Name Change After Sanyas or Diksha in Uttarakhand
For people who have taken a new name on entering a religious order or on initiation by a teacher, and are deciding what to do about their papers: when nothing need change, how the new name is put on records, and what is published about showing a guru's name in place of a father's.
A name change after sanyas or diksha is made like any other change of name: an affidavit, a newspaper notice and a Gazette notification, and then each record in turn. Initiation changes no record by itself. Showing a guru's name in place of a father's is a separate matter, with its own rule at the passport office.
Haridwar, Rishikesh and the valleys above them are where people come to leave an old life. Many take a new name with their vows. Later some need a passport or a bank account, and find the state still knows them by the old name. This page explains name change after sanyas or diksha for people in Uttarakhand, and when a name change after sanyas is not needed at all.
We prepare Gazette notifications, and a name taken on initiation is one of the changes we handle. What the passport office allows for a guru's name is from the foreign ministry's announcement of December 2016, read on Indian missions' sites. We take no view on matters of faith or of any order's rules. For a change of religion, read name change after religious conversion.
What Is a Name Taken on Initiation?
- On entering an order. A person takes vows, and is given a new name by the order, often with a title before it and the order's name after it.
- On initiation by a teacher. A disciple is given a name, and may or may not leave ordinary life.
- In the ashram. The new name is the only one used. The earlier name may not be spoken again.
- On paper. Nothing has changed. Every record still carries the earlier name, the father's name and the old address.
- The gap. It matters only when a record is needed: for travel, for money, for a hospital, for a vote.
The state does not record vows. It records a name, parents and a date of birth, and it changes the first of those only when asked in its own way.
What Is Published?
From the Government's change of name guideline, as this site sets it out, and from the foreign ministry's announcement of new passport rules on 23 December 2016.
| Point | What is published |
|---|---|
| Changing a name | An adult changes a name by an affidavit, a newspaper notice and a notice in the Gazette. The reason is the person's own |
| A special route for sanyas | None that we know of, for the name itself. It is an ordinary change of name |
| A guru's name on a passport | Sadhus and sanyasis can apply with the name of their spiritual guru in the application in place of their biological parents' names |
| On one condition | They provide at least one public document, such as a voter card, PAN card or Aadhaar card, in which the guru's name is recorded against the column for a parent's name |
| One parent only | The same announcement says a passport application asks for the name of only one parent or a legal guardian, not both |
So two things are settled. The name is changed in the ordinary way. And a passport can carry a guru's name, if some other public paper already does. How that other paper comes to carry it is the hard part, and the announcement does not say.
What Is the Difference Between the Name and the Father's Name?
| Point | Your own name | The parent's column |
|---|---|---|
| What is asked | That records call you by the new name | That records name your guru where they name a parent |
| The paper | A Gazette notification | No Gazette does this. Each office has its own rule |
| How settled the route is | Well settled, and the same everywhere | Published for the passport. Unclear elsewhere |
| What it touches | Identity | Parentage, and with it family and inheritance |
People in orders often ask for both at once, as one thing. An office hears two things. It will change a name on a Gazette without a second thought. It will stop at the parent's column, since a parent is a fact of birth and not of choice.
What Are the Three Courses People Take?
Change nothing
- The new name in the ashram, the civil name on every paper
- No cost, no questions at any counter
- The course most people in orders take
Change the name
- A Gazette, and then Aadhaar, the bank and the passport in the new name
- The father's name stays as it was
- The course for those who travel or run an institution
Change the name, and show the guru
- The new name by Gazette, and the guru in the parent's column
- Published for the passport, on one condition
- Slow, and uncertain at other offices
There is no merit on paper in the third over the second, or the second over the first. Choose by what you will in fact have to show, and to whom.
Which Case Is Yours?
| The situation | Route | Gazette? |
|---|---|---|
| The new name is used in the ashram alone | Nothing to do | No |
| A lay disciple with an initiation name | Nothing to do | No |
| The new name is wanted on Aadhaar and the bank | A change of name, then Aadhaar and the bank | Yes |
| A passport is wanted in the new name | A change of name, then a passport re-issue | Yes |
| A passport is wanted with the guru's name | The 2016 rule, with one public document that records the guru | For the name |
| An order's bank account or trust names the head by the new name | The person's own papers first, then the body's filings | Yes, for the person |
| A foreign national with an initiation name | The law of the person's own country | No |
| A person who has left the order | A fresh notice back, if the name was changed on paper | Yes |
A Gazette appears in five rows of eight, more than on most pages of this site. A name taken on initiation bears no relation to the earlier one, and no office will treat it as a correction.
