Hindus. “Even Kabir was born a Muslim. But his disciples cut across religions,” says a bhakt.
