Sarathi Baba’s miracles did not stir locals

Odisha Channel Bureau Kendrapara, Aug 14: The controversial self-proclaimed godman Sarathi Baba may have swayed many by faking miracles but people in Barimula where the godman had brought up the sprawling ashram hardly trusted his spiritual antics.His spiritual empire had spread across Odisha.But people living nearby the Baba’s citadel were unimpressed by Sarathi.For them, he was a sort of villain.People had turned inimical towards the fake godman as he had encroached upon the village cattle grazing land to expand the Ashram, commented a local Parikshit Patra.The enmity that he cultivated with the locals proved to be his undoing.Many locals were aware of his escapades, lavish lifestyles and his act of faking miracles.The locals used to give feedback to media leading to the unmasking of his detestable and despicable activities.The Hyderabad escapade inputs were also passed on to a private TV channel through a section of local residents, informed residents here.The Baba had cast a spell on his followers by acts of ‘miracles’.Producing holy ash or vibhuti, gold ornaments and rings from thin air, spawning honey and butter, he had carved out a deep impression among followers many of whom revered his as reincarnation of Lord Krishna. However, locals differed from the belief.‘They were simple magic tricks to woo his devotees.We had invited a magician from Jagatsinghpur district to perform magic tricks.The magician was scheduled to put on show all the tricks that Baba was doing to mesmerise the gullible devotees.“However, the show had to be abruptly suspended as the Baba’s goons had then threatened the magician of dire consequence if he turns up in the village.We had taken up the matter with local police.But they turned blind eye to our complaint,” observed Pulak Mohapatra, a local resident.The clout of the fake spiritual Baba had grown manifold solely because of overt patronage of BJD politicians and district administration.We had raised objection and drawn attention of the administration towards Baba’s nefarious activities.But everybody toed in Baba’s line, remarked a resident of Barimula village, Banka Bihari Patra.In fact, there was negligible presence of devotees in Kendrapara district.Majority of his ardent followers were from outside.People in Kendrapara mostly hated him.That’s why, people rose in spontaneous protest against Godman after TV expose hit the spotlight, he added.