A Must Read

"Rawatpura Sarkar" refers to the north-facing, standing Hanumanji in a posture of salutation, located in the small village of Rawatpura, 20 km away from Lahar Tehsil in Bhind district, on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Until the beginning of 1991, this temple of "Rawatpura Sarkar" was just like any other ordinary temple in the villages, where religious narrations (katha) etc., would occasionally take place every couple of months. It was surrounded by dense bushes. There was a well built in the name of the temple, and a room which once had a tin shed, which was converted into a permanent roof about 50 years ago with the help of the villagers. Apart from the seven or eight surrounding villages, no one knew about this temple, and there was no reason to know about it - neither religious, nor spiritual, nor social, nor supernatural. Situated on the banks of Pahuj, a tributary of the Chambal River, and Sonamriga, a tributary of the Sindh River, this village of Rawatpura is recorded as uninhabited (bechirag) in the revenue department. The three villages of Gram Rawatpura, Tola, and Bijora together form one panchayat. Out of these, Rawatpura is shown as half in Tola Mauje and half in Bijora Mauje. The actual Rawatpura is purely flat land, the boundary of which is marked by the path of bullock carts.

The idol in this ancient temple located in Rawatpura was sculpted by a saint named Ayodhya Sharan and the consecration ceremony (pran pratishtha) was also performed by him. Later, a well and a room were constructed here for the stay of saints and for religious activities. Even then, the importance of this temple was only to the people of the surrounding villages simply because it was a 'temple'.

At the beginning of 1991, a young saint came and settled here, establishing his abode after organizing a Yagya (sacrificial ritual). This young saint possessed some amazing and extraordinary abilities. Due to these, he not only solved people's problems but also continuously inspired them to walk on the path of Dharma (righteousness), truth, renunciation, and love. Because of the saint's wondrous and unique abilities and simple nature, his fame gradually spread, and people started coming to him from far and wide. Before long, various construction works began there with the cooperation of devotees and followers.

This temple, which lay dilapidated and turning into ruins until 1991, suddenly became famous as a spiritual center in India in April 1996, when a grand Yagya named "Shri Ram Mahayagya" was organized here! According to BBC Radio London, "This Yagya was grander than all religious ceremonies held in India so far, with smooth and continuous arrangements for feeding one hundred thousand people at a time, and it was difficult to estimate how many people were participating? Clouds of dust were visible all around, and millions of people were constantly coming and going."

Approximately three crore rupees were spent on this continuous Bhandara (community feast) of pure desi ghee (clarified butter), which started at twelve noon and continued until two in the night.

You can estimate the grandeur of this event yourself from the following facts:

1. During this Yagya, Prasad (blessed food) was distributed continuously for nine days, twenty-four hours a day, in the form of Boondi (sweetened fried gram flour balls), Halwa (sweet semolina pudding), Kheer (rice pudding), Malpua (sweet pancakes), and Jalebi (spiral-shaped fried sweets). The said Balbhog (morning offering) i.e., breakfast, and Prasad were distributed via tractor-trolleys, and many people were filling their stomachs with just this.
2. For the Bhandara being held here, two large Kadahis (cauldrons) named Ganga and Jamuna were brought from the place of Ramdas Paramhans, located in Jaura Tehsil of Morena district. The size of these Kadahis is so large that fifty sacks of potato curry can be easily prepared in one Kadahi at a time; hence, it would be appropriate to call them Kadhavs (very large cauldrons).
3. A team of one thousand people came from Morena district just to prepare the Bhandara; despite this, local workers had to assist them.
4. Apart from the temple's Bhandara, there were seventeen eateries in the local market where one could get food of their choice by paying.
5. Water arrangements were made throughout the premises by installing pumps on seven tube wells and all the nearby wells, and laying a three-inch thick pipeline everywhere.
6. Vehicles were stopped five kilometers away on both sides of this temple, from where only walking was allowed.
7. In the other shops set up here, there were seven hundred shops ranging from all kinds of sweets, fruits, and vegetables to clothes, sarees, and shoes. Additionally, twenty betel leaf (paan) shops and forty-five tea stalls were open for service round the clock.
8. Thousands of people, including only Sadhus (ascetics), saints, and Naga Babas (a sect of Hindu sadhus), participated in this Yagya.
9. The work of approximately one thousand people from Tola Rawatpura and Bijora villages was solely to lay out, pick up, and dispose of leaf plates (pattals).
10. The number of workers alone in this Yagya was more than ten thousand.
11. For the storage house alone, arrangements were made by erecting a tin shed in a four-acre field. Two flour mills were installed in it, which were continuously grinding wheat, and a saw machine was installed, which was preparing firewood.

