From cop to controversial guru: Unfolding the legacy of 'Bhole Baba'

The stampede occurred during a satsang (prayer meeting) organised by self-styled godman Bhole Baba, also known as Narayan Saakar Hari

Before he became a religious preacher, Baba Narayan Hari, aka Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba, was a constable in the Uttar Pradesh Police. In the police force, his name was Suraj Pal. 
 

Now around 60 years old, Pal quit the police force in the 1990s and established an ashram in his native village of Bahadurnagar in Kasganj district, around 65km from Hathras, the site of Tuesday's stampede that killed at least 121 people. The ashram is spread over 30 acres.
 

Posters and videos posted on the preacher’s YouTube channel, which has millions of viewers and boasts 31,000 subscribers, show him dressed in kurtas or mostly in pristine white suits and ties, often sporting sunglasses. In most of the videos, Bhole Baba is seen holding a microphone in his hand, seated on an ornate silver throne with his wife by his side, addressing vast gatherings of primarily women, almost all of whom are sitting on the ground, hands folded in reverence. The devotees address his wife as “Matashri”.
 

A Dalit from the Jatav caste, the preacher has a significant following among Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes in rural Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. “Humanity was the true religion, is the true religion and will always be the true religion,” he is quoted as saying in a poster.
 

Bhole Baba moves around with a cavalcade of cars. To protect himself from devotees who would rush to touch his feet, collect his “charan dhuli” (dust from his feet) and seek his blessings, he had formed a security team known as Narayani Sena, which has pink-coloured uniforms. The Sena comprises both men and women guards, who would escort him to gatherings. These Sena members, called “sevadars”, also manage seating arrangements and security at his “satsangs”, or congregations.
 

In several videos, the details of the gathering on Tuesday were given out, and devotees were exhorted to attend the “satsang” in large numbers. Around 250,000 people gathered despite permission being given for only 80,000, according to the police first information report (FIR). Two more such “satsangs” were planned for later this month in and around Agra.
 

A day after the stampede in Hathras, residents of Bhole Baba’s native village Bahadurnagar praised him for never asking for any donation or “chadhava” (offerings) from anyone. When asked how the preacher constructed a “Bhavya Dham” (palatial ashram), the villagers told PTI that it was built out of voluntary donations he received from devotees.
 

The locals said the preacher does not have any children. Missing since the stampede, Bhole Baba is said to be present in an ashram in Mainpuri. The preacher addressed gatherings mostly on the first Tuesday of every month, with village committees collecting funds from devotees for organising the congregations. According to reports quoting police officials, the preacher has faced legal troubles in the past.
 

Bhole Baba reportedly wields political influence and counts bureaucrats and politicians among his followers.