Sarathi Baba or Srimad Sarathi Dev (born Santosh Raul) is a self-proclaimed godman from Odisha, India, currently under investigation for fraud. On 4 August 2015, a TV channel, Prameya News7, ran a report of him being a charlatan. The channel claimed that he had stayed in a luxury hotel in Hyderabad with a young woman. The report also included images of him wearing a T-shirt and jeans. This triggered widespread protests in the state. He was arrested on 8 August 2015. As of September 2015[update], the state police is investigating various charges against him.
In 1992, he returned and established a small ashram in Barimula on the Kendrapara-Indupur road. He began organising satsangs. He also began performing miracles like materialising vibhuti and dripping honey from his feet. With this, he began attracting large crowds.[3] He claimed to be an avatar of Krishna and asked his young female devotees to serve him as gopis.[5][6]
Sarathi Baba's relations had not been amicable with the locals. On 12 November 2013, Kendrapara locals had protested by blockading a highway with burning tires. They said the members and visitors of Sarathi Baba's Barimula ashram were encroaching land by using the main road, the cremation ground and grazing fields for parking.[7] In January 2015, locals met the District Collector Pramod Kumar Das and demanded action against Sarathi. They said that he was encroaching land and hiring goons to quieten them. However, an aide of Sarathi said that the locals were merely jealous of his popularity.[8]
Controversy
Exposé
Entrance of the "Sarathi temple"
On 4 August 2015, a TV channel broadcast a report which showed Sarathi Baba in a hotel lobby in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. The Baba who usually wore traditional whites, was seen in a T-shirt and jeans. He had checked in and stayed with a woman in her 20s, whom he had introduced as his wife, from 3 to 5 July. The report claimed that he had ordered chicken and alcohol. A former aide of Sarathi, Kailash Chandra Mallick, also appeared on the report and said that the Sarathi's public image and miracles were made up.[9][10]
By 4 August evening, protests had begun in Kendrapara, Bhubaneswar and other parts of the state.[9][12][13] On 5 August, a group of Sarathi's devotees organised a press conference to defend him. But, they were surrounded by members of women's rights groups. They had to be rescued by the police.[14] On 5 August, Sarathi Baba told the media that he had not gone to Hyderabad. He admitted those images to be his own. But added that the images were from a hotel in Ujjain. Later, the TV channels produced plane ticket records of Sarathi and his female companion.[11]
On 6 August 2015, the Government of Odisha directed the Crime Branch of Odisha Police to investigate the accusations of sex scandal and financial malpractices against Sarathi.[15][16] On the same day, police in Barimula lathi charged protestors and damaged vehicles near the ashram.[17] On the same day, the MBBS student's mother told TV channels that her daughter was in her college hostel from 3 to 5 July. Later, the TV channels produced the student's leave application.[10]
On 7 August, the protests continued in Kendrapara district. The protesters pelted stones near the Barimula ashram. The police fired tear gas and lathi charged to dispel the mob. Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (illegal assembly) imposed to prevent more rioting.[18] Also on 7 August, Nitinjeet Singh was appointed the Kendrapada Superintendent of police, replacing Satish Gajbhiye. Meanwhile, the MBBS student appeared on a phone interview with a TV channel and said that Sarathi was being trapped in a conspiracy by some of his associates.[19][20]
Also on late 7 August 2015, the MBBS student filed a complaint at a Cuttack police station that four former associates of Sarathi had been harassing her since before the controversy. She said that they possessed a video of her bathing and had threatened to release it. She added that on their instruction she had insisted to Sarathi that he take her with him to Hyderabad.[20][21]
The police officials said that Sarathi had admitted to visiting Hyderabad under the interrogation.[16] On 13 August, Satish Gajbhiye was suspended for using excess force while handling the protesters.[24] The police reopened a missing person case from April 2013. He was a devotee and a chit fund agent had gone to Sarathi's ashram but had gone missing.[25] Also the same day, the state education department suspended a public school teacher, Sarat Patra, who was also a close associate of the Baba. Patra had spoken at a press conference in the defence of Sarathi.[26]
On 15 August 2015, the MBBS student filed a first information report (FIR) under claiming that Sarathi's women aides had threatened to kill her if she spoke against him.[27][28] Also on 15 August 2015, his bail petition was rejected.[29] On 19 August 2015, a woman filed a complaint in Nikirai, Kendrapara, claiming that her husband and her in-laws tortured after she did not submit to Sarathi after her marriage in January 2015.[30][31] On 19 August, Satyam Sekhar Roul, the adopted son of Sarathi, was arrested from a hotel in Mumbai. He had been in hiding.[2] Also on 19 August, Pramod Mohanty, a close aide of Sarathi, died. His family said that he died due to a heart attack caused by stress and they cremated him without an autopsy in Jagatsinghpur. He was being questioned by the police about his associate with the godman.[32][33]
On 26 August, the state government admitted to the legislative assembly that it had given grants to Sarathi Baba from public funds. On the recommendations of BJDMLAs, Bed Prakash Agrawal and Pratap Keshari Deb, ₹15.4 lakh (US$18,000) was granted for building a Sarathi community centre and two Sarathi temples. Deb said that people in his constituency had approached him for community centre in Bharatpur near Patrapur. But after it was completed it was named after Sarathi. Agrawal said that he made the recommendation because of the people's demand. Ashok Chandra Panda, the state tourism minister, revealed that Agrawal had recommended that the ashram be designated a tourist spot.[34]
On 27 August, the statement of Surendra Mallick, the manager of the Barimula ashram, was recorded in Kendrapada court.[35] On 28 August, Sarat Patra, a key aide of Sarathi, was arrested by the police. The suspended school teacher was charged with threatening the medical student. Another woman had come forward and complained that Patra had coerced women into having sexual relations with the Baba.[36][37] On 30 August, more suspects, Pilaski Swain, Biswajit Patnaik and Haris Chandra Das, were arrested. They had allegedly taken ₹20 lakh (US$24,000) from Satyam to help him escape the police. About ₹16.95 lakh (US$20,000) was recovered from them.[38][39]
His 2.47 acres (1.00ha) ashram in Barimula, Kendrapara, has been estimated to be worth ₹4.48 crore (US$540,000).[42] On 12 August 2015, a Crime Branch official told the media that they had found ₹2.55 crore (US$310,000) deposited in about 22 bank accounts belonging to Sarathi.[16] By 14 August, the police has found 50 plots of land worth ₹1 crore (US$120,000) belonging to the Baba. They also found 30–40 branches of Sarathi's organisation across the state. These organisations used to collect cash from devotees.[43] By 23 August, the police had seized ₹27 lakh (US$32,000) from accounts under Satyam's name.[44]
Satyam used to manage the film production company Srimad Sarathi Productions, which used to produce music albums and films. The Odia film Bachelor released in 2012 was its first feature film.[44][45]
Protests against other gurus
Following the arrest of Sarathi Baba, people in Odisha began protesting against other alleged fraud spiritual leaders. This forced many gurus to go underground and forced authorities to start investigations against them.[46] On 30 August 2015, protesters vandalised an ashram belonging to Sura Baba on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, and set fire on several vehicles in the compound.[47] On 31 August, Sura Baba and his two sons were arrested from their ashram.[48] On 5 September 2015, forest officials evicted a godman, Bana Baba, from his ashram Darshanibanta near Konark. His ashram was encroaching 19.6 acres (7.9ha) of protected forest under the Balukhand-Konark Wildlife Sanctuary.[49]
Trial
On 17 December 2015, the Crime Branch of Odisha Police formally filed charge-sheets against Sarathi, his son and four others.[50] On 11 January 2016, Sarathi was presented at the sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) court after a long absence from public sight. A mob of devotees gathered at the premises to get a glimpse of him. Several devotees, mostly women, threw petals on him and attempted to garland him. But, they were held back by the police. Recently Saarthi has got bail.[51]
Sathya Sai Baba was an Indian guru and philanthropist. At the age of 14, he said he was the reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba and left his home saying "my devotees are calling me, I have my work."