Where did the huge amount of money for this massive and grand event come from? Regarding this, Pandey Ji, who was one of the main organizers, explains that "not only among the devotees and followers was there a frenzied enthusiasm to come here, but also to donate. The drivers of trucks filled with materials like sugar, wheat, lentils, rice, etc., could only say, 'The sender told us to go to Rawatpura and unload'." During this same Yagya, once four trucks filled with oranges came from Nagpur, which were unloaded in the temple premises, and a mountain of oranges was formed. When these oranges were distributed among the devotees based on the principle of 'whoever wants, as much as they want,' four truckloads of oranges were finished within twelve hours.

Bhagwan Das Ahirwar, an artisan from village Mukharra, district Chhatarpur, says that about a month before the start of this Yagya, one hundred and fifty laborers and forty artisans worked day and night on various construction projects.

This Yagya was organized on February 27, 1996, a few days before the Yagya, in honor of the establishment of 'Ram Darbar' (Lord Rama's court). A grand permanent Yagya hall was constructed within the temple premises for this Yagya. Nine Havan Kunds (sacrificial fire pits) were built in this unique Yagya hall, and these nine Kunds were shaped according to the nine planets (Navagrahas).

Outside the temple premises, a very attractive hut made of grass and thatch was built at a height of about 10 feet, and at the same height, a seat was made on which a picture of Deorah Baba was placed. People would come here, bow their heads, and move on.

Approximately fifteen lakh people from all corners of the country came and participated in this Yagya, and an estimated three crore rupees were spent, which people donated in various forms or as voluntary service (kar seva).

But now a question arises: who was managing all the arrangements in this Yagya? What was the reason that inspired people to donate such a huge amount?

Yagyas are generally held in many places, and this Yagya was not even particularly publicized. Then how did such a religious fervor take hold of people that groups of pilgrims of all kinds – Hindus, Muslims, dervishes, fakirs, sadhus, sanyasis, men, women, children – gathered like madmen in lakhs, as if raining down like mud balloons?

How did the attraction towards this desolate temple in a deserted village suddenly increase to such an extent that millions thronged there?

There is only one answer to all these questions: the extraordinary ability and simple, easy-going practicality of the young saint who arrived in 1991 were hidden as the fundamental 'cause' of this great Yagya. The shocking and surprising thing was how a man, at the mere age of twenty-five, could be so capable that millions of people would flock at his one call and donate crores of rupees with a smile. And then, such amazing and incredible charismatic management ability is beyond the capacity of an ordinary human being. So, is he a divine being? There was no shortage, no accident, no unrest anywhere in such a large event. Everything was accomplished effortlessly.

Let's listen to what some of the people who participated in this Yagya have to say:

Mishra Ji, a worker in the Yagya and a resident of Deeha, Jalaun, says that throughout this Yagya, the young saint lived in a hut outside the temple premises and gave darshan (audience) to people there. But it also happened many times that he would be in the Yagyashala (sacrificial hall) in addition to his hut outside, and also among the people in the crowd.

How could such a large gathering take place without anti-social elements coming? After all, they too are Indians. Mrs. Tripathi from Tikamgarh narrates that during the Yagya, someone snatched a gold chain from a woman. The woman first complained to the police, but searching for that chain in such a crowd was like diving into the ocean. Finally, the frustrated woman went crying to the young saint. The saint consoled the woman, called a police officer, described the appearance of a woman, and pointed towards a tent, saying, "Bring that thief woman from there." As soon as the police officer brought the thief woman from the tent as the saint had said, the woman, seeing the young saint and the crying woman, immediately understood the situation, took out the chain and apologized. The young saint immediately told her and her companions to flee from that place. The police officers wanted to arrest her, but the young saint clearly refused, saying, "If you had caught her, you would have surely arrested her, but I caught her, so let her go."

In the crowd of devotees at Mahayagya-96, a very large segment consisted of such inquisitive people who experienced thrill simply by watching everything being handled neatly and systematically in this Yagya. And the most remarkable thing seemed to be that the supreme head of this Yagya, this young saint, appeared neither troubled nor restless in the slightest, and was आराम से (comfortably) bestowing blessings upon everyone from a raised platform outside the premises, as if he had nothing to do with the events happening inside.

The Mahayagya-96 truly gained fame after its completion. When people heard about the young age of the saint and the extremely grand scale of the Yagya and read about it in various magazines, they were astonished. This sensational event seemed absolutely impossible.

But before people could bring their hearts and minds out of the realm of amazement, in April 1997, the young saint once again presented another example of his divine abilities, अद्भुत (amazing) working style, and गजब की (incredible) management skills by organizing the "Alaukik Nav Durga Evam Ram Janm Mahotsav" (Divine Nav Durga and Ram Birth Festival) again at the same place. This event was organized in memory of the young saint's guru, Deorah Baba, and no donations were solicited from the people during this nine-day festival; rather, it was made optional. Besides this, the arrangement of the daily Bhandara was discontinued, and the Bhandara was organized only on the last day of the festival. Despite this, Bhandara for at least fifteen thousand people was prepared daily, which was meant for the workers, police, and various employees.

For the food arrangement of poor devotees, strict instructions were given to three eateries out of all the shops: "Provide a full meal for ten rupees." Apart from this, one could also get food of their choice by paying at other shops. To estimate the grandeur of this divine festival, please consider the following arrangements:

1. Seven transformers were installed here for the daily electricity consumption of 480 kW, out of which one transformer was of 200 kW capacity and the other six were of 100 kW capacity each.
2. In addition to the attractive electrical decoration on the main temple, various chandeliers, lanterns, colorful festoons, halogen bulbs, etc., were installed at many places, decorating the entire temple complex with a multi-colored brilliance.
3. In the huge pandal (tent) of one lakh twenty thousand square feet built here, there was seating arrangement for twenty to twenty-five thousand people at a time, and various cultural programs were organized in this pandal.
4. This entire pandal was illuminated with lights. Also, keeping in mind the summer season, there was an arrangement of one ceiling fan for every 200 square feet.
5. For food arrangements, Annapurna Nagar (city of food) was set up in four fields, in which two flour mills and one saw machine were installed, and there was an arrangement for five to six thousand people to eat at a time.
6. For medical arrangements, a twenty-bed hospital was set up, in which doctors and emergency facilities were available round the clock.
7. In this festival, temporary towers were installed by the Department of Telecommunications, providing STD, fax, and telephone facilities. This telecommunications tower was connected to Lahar.
8. For accommodation arrangements, similar to Mahayagya 96, besides tents and ordinary shamiana houses, a garden was named 'Kalarav Kunj' for special guests, and fully equipped cottages were set up in it. These had facilities ranging from attached latrine-bath to coolers, fans, and 'waiters'.
9. In this festival, there were 21 shops for cold drinks and ice cream, 76 shops for Prasad, 26 chaat shops, 42 eateries, 23 shops only for tea and snacks, and 24 shops only for paan and cigarettes.
10. Apart from readymade clothes, bags, suitcases, shoes, and jewelry, shops for various Banarasi, Rajasthani, Mysore, Kota, etc., sarees were also set up, and besides the shops, about two hundred handcart vendors were roaming around selling their goods.
11. Twenty closed-circuit television sets were installed at the event site. Generators were arranged for alternative power supply.

There were मूलतः (fundamentally) three differences between Mahayagya 96 and Mahotsav 97. Firstly, it was a Mahotsav (festival), not a Yagya (sacrificial ritual). Because of this, while fewer Sadhus and saints came, the number of people from urban and rural areas increased in an astonishing way.

The second difference was that the Bhandara (community feast) in this Mahotsav was organized only on the last day. Due to this, the number of people staying for nine consecutive days decreased.

The third main difference, which attracted the urban class towards it, was the devotional cultural program organized by renowned artists of the country for nine consecutive days.

Let's take a look at the various cultural programs organized from April 8, 1997, to April 16, 1997:

Daily from 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM: Sahastra Chandi Yagya and chanting of Mahamrityunjaya in the Yagyashala.

