‘Godmen’ face questions about wealth
PUTTAPARTHI, India — For centuries, their image was as barefoot ascetics who spent their lives in solitary Himalayan meditation.
But now India’s gurus, “miracle workers” and spiritual leaders, often collectively known as “godmen,” have become savvy, powerful figures who control vast philanthropic and business empires, dabble in politics and manipulate the media.
Often their most devoted followers come from the middle classes, and donations also stream in from Indians abroad. The flood of money is partly a function of the huge rise in disposable income that many Indians now enjoy, but some sociologists say it reflects a need to balance newfound wealth with old-fashioned values.
“The Indian middle classes are a very schizophrenic bunch of people,” said Meera Nanda, author of “The God Market: How Globalization Is Making India More Hindu,” who argues it is time the religious trusts were properly regulated, audited and taxed. “They look at renunciation, asceticism, a life of simplicity as a higher ideal, but that is an ideal hardly anyone can live up to with this growing wealth. Giving ends up doing the balancing act for them.”
And give they certainly have.
When Sai Baba died in April, his personal chambers were found to contain $2.8 million in cash, along with gold and silver worth around $5 million more. Cupboards contained cloth bags filled with diamonds, hundreds of robes, more than 500 pairs of shoes and dozens of bottles of perfume and hairspray.
While his followers insist Sai Baba never even had a bank account, the trust in his name is believed to be worth about $10 billion.
Modern celebrity culture
While Sai Baba generated mystique by limiting his private audiences, the black-bearded and bare-chested Ramdev’s popularity owes more than a little to modern celebrity culture.
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