Ashutosh Maharaj, founder of the sect Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS) —also called Divine Light Awakening Mission was declared ‘clinically dead’ on January 29, 2014, apparently after a suspected heart attack. Still, his followers, even after 10 years, stand firm to the belief that the Indian guru is in deep meditation (Samadhi), and will return to life any moment.
The Jalandhar-based sprawling ashram—Nurmehal continues to attract hundreds of followers, who come for meditation and spiritual sessions as the managers at DJJS have kept the 'clinically dead' in a freezer at -22°C. The disciples continue to guard it.
“Maharaji is still sending messages to the devotees in their meditative stage to protect his body till he returns,” a functionary at the Ashram says, after being asked reasons for preserving the body. Yet, nobody is allowed to go to the place where the body is preserved.
The ashram spokesman recently told media that India has a rich history of spiritual gurus going to ‘samadhi’ in the highest peaks of the Himalayas in freezing temperatures but finally returning to life.
The death of Ashutosh Mahajan had created a major controversy when a person—Dalip Kumar Jha, claiming to be his son asked for handing over the remains to perform last rites. This led to a legal battle between the followers and his son. Eventually, the followers won the legal battle after the court granted permission to preserve the body of the spiritual guru in a freezer.
Jha sought to perