Guest guest Posted June 9, 2002 Report Share Posted June 9, 2002 i am sending the attachment again, for benefit of those of you who did not read it last time. Believe me, simple html docs will not infect your comps. If you are still superstitious about this, go and read the latest issue of india-today. Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts http://uk.my. The NewspaperToday | HOME IN THIS ISSUE SEE COVER IMAGE COVER STORY General On the Edge Code of Conduct Makeshift Lives OTHER STORIES Topple and Win Ghost Busting At Last Action Hero Phoney War Strong Medicine Designer Mammals Cult in Crisis Rising From the East Verity Show Heavenly Post COLUMNS Guest Column: Mushahid Hussain METRO TODAY Diary of Events Asian women seeking roles in films find it hard to escape the stereotyping. But the success of some may bring in change. NRI DIARY India Calling Fear of a Fallout Matter of Survival For a Tranquil Time Interview: Firoz A. Nadiadwala Newsmakers WEB ONLY FEATURES The uncompromising posture of the agitating peasants in Haryana puts the farmer-friendly chief minsiter in a bind. India Today's Ramesh Vinayak reports. Statescan INDIA TODAY CONCLAVE The Conclave concludes on a high note. Al Gore, Stanley Fischer and other world leaders listen and our heard. Catch up on the highlights. Take me to Conclave now CARE TODAY INDIA TODAY HINDI CURRENT ISSUE JUNE 17, 2002 RELIGION: THE KALKI CONTROVERSY Cult in Crisis He advocates materialism, performs "miracles" and lives in luxury. But as devotees line up for a rare darshan, Kalki Bhagwan encounters a spate of accusations. By Arun Ram He sits in an air-conditioned room at Nemam ashram in Tamil Nadu's Thiruvallur district, a white-clad godman sprawled on a blue velvet throne, a zari angavastram draped around his shoulders. An acharya, one of four long-time disciples, dressed also in virginal white, sits at his feet, offering him water whenever he coughs or clears his throat. A Mercedes Benz waits outside, ready to ferry him away from curious eyes, as dasas (monks) mill around talking discreetly into Nokia cell phones. DIVINE TUG: Devotees converging from all over India pine for a single darshan of Kalki Bhagwan; (top) Vijayakumar and his wife IN THE DOCK 1 Varadaiahpalem villagers say V. Vijayakumar and R. Shankar have floated over 10 trusts in the name of rural development and have sought tax exemption, but no house or hospital has been built. 2 Viswanath Swami says the cult has become a family affair, with the godman helping his son's business with public donations amounting to crores of rupees. The family owns 40 cars and eight establishments. 3 Critics say the godman is fooling people with "miracles" that range from curing cancer to making honey ooze and bananas fall out of his photos. He has also recruited and trained dasas for this purpose. 4 A former devotee and Tamil writer, Indumathi, says the Kalki cult exerts pressure on devotees to recruit prominent people as members, perhaps, to acquire respectability for the group. At 53, V. Vijayakumar looks most unlike the tenth avatar of Vishnu-Kalki-that he is purported to be. His swooning devotees, however, reel off his mystical powers with rare conviction: he can cure cancer with "spiritual" surgery, make honey ooze and bananas fall off his portraits, even bring the dead back to life. The last bit may stretch credulity but when it comes to homilies it's hard to dismiss the guru's hold on the consumerist pulse: don't shun worldly pleasures, he preaches, seek ultimate happiness. And how does one identify the obstacles to supreme bliss? By undertaking a Kalki course-Rs 500 for a three-day beginner programme and Rs 2,500 for a seven-day course. The wisdom bestowed: pragmatic materialism. "If you ask me whether you will own an Opel Astra," says the vision-driven prophet, "I will shut my eyes and try to see you in one. If I see the image, I'll tell you that you will own it within a given period. If I don't see anything, I will ask you to help the poor so that you can move closer to the goal." He goes on to cite irrefutable evidence. "A man wanted to know if he would marry an Aishwarya Rai lookalike. I saw him marrying someone who resembled her. That's exactly what happened." The display of omniscience is all pervading. Vijayakumar believes, for instance, that the Kalki cult he heads will survive even though "organised religions will die between 2005 and 2012" as his philosophy is inclusive. "You can be a Christian and I will make you see Christ. You can be a Hindu and I can make you see Rama. I am a spiritual supermarket," he says in fluent English. UNGODLY SPAT V. VIJAYAKUMAR "I don't touch the donations, just pass them on to trusts over which I have no control." "My son spends his own money to spread my dharma." "I can function like God and end people's miseries." VISWANATH SWAMI "He has always been driven by the need for money." "He is a scheming businessman who is helping his son's career with public money. " "I challenge him to show even one miracle at a press meet." Though he rarely gives darshans (about once in six months), it doesn't deter his devotees who come from all over India and abroad. Some like 25-year-old Sujay Krishna join as dasas. When he was 17, Krishna saw a golden ball of light emanating from Vijayakumar and piercing his forehead-it was enough to make him abandon his engineering course. Like a claimed six million others, Krishna believes Vijayakumar is Kalki Bhagwan. For