Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Panth Maharaj

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Seems a clear consensus (including a change of nom's opinion) that with the additional edits and found sources that notability is now satisfied. (non-admin closure) Nosebagbear (talk) 14:34, 14 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Panth Maharaj

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Non-notable yogi, does not meet WP:GNG, WP:NBIO. Of the three provided sources, one is a book, and the other two are non-reliable websites. The book, Avadhuta Yogi Pant Maharaj of Balekundari (1994) by Indira Kher, does not appear to be itself notable (and even includes in its description that Panth Maharaj was not among the well known [saints from Maharashtra]). My WP:BEFORE search did not turn up any mentions in reliable sources. _signed,Rosguill ^talk 21:55, 7 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Hinduism-related deletion discussions. CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 23:24, 7 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of India-related deletion discussions. CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 23:24, 7 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Delete per nom Spiderone 08:42, 8 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Keep or Merge with Balekundri (B.K.). Searching under various combinations of his names, and various English spellings (eg Sri Pant, etc), I have found some other English-language sources, though they would probably also be regarded as mostly unreliable (I'm not sure what reliable sources for Indian saints would be). As well as the biography already included in the article, there is a thesis in Marathi, 'Shri Pant Maharaj balekundarimkar charitra aani vangmay'[1]. Two websites associated with Sai Baba of Shirdi contain much more biographical information about Shri Panth Maharaj: 'Shri Pant Maharaj As A Householder, Family Man And A Strict Disciplinarian' [2], 'PANCHAMUKHI SADGURU SHRI PANT MAHARAJ AS A TEACHER' [3]. A website with information about Dattatreya traditions includes the 'Avadhut Panth tradition' [4], with information about his main disciples. Some of his devotional hymns have been set to music and published: AARTI SANGRAH [5]. A 'Memorial of Swami Vivekananda to be restored in Belagavi' [6] will have in one gallery "scripts of conversation along with five eminent personalities Vivekananda met in the building", including Pant Maharaj of Balekundri. English-language press has published notices of celebrations of his life: 'Pant Maharaj's anniversary'[7] and 'Pant Maharaj's death centenary from Tuesday' [8], and coverage of the festivals, including this year's: 'Thousands attend Balekundri fair: Special prayers and rituals were performed at the end of the procession. Bhajans and keertans were sung by the devotees all day.' [9]. One of the websites which has a biography also has a list of Literature by and about him, in various languages including Marathi, Hindi, Gujarathi and Kannada: 13 are listed apart from the English-language biography already included as a source [10]. I think all that is enough to show that he is notable, however, if others disagree, the information about Panth Maharaj should be merged into the article about the village where he lived, and where his temple stands, with some of these sources. RebeccaGreen (talk) 10:27, 8 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Keep per RebeccaGreen's research. While several of those don't appear reliable, the New Indian Express coverage in particular sways my opinion toward thinking that this subject is notable. I would withdraw the nomination, but another editor has already voted delete, so the discussion will continue until it's time for normal close procedures. _signed,Rosguill ^talk 20:15, 8 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Keep. I am actively working on improving this article including adding more notable sources, particularly offline ones. Most of the most notable sources are either not in English and instead are in Marathi or Kannada, including a few in Hindi and Gujarati and largely offline and out of print. I will be adding these to the further reading in the near future. He is a very notable saint in the region, but his followers are largely regional, and villagers, who are not proficient in English in large part, which is why there is a dearth of press and news material about him. A YouTube search for his name will give you a sense of his following. Many events attract thousands of devotees as seen in this video. He is most notable for his contribution to a sampradaya for Dattatreya -- see [11]. I do not feel it would be correct to merge this profile into the village where he lived. Though he is one of the most notable people to have lived in the village, he is not synonymous with the village. However, I feel he should be removed from the disambiguation page for Balekundri_(B.K.) because he is never referred by the name of his village though at times he is referred to with his last name as Balekundrikar. Lastly, I was able to find one more notable source on Google Books here[12] and [13] where there is an entire chapter dedicated to Pant Maharaj alongside 21 other notable individuals including Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Sathya Sai baba, Rajiv Gandhi, K M Munshi, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Lal Bahadur Shastri, and Morarji Desai LovaLova ^talk 06:30, 10 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Keep per RebeccaGreen's and nom User:Rosguill who has now changed his opinion. My own personal search also gave me similar results that even after a century of after his death the subject is still getting covered in reliable media such as Times of India, Indian Express. --DBigXrayᗙ 12:48, 12 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.