How Do You Put the New Name on Records?
This is the general method. Do the first two steps with care. They decide how long the rest takes.
Step 1: Decide which records you will in fact use
A passport for travel, a bank account, a voter card. Many who enter an order need very few.
Step 2: Decide what is to change on them
The name alone, or the father's name as well. These are two different requests.
Step 3: Ask your order what it gives in writing
A certificate of initiation, naming the earlier name, the new name and the guru.
Step 4: Change the name by the ordinary route
An affidavit, a newspaper notice and a Gazette notification, from the earlier name to the new one.
Step 5: Update Aadhaar first, then the others
Each office is given the Gazette. The certificate of initiation supports it.
Step 6: For the guru's name, begin with one public document
The passport rule asks for one such paper that already records the guru in the parent's column. Ask the electoral office and the others what they allow.
Step 7: Apply for the passport last
With the Gazette for the name, and that public document for the guru's name.
Step 8: Keep your earlier papers
A birth certificate, school certificates and the old passport. They are the root every new paper is traced to.
What About the Guru's Name in the Parent's Column?
- The foreign ministry's announcement lets a sadhu or sanyasi apply for a passport with the guru's name in place of the biological parents' names.
- It asks for at least one public document in which the guru's name is already recorded against the parent's column, and gives the voter card, PAN and Aadhaar as examples.
- So the passport is not where the guru's name starts. It has to be on another public paper first.
- We could not confirm how the electoral office, the tax department or the identity authority record a guru today. Ask each one, in writing.
- An order of long standing usually knows how its members have managed this. Ask the order's office before any Government one.
- Until such a paper exists, a passport is issued with the name of a parent, as for anyone else. The announcement also says one parent's name is enough.
Do not let anyone alter a parent's name on a paper by a false statement to get round this. A guru in the parent's column is a recorded exception. A wrong father's name is a false record. Read father’s name change and correction and father’s name correction in PAN card.
How Is the New Name Written?
- A name in an order often has three parts: a title, the given name, and the name of the order or lineage.
- A title is not usually part of a name on records. An office may decline to print "Swami" or "Sadhvi" as a name, or may print it as the first word.
- The lineage name, such as Giri, Puri, Saraswati or Das, sits where a surname would.
- A passport has two boxes, surname and given name. Decide which words go in which before you publish anything.
- The Gazette notice, Aadhaar and the passport then have to carry the same words in the same order.
- A long name is cut by forms and cards. Choose a form that fits, and keep to it.
Read adding a surname to a single name, name order and surname first in documents and visa application name mismatch, on the two name boxes abroad.
What About Papers and Property in the Earlier Name?
- A bank account, a pension, a policy or a piece of land held in the earlier name stays valid.
- A Gazette notification links the earlier name to the new one. It is shown with the old paper wherever that is used.
- A pension or a deposit can be moved to the new name on the Gazette, or left as it is and drawn on the earlier name.
- What a member of an order may own or keep is for that order's rules. It is not for the bank or for us.
- An institution's own account, land or registration is in the institution's name. Its head signs as an office bearer, in whatever name his own papers carry.
- Keep the earlier birth certificate, school certificates and passport. Every later paper is traced back to them.
Read name change in bank records, name change in pension and family pension records and office bearer name mismatch in societies and trusts.
What About Family and Inheritance?
- A change of name does not change who a person's parents, spouse or children are.
- Hindu law has long had its own rules on what entering a religious order does to a person's place in the family and to property.
- Those rules are serious, and turn on facts: which order, what ceremony, what was renounced.
- We did not read that law for this page, and a page about names is the wrong place to learn it.
- A person who holds property, or expects to inherit, should see a lawyer before taking vows or soon after.
- So should a family whose member has entered an order, before dealing with what he left.
Read will and probate name mismatch and succession certificate name mismatch, for the papers such questions end in.
What About Foreign Nationals in Ashrams?
- Many who take initiation here are citizens of other countries.
- Their passport is issued by their own country, in the name that country's law recognises.
- An Indian Gazette notice does not change a foreign passport, and the change of name section is not meant for it.
- A change of name follows the law of the person's own country, through its courts, registry or embassy.
- The visa, the registration with the foreigners' office and any bank account here follow the passport.
- A person of Indian origin who holds an overseas citizen card updates it on the new foreign passport.
Read OCI card name mismatch and name change for NRIs from Uttarakhand.
How Does the Central Gazette Route Work?
The steps are those of any change of name. The reason given in the affidavit is yours, stated plainly.
Step 1: Fix the new name exactly
With its title or suffix, as the order writes it, and decide how it divides into given name and surname.
Step 2: Make the affidavit, in your own words
State the earlier name, the new name, and that you have taken it on initiation. Sign before a notary.
Step 3: Publish the newspaper notice
In a daily local leading newspaper. Keep the original newspaper.
Step 4: Type the form and sign the undertaking
Two typed copies of the specimen, signed in your earlier name with two witnesses, and the undertaking.
Step 5: Prepare the CD, photographs and certificate
The same text on a CD in MS Word, two self-attested photographs with identity proof, and a certificate that both copies match.
Step 6: Pay the charge on BharatKosh
Commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult. It is not refunded.
Step 7: Send the file yourself
To the Controller of Publications, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054.
Step 8: Update your records in order
Aadhaar, then PAN and the bank, then the voter card, and the passport last.
Which Gazette Should You Use?
Most people who change a name after initiation do so for a passport. The Gazette of India is the one to use.
Step 1: Think about travel
A passport office and a foreign consulate read the paper.
Step 2: Prefer the Gazette of India
It is the one a passport office and offices outside the state recognise.
Step 3: A state notice serves state offices
Ask before relying on it for anything else.
Step 4: Contact the Roorkee press only if a state notice suits you
Take the contact from govtpress.uk.gov.in and ask if a private change of name notice is being accepted.
Step 5: Download the notice
Search gazettes.uk.gov.in and save the PDF.
To weigh the two, read Uttarakhand Gazette vs Gazette of India.
Which Mistakes Do People Make?
| Mistake | What to do |
|---|---|
| Thinking initiation changes records | It changes none. Apply for each |
| Changing papers that will never be used | Change only what you need |
| Treating the name and the father's name as one request | They are two, with two routes |
| Relying on the order's certificate alone | It supports a Gazette. It does not replace one |
| Applying for the passport first | Aadhaar and the other papers first |
| A false father's name to show the guru | Never. Use the published exception |
| Not deciding how the name splits into two boxes | Decide before the notice is published |
| Destroying earlier certificates | Keep them. They are the root |
| A foreign national using an Indian Gazette | Follow your own country's law |
A typical case we handle: a man who had lived in an ashram near Rishikesh for twelve years was invited to teach abroad. His order knew him as "Swami Atmananda Giri". His Aadhaar, his old passport and his bank account read "Mahesh Chandra Joshi". He wanted the new name on a passport, with his guru's name in place of his father's. We prepared the Gazette for the name. For the guru's name we told him what the 2016 announcement asks, and that we could not say how another paper would come to carry it. He chose to apply with his father's name, and travelled. This is an illustrative example of the type of case we handle, not a named client review.
What is a lawyer's job, not ours
Family, property and inheritance after a person enters an order, and any dispute with an order or an office.
When you do not need us
If the new name is for the ashram alone, or you are a lay disciple, or a foreign national. Nothing on your papers has to change. We are useful where the new name is wanted on Indian records, which needs a Gazette notification.
Which Areas of Uttarakhand Do We Cover?
All 13 districts: Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat and Pithoragarh. The Gazette file is prepared on WhatsApp, and nobody has to leave the ashram for it.
People Also Ask About a Name Taken on Initiation
How does a sanyasi change name on Aadhaar?
By a Gazette notification, like any change of name.
Can a sadhu put the guru's name on a passport?
Yes, where one public document already records it.
Is a diksha certificate enough to change a name?
No. It supports an affidavit and a Gazette.
Does taking sanyas change my legal name?
No. Records change only when you apply.
Can a foreigner change name in India after initiation?
Not by an Indian Gazette. Their own country's law applies.
Must a monk change name on documents?
No. Many keep the civil name on paper.
Which documents can show a guru's name for a sadhu's passport?
The announcement gives the Election Photo Identity Card issued by the Election Commission, the PAN card and the Aadhaar card as examples. At least one of them must record the guru's name against the parent's column.
Do passport annexures for a sanyasi need a notary?
No. Under the December 2016 rules all the annexes required from applicants are a self-declaration on plain paper.
Is a birth certificate needed for a sanyasi's passport?
No longer. Before 2016, applicants born on or after 26 January 1989 had to give a birth certificate. Now papers such as PAN, a driving licence, Aadhaar or the matriculation certificate can prove the date of birth.
Why were these passport changes made?
They came largely from the recommendations of an Inter-Ministerial Committee, and were announced by the foreign ministry on 23 December 2016.
Does a married sanyasi need a marriage certificate for a passport?
No. The 2016 rules say married applicants are not required to provide Annexure K or any marriage certificate.
Where can I read the 2016 passport announcement?
It is published on the sites of Indian missions, such as the High Commission in Pretoria and the Embassy in Berlin, under the title Announcement of New Passport Rules.
Ask What Your Records Need
Tell us the name on your papers, the name you have taken, and what you need a record for. We will tell you, free, if anything has to change at all, and what a Gazette notification for the name involves. We will also tell you plainly what we cannot answer.
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Name Change After Sanyas or Diksha: Frequently Asked Questions
What does a name change after sanyas involve?
Does initiation change my name on records by itself?
Do I have to change my records at all?
Do I need a Gazette?
Is a certificate from my guru or order enough?
Can I show my guru's name in place of my father's on a passport?
Which public document can carry the guru's name?
Is changing my name the same as changing my father's name?
What happens to my bank account and property in my earlier name?
Does entering an order affect inheritance?
I am a woman who has taken diksha. Is anything different?
I am a foreign national living in an ashram. Can I use this route?
I took diksha from a teacher but live an ordinary life. Do I need to change anything?
Can I go back to my earlier name if I leave the order?
How should the new name be divided into given name and surname?
Do you prepare the Gazette for a name taken on initiation?
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Who Wrote and Reviewed This Page?
This page is written by the Documentation Desk Team of UttarakhandNameChange.com, the team that prepares Gazette files for people across Uttarakhand.
It is reviewed by Advocate Vipin Chauhan.
That sadhus and sanyasis may apply for a passport with a spiritual guru's name in place of biological parents' names, on providing at least one public document that records the guru in the parent's column, and that only one parent's name is asked for, are from the foreign ministry's announcement of 23 December 2016, read on the sites of Indian missions. The change of name route is as the other pages of this site set it out. We could not confirm how the electoral office, the tax department or the identity authority record a guru's name, or how a passport office treats a title in a name. We did not read the law on entering a religious order, and say nothing on it. This page takes no view on any faith, order or teacher.
Official Sources
- High Commission of India, Pretoria: Announcement of New Passport RulesThe foreign ministry's announcement of 23 December 2016, with the provision for sadhus and sanyasis.
- Passport SevaPassport applications and re-issue.
- Department of Publication: Change of Name and Public NoticesThe change of name guideline.
- Unique Identification Authority of IndiaUpdating a name in Aadhaar.
- e-Gazette, Government of IndiaWhere a notice can be checked by any office.
A Name Taken on Initiation: The Short Version
Initiation changes no record. If the new name is for the ashram alone, nothing has to be done. If it is wanted on Aadhaar, a bank account or a passport, it is put there by an ordinary change of name: an affidavit, a newspaper notice and a Gazette notification, then each record in turn. A guru's name in place of a father's is a separate question. The passport rules allow it where one public document already records the guru. Keep your earlier papers.
For the Gazette notification, message us on WhatsApp 9540005064, and we will reply in working hours.
The Vows Change the Life. Only an Application Changes the Record.
Tell us the name on your papers and the name you have taken. We tell you, free, what has to change and what does not.