Vijayakumar, this faith has translated into considerable wealth. He lives in a two-storey house in Chennai's affluent Anna Nagar. The Kalki world headquarters, Golden City, is being built at a cost of Rs 300 crore on a 41.5-acre plot at Varadaiahpalem in Andhra Pradesh. There's the Nemam ashram where classes are held; the 86-acre Satyalok in Varadaiahpalem that has thatched sheds for meditation and prayer; a 20-acre plot near the Golden City; a 10-acre plot that houses his son's Cosmic Recording Studio and another 37 acres of land close by. In fact, the cult is increasingly becoming a family affair. Not only has his wife V. Padmavathi attained a goddess-like stature (she is called Bhagwati), even daughter-in-law Preetha is promoting the cause of "women enlightenment". Kalki Bhagwan, of course, resolutely denies his proclivity for wealth. Not surprisingly though, it has propped up zealous opponents like Viswanath Swami, a self-proclaimed social activist who worked with Vijayakumar at a school in Rajupeta in 1985. In April this year, Swami filed a complaint with the Income-Tax Department in Chennai, alleging that Vijayakumar and his associate R. Shankar have floated more than 10 trusts for rural development. They also obtained tax exemption for funds collected by these trusts, but didn't use the money for the stated purpose. In a separate case, the department has asked Vijayakumar to pay Rs 60 lakh as tax. The last time the Kalki cult hit the headlines was in 1997, when Chennai resident D. Gopalan filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madras High Court. He demanded that Kalki Bhagwan be produced in the court as he was being held captive by Shankar and his associates. But after the devotees intervened, Vijayakumar slipped back into Satyalok and the petition was dismissed. Now, he seems ready to face the public again. Born to S. Varadarajulu Naidu and V. Vaidarbhi on March 7, 1949, Vijayakumar transcended quickly from a clerk with the Life Insurance Corporation in 1971 to "godhood" in 1989. Aiding this transformation was schoolmate Shankar who returned from Germany after post-doctoral research in 1982 to take over as principal of the J. Krishnamurthy Foundation-run Valley School in Bangalore. He soon invited Vijayakumar to help with administration work. "He was my mentor, friend and philosopher," says Shankar. When the Krishnamurthy Foundation expelled the two in 1984 for undisclosed reasons, they opened Jeevashram, a residential school. This put Vijayakumar on the road to godhood. Reports appeared of him figuring in "the dreams of his students and their parents as Vishnu's avatar". By 1989, he was "bhagwan" and within seven years, the cult had acquired a big following. "When one in every 100,000 people is enlightened, the world will become a happy place to live in," says Vijayakumar. He claims to have enlightened 400 of his Indian devotees and says he has another one million foreign devotees. They attend functions that the cult organises in countries like Japan, Dubai and Russia. For every ardent devotee, however, there is an irate resident of Varadaiahpalem who says the cult has purchased more than a thousand acres in the names of various trusts. Vijayakumar says he is not a member of any trust though he gets big donations. "People are willing to donate a crore of rupees, but I pass it on to the trusts," he says. "I'm being asked to pay Rs 60 lakh as income tax but where do I go for that kind of money? I will not pay them. I'll fight them in the court." A court battle may not be easy. Villagers from Satyalok and Golden City have signed affidavits stating Kalki Bhagwan has done nothing for their betterment. Says Madhusudan Reddy, sarpanch of Batlavallam village near Golden City: "They promised us housing, hospitals and schools. Not a single promise has been fulfilled." Swami, who has taken up cudgels on behalf of the villagers, says, "I met Vijayakumar after 11 years last year. He may have a new name, but hasn't changed at all. He is a scheming businessman who is boosting his son's business with public money." Vijayakumar refutes the charge. "My son spends his own money to spread my dharma." This dharma is being propagated with much fervour. Scores of men and women have joined as dasas and conduct classes for devotees. Respectability, however, eludes the cult perhaps because of requests to devotees to scout for new members. Tamil writer Indumathi says, "I stopped going when they pressured me to recruit prominent people. I know filmstar Rajnikanth's wife, so they asked me to get him." There is, of course, the debate over "miracles". Though the godman insists rationalist H. Narasimhaiah saw honey flowing from his picture, Narasimhaiah scoffs at the claim. "I haven't seen any such miracle. Let him prove it." Vijayakumar is unruffled though. "I believe I can function like God and rid people of their miseries." Perhaps he should begin by using his magical prowess to rid himself of the controversies surrounding him. Index India Today | Archives | TheNewspaperToday | TNT Movies |TNT Astro | TNT Fashion | Business Today | India Today Plus | Computers Today | India Today Hindi | Syndications Aaj Tak | India Today Conclave | Art Today | Music Today | IT Book Club | Care Today write to us | About us | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer © Living Media India Ltd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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