Frozen baba Ashutosh Maharaj still a big hit among followers
While the DJJS claimed the number of followers who came to attend the monthly congregation at the Nurmahal dera on Sunday was around 60,000-75,000, the Jalandhar district administration put the numbers at a modest 25,000.
Braving cold and rain, the followers of Ashutosh Maharaj reached in large numbers to attend the monthly congregation at the Nurmahal dera on Sunday. While the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS) claimed the number of followers to be around 60,000-75,000, the Jalandhar district administration put the numbers at a modest 25,000.
"The Sansthan organised this month's Bhandara (community feast) on Sunday and about 75,000 devotees attended the spiritual convention. Swami Narendranand and Sadhvi Manasvini Bhartiji spoke extensively about the qualities of a true disciple. Swamiji elaborated on the holy relationship of a disciple and his master," DJJS spokesperson Swami Vishalanand said.
"All the devotees have shown their faith in the fact that Ashutosh Maharajji will emerge from samadhi," the DJJS spokesperson added.
Swami Vishalanand added that before going to samadhi, Ashutosh Maharaj had proclaimed that he would return to normal self. "The saints have been practicing samadhi (deep meditation). Nobody should object to the meditation of Ashutosh Maharaj," the dera spokesperson asserted.
The DJJS has been in the news after the Punjab and Haryana High Court had on December 1 directed the state government to perform the last rites of Ashutosh Maharaj within 15 days. The high court had also constituted a panel headed by the Jalandhar district magistrate in this regard.
Ashutosh Maharaj was declared clinically dead on January 29. Since then, the godman's body is lying in a deep freezer at the dera headquarters.
Later, the dera on December 4 had approached the high court seeking a 30-day extension on the deadline given to perform the last rites. Many in the legal circles saw it as a move to buy time by the Sansthan to challenge the verdict in the court. Shrugging off doubts about the continuation of the monthly congregation, the DJJS management said that the event will continue in the future as well. Thousands of followers take part in the bhandara which begins at 10 am and continues till 1 pm. The followers listen to the discourse at the event and leave the dera after taking lunch.
Vishalanand said that the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan has been organising monthly spiritual discourses for the last two decades. The bhandara is held on the second Sunday of every month. After the gathering in the day at Nurmahal, most of the followers returned for their homes in the evening on Sunday.
The DJJS, however, did not allow the media to cover the event.