8:30 AM to 10:30 AM: Ramlila (enactment of the life of Lord Rama) by Swami Ramswaroop Ji, Vrindavan.

11:30 AM to 3:30 PM: Musical discourse on Ramcharitmanas by Maa Kankeshwari Devi.

In addition, daily from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM, programs by renowned artists of the country as follows:

April 8th: Dance drama "Hori Dhoom Macho Ri" by Padma Vibhushan Birju Maharaj and his troupe.

April 9th: Bhajan (devotional songs) presentation by Shri Anup Jalota.

April 10th: Dance by Kathak dancer Ms. Rani Khanam and singing by Ms. Shubha Mudgal.

April 11th: Bhajan presentation by renowned singer Ms. Anuradha Paudwal and dance drama by the troupe of Kavita Dwivedi, famous nationally and internationally for Odissi dance.

April 12th: Dance drama based on the Ramayana by the team of Ms. Kiran Sehgal, renowned nationally and internationally in Odissi dance art.

April 13th: Singing by Smt. Shobha Gurtu, Mumbai.

April 14th: Singing by Pandit Chhannulal Mishra, a seasoned artist of Indian classical music.

April 15th: Bhajan presentation by renowned singer Ms. Vani Jairam.

April 16th: Shehnai (Indian wind instrument) recital by Shri Shailesh Bhagwat, Mumbai, at 12 noon during Ram Janm (birth of Lord Rama), and Odissi dance by Padma Bhushan Smt. Sonal Mansingh, a leading Bharatnatyam dancer.

In terms of publicity, this event left Mahayagya 96 far behind. Buses, taxis, trucks, Metadors, and private vehicles plying on all the main routes of Gwalior, Jhansi, Bhind, Datia, Tikamgarh, Lalitpur, and Jalaun had this information written on them in white paint. Appeals to join this Mahotsav were made through banners and posters on walls everywhere. And ultimately, approximately three lakh people participated in the Mahotsav daily, and it once again proved to be a highly successful event. Balbhog (morning offering) was distributed daily at 9:00 AM in this event. Rajendra Singh Rajput, a journalist from Bhader, narrates about the divine occurrences of this Mahotsav that if there was a shortage of anything in the Bhandara, the truck carrying that very item would arrive in the next moment without any prior information, be it sugar, ghee, wheat, lentils, or rice. Everything was extremely surprising, divine, and extraordinary. It was clearly understood that some unseen power was assisting in this Mahotsav.

Shri Chauhan from Lahar, a worker in the Mahotsav, says that they were continuously engaged for twelve to thirteen days to make this event successful. No worker showed any signs of fatigue, laziness, or weakness in their eyes. The feeling within all of us that 'this is our event' itself was a cause of surprise for us.

Pandit Dubey (Akodi) from Orai says that during the Mahotsav, on the night of April eleventh, firewood suddenly started running out, and no firewood was available anywhere for the next morning's Balbhog. Finally, around twelve o'clock at night, the young saint was informed that firewood was not available anywhere to prepare the morning Balbhog.

The young saint smiled and asked to wait for two hours. Around two o'clock at night, four trucks filled with firewood were standing in front of the Bhandara. The drivers said that they had brought the wood from Auraiya, but they did not know who had sent it; he had only said, "Go to Rawatpura and unload."

Filled with such numerous small and large divine events, the nine days of this Mahotsav passed as very important days in spiritual history.

Describing this Mahotsav, Rehan Siddiqui, the city Congress Committee president of Orai Jalaun, says, "This Mahotsav had proved that a true person is helped by the unseen (divine power). This huge event reached its conclusion so easily that it was unbelievable. Where the unwavering faith of some of the most famous personalities, singers, big leaders, chief ministers, governors, and wealthy people of India towards the young saint was seen, it was also understood that the young saint had spiritual patronage; otherwise, it was absolutely beyond the capacity of an ordinary person to organize such a successful event."

Rajnarayan Bohre, a storyteller from Datia, narrates that there was such an enchantment in this area, located far from the ravines and sparsely populated areas, that there was no desire to return from here. After coming here, even strangers started helping each other.

Mansoor Siddiqui from Orai says, "Throughout the Yagya, no one person was seen commanding the entire program, but all the different programs that were visible were going on very well. The young saint had truly made a garden bloom in the jungle."

