ABSTRACT
Various sublineages (samudåya) have sprung up within the Tapå Gaccha, each descended from a recent prominent teacher of the sect and the proliferation of åcåryas installed in recent years has brought about a situation in which the Tapå Gaccha can today appear somewhat fragmented organisationally.83 While there is now no head åcårya, claims to the contrary are made by each samudåya. So the lineage of Vijayaindradinna S¨ri presents him as the seventy-sixth teacher in succession from Mahåv⁄ra’s disciple Sudharman and thus overall head (adhipati) of the Tapå Gaccha, whereas he is more correctly the chief åcårya of the Vallabha Samudåya, the subgroup descended from Vijayavallabha S¨ri, whose members originally wore saffron-coloured robes, adopted to distinguish them from the white-robed yatis. Subsequent to independence the renowned and long-lived åcårya Vijayaråmacandra S¨ri (1895-1991) achieved an authority in the Tapå Gaccha which to a large extent transcended sublineage boundaries. Regular meetings of åcåryas in conclave serve to ensure a general unity, although the dispute over calendrical issues which raged throughout a large part of the last century caused a strong degree of dissension and indeed bitterness within the community.84