Ramdev, known also by the prefix Baba, is an Indian yoga guru, businessman and brand ambassador for Patanjali Ayurved. He is primarily known for being a proponent of yoga and ayurveda in India. Ramdev has been organizing and conducting large yoga camps since 2002 and broadcasting his yoga classes on various TV channels. He co-founded Patanjali Ayurved and Patanjali Yogpeeth with his colleague Balkrishna in 2006. Ramdev has received criticism over his comments related to modern medicine, yoga, and ayurveda.
Asumal Sirumalani Harpalani, known by devotees as Asaram, is an Indian spiritual leader and convicted rapist, who started to come into the limelight in the early 1970s. By 2013, he was estimated to have established over 400 ashrams and 40 schools in India and abroad.
Dera Sacha Sauda is an Indian non-governmental organization described as a "religious cult" and "non-profit social welfare dera" that was established on 29 April 1948 by Mastana Balochistani, an ascetic follower of Baba Sawan Singh, as a centre for religious learning. After Baba Sawan Singh, the movement split into four groups, one of them led by Mastana Balochistani. After the death of Mastana Balochistani, his movement was split into three groups, with Satnam Singh leading the Sirsa group, who selected Gurmeet Ram Rahim to be his successor. Dera Sacha Sauda's main centre is situated in the city of Sirsa in Haryana state, northern India. The organisation has 46 ashrams (divisions) across India and other countries.
Religious violence in Odisha consists of civil unrest and riots in the remote forest region surrounding the Kandhamal district in the western parts of the Indian state of Odisha.
Prem Kumar, better known as Swami Premananda, was a Sri-Lankan born Indian religious monk who founded the Premananda ashram. He was convicted of multiple counts of rape and a murder in 1997.
Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati and four of his disciples were murdered on 23 August 2008 in the State of Odisha in India. Saraswati was a Hindu monk and a Vishva Hindu Parishad leader.
Kapilash Temple, also known as Mahadev Chandrashekhar Temple, is situated in the north eastern part of Dhenkanal town, Odisha, India at a distance of 26 km from the district headquarters.
Siva Shankar Baba is a Hindu spiritual teacher from Tamil Nadu, India.
Prafulla Kar was an Odia musician, singer, lyricist, writer and columnist. He was also famous for his Odissi Music recital. He received Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India in 2015 for his contribution in the field of arts.
Bijoy Mohapatra is a politician from Odisha. A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he was Irrigation Minister of Odisha from 1990 to 1995 in the Biju Patnaik cabinet. He was the most powerful minister in Biju Patnaik's cabinet. He was four times MLA from Patkura Constituency of Kendrapara district. He won four straight elections in 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995.
Rampal is an Indian religious cult leader and murder convict of the Kabir Panth religious denomination.
Satlok Ashram is an organisation founded by Bhakti Mukti Trust in June 1, 1999 in Karontha village of Rohtak, Haryana. The first spiritual program took place from 1 June to 7 June 1999.
The 2014 Odisha hepatitis outbreak was an outbreak of mainly Hepatitis E and also Hepatitis A which began in the town of Sambalpur in Odisha, India. The cause of the outbreak was suspected to be the contamination to drinking water supplied by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED).
Falahari Baba, also known as Falahari Maharaj, is a self-styled godman, who has been convicted for raping a 21 year-old woman and sentenced to life imprisonment. He is listed in the second list of "fake spiritual leaders" released by Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, the apex body of Hindu sadhus.
Bhubaneswari Mishra was an Odissi classical singer and playback singer. She was a disciple of Adiguru Singhari Shyamsundar Kar. She was married to Dr. Jagamohan Misra, who was a popular physician and poet of Puri town. Her daughter Kasturika Mishra is also a trained classical vocalist.
4 Idiots is a 2018 Indian Odia language comedy film directed by Basanta Sahoo and starring Sabyasachi Mishra, Akash Dasnayak, Kuna Tripathy, Chittaranjan Tripathy, Elina Samantray, Lipsa Mishra and Poonam Mishra. The music is composed by Prem Anand.
Biswajit Mahapatra is an Indian singer from Bhawanipatna, Odisha. He was a participant in Indian Idol Season 10. He has mostly worked as playback singer in Odia film Industry named 'Ollywood'.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