Overall, both Mahayagya-96 and the Alaukik Mahotsav 97 were completed with great success. In today's era, where people are turning away from religious events, such a large gathering can be called a good sign in the direction of a spiritual revolution, in which the faith of Indian culture is inherent. And behind this magnificent success of both events, only one reason was clearly visible: 'the young saint and his divine, extraordinary abilities.' People say that until 1991, there were no bridges over the rivers on either side of this village, out of which the Pahuj River, which is on the border of UP and MP, the construction of this bridge was stalled for years due to a dispute between the two states. Apart from this, there was only a small Hanuman temple built here. Even a gravel road was not available within a ten-kilometer radius of this temple, but today, not only a paved road and high-level bridges over both rivers, but a rest house has been built in the temple premises, and construction work worth lakhs on the Ram temple, Devi temple, and Brahmakund has been completed, the construction work of the Shiv temple is ongoing, free telephone facility, water arrangement, arrangement for staying and eating in the temple itself – everything seems miraculous within just seven years, that is, not even a decade has passed. Only one person, who looks as ordinary as you and me, only and only his personal abilities are hidden behind this unprecedented change; it seems unbelievable, but it is the truth, the seen truth, the present truth, beyond the scope of doubt. But who is this young saint? How did these divine abilities come within him at the young age of just twenty-five or twenty-six, which is barely seen even in a top-class saint until old age?

How did this saint come to Rawatpura temple? Did he attain all the siddhis (spiritual powers) upon arriving here, or was he a सिद्ध संत (accomplished saint) even before that? In response to all these questions, one gets to hear from the local residents of Rawatpura that before 1967, a Paramhansa saint, who was famous by the name of Guiyan Baba, used to visit this area often and was a resident of a nearby village. This young saint not only claims to be the reincarnation of that Guiyan Baba but has also given several direct proofs of this, which proves that he is definitely the reincarnation of Guiyan Baba.

So, is he a reincarnation of a Paramhansa? But Paramhansa is the highest state of a Yogi, then why would he need reincarnation? This young saint came to Rawatpura temple in 1991; where was he before that? If he remembered his previous birth, why didn't he come earlier?

The reincarnation of a Paramhansa could bring a new revolution in the world of spirituality and parapsychology?

How would this saint's childhood have been? And what would his parents and companions have thought? When, how, and from where did these extraordinary abilities return to him, or did he emerge as a miraculous personality right from birth? All the abilities of the young saint clearly point towards him being a Paramhansa. What is the मूल उद्देश्य ( मूल उद्देश्य) of the young saint? What does he want to achieve by completing these religious events? It is true that it is in view of the divine occurrences of the young saint that this crowd gathered in this deserted village, and indeed, the awakening of spiritual consciousness is clearly visible.

Could this young saint named Ravi Shankar Paramhansa be that spiritual and divine being about whom the extraordinary seer named Nostradamus had predicted four hundred years ago, saying that 'in the country with a chain of three seas, such a miraculous man will be born who will consider Thursday as a holy day and worship it. That being will be so great and powerful that he will spread over the whole world like a storm.'

"The activities and mysteries of the soul are very profound and astonishing, and sometimes they surprise the whole world; we should patiently wait for the end."

How to reach "Rawatpura"

There are several ways to reach "Rawatpura," the "playground" of this young Paramhansa saint of mature thoughts, located in the dense ravines of Chambal, between the Pahuj and Sonamriga rivers, in the Lahar Tehsil of Bhind district. The distance of this place from Gwalior is approximately one hundred kilometers. This route goes from Gwalior via Murar, Behat, Mau, Senvda, and village Chaurai to reach Rawatpura.

From Jhansi, one can reach Rawatpura via Chirgaon, Bhader, Daboh, or from Jhansi via At, Konch, Nadigaon. There is also a third route from Jhansi via Datia, Indergarh Theret, Senvda, and Chaurai, and the distance from Jhansi to here via these three different routes falls between one hundred and one hundred and twenty-five kilometers.

For the people of Uttar Pradesh, this place can also be reached from Orai Jalaun via Koch and Nadigaon. This place is situated at a distance of approximately sixty kilometers from Orai Jalaun.