Evoking Gods to Secure Votes

While our Chief Minister may have put Maa Kamakhya Mandir of Guwahati on the ‘most sought after destination to fulfill your political dreams’ list, closer home Maharashtra too boasts of its inventory of gods, goddesses, and deities who have ‘helped’ shape the political careers of many leaders over the past decades.

This election season, though, the need for tantriks, astrologers, and pundits has escalated to surprising heights. Now that the election dates are announced and the candidate list finalised, the actual work begins, which is not campaigning but convincing the gods to work in your favour to win the elections by holding various kinds of pujas that range from Yagnas (fire rituals) to Balis (animal offerings).

A certain birdie informed me that the leader of one of the alliances in the Mahayuti sent a list of 25 of his candidates to a numerologist to check their chances of victory. Another leader in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi party has increased his visits to the Dongareshwar mandir in rural Maharashtra.

Eighty-year-old Rudra Singh (name changed), one of the four living tantriks in the country, who is well-versed in the art of the occult, claims his calendar is blocked till November 20. A resident of New Delhi, he has over the last month made several trips to the state to hold Yagnas for many political leaders in their home constituencies.

He said that Yagnas like that of Samuhik Akarshan (public attraction) to Samuhik Samochan (public possession) are the most popular ones done by politicians to attract voters and win elections. “The Samuhik Akarshan Yagna is a four-and-half-hour-long process that includes a large congregation of pujaris who conduct this puja by offering the names of the number of voters in the candidate’s constituency through tarpan (offering of holy water to the souls of the ancestors). For example, if there are three lakh voters, then all the names are chanted in this puja, or when the candidate knows he needs only a few thousand votes to win, he offers those number of names in the tarpan only,” says Singh, further adding that the Samuhik Samochan ritual is conducted by many political leaders to ward off their opposition or enemies from spreading any mischief about themselves in public during elections.

Animal sacrifices in the form of goats, roosters, or even bulls, he says, are the most sought-after ceremonies conducted by candidates to get the results they need.

Apart from their homes and local temples, Singh says that Maharashtra has over 54 active religious sites to conduct such kinds of pujas. Other pujas that are known to reap political benefits are Yagnas, which are conducted in the name of the goddesses Baglamukhi and Dhumavati. He continues that there have been many requests to hold large-scale Yagnas devoted to the above two. Furthermore, Yagnas held in favour of Lord Batuk Bhairav and Lord Kal Bhairav, the tantric forms of Lord Shiva, are very much in demand, as these pujas are known to lead you to positive results.

Another astrologer from Kolhapur, Shyamlal (name changed), who confesses to being a strict follower of the Aghori (yet another tantrik form) sect, points out that though they have been bombarded with requests to hold various kinds of Yagnas that could lead to political victories, they are unable to perform them due to the lack of ‘pure’ and genuine experts. “There are a limited number of authentic Sadhaks or practitioners of these kinds of rites. Someone who is well-versed with the ten MahaVidyas is only equipped to perform these yagnas or sacrifices,” he says, pointing out that before performing these Yagnas, the practitioner needs to have completed 108 days of fasting and should have consumed and survived only on cow’s milk and fruits alone. He says the costs of hosting such yagnas too run in lakhs of rupees because of the cost of the materials used. “A yagna using cow’s pure ghee and original sandalwood is bound to be an expensive one,” he points out adding that they have many requests from Muslim candidates too. “For them, we use the Pandhara Ki Chowkadi, which means the ‘square of 15’. In this format, multiple numbers that makeup 15 in total are written in a square box 108 times either on paper or on the walls outside that of the opponents to weaken their intellect and health.”

While ancient rituals blend with modern aspirations, it seems the quest for divine intervention has become as vital as strategy and speeches. As the election approaches, one wonders—will the gods heed the calls, or will fate find its path?

(The writer is a journalist based in Mumbai. Views personal.)