in the area, staying with Sankaracarya of Sringeri Matha. He found Sankaracarya (mahant or superior) sitting on an elevated throne surrounded by 125 monks, including his guru. Seeing him, Nigamananda went first to pay his respects to his guru, and then to the higher-ranking mahant. The sadhu were upset by this perceived disrespect in not honoring the "mahant" first, but in response Nigamananda quoted the scripture: "Mannatha shri jagannatha madguru shri jagadguru madatma sarvabhutatma tasmai shri gurave namaha (मन्नाथ श्री जगन्नाथ मदगुरु श्री जगदगुरु मदात्मा सर्वभूतात्मा तस्मै श्री गुरवे नमः)", meaning, "My guru is highest in whole world, hence I should respect my guru first". Nigamananda further explained to the sadhu assemblies that "on the basis of the vedanta philosophy there was no difference between his 'Guru' (Shri Sachidanand Saraswati) and 'Jagadguru' (Shri Shankarcharya)". Jagadguru Sankaracarya endorsed this response and recognized Nigamananda as one who had achieved spiritual enlightenment. Jagadguru conferred him with the title "paramahansa" and came to known as "Paribrajakacharay Paramahansa Shree Mad Swami Nigamananda Saraswati Deva" (परिब्राजकचार्य परमहंस श्री मद स्वामी निगमानंद सरस्वती देव). Death (1935) Nigamananda spent the last fourteen years of his life in Puri. He died in Calcutta on 29 November 1935. Nigamananda's followers honor his memory, and gather at annual congregations (sammilani), and other ceremonial occasions. His ashram at Halisahar, Saraswata Matha (previously Shanti Ashram) in Jorhat and Sundarbans are places of pilgrimage. Mission Nigamananda's mission was to propagate sanatana dharma (सनातन धर्म), the spiritual foundation of the Hindu religion, to spread the "right kind of education" (सत् शिक्षा विस्तार) among people, to publish spiritual literature with emphasis on character building and to provide "service to all created beings" (नर देहे नारायण सेवा), with the attitude of serving the indwelling God. In order to realize these objectives he enjoined his devotees to "lead an ideal family life" (आदर्श गृहस्थ जीवन गठन), to combine the power of spiritual associations (संघ शक्ति प्रतिष्ठा) and "to share or exchange spiritual feelings among the disciples" (भाव विनिमय). Jayaguru (जयगुरु ଜୟଗୁରୁ জয়গুরু) To achieve the above objectives, he initiated thousands of interested men and women of all walks of life and taught them his spiritual practices. They were devoid of sectarian bias in that they did not provide a complete package of worship, prayer and meditation. He encouraged his disciples to meet periodically in groups (sangha) of three or more to offer prayer and worship to the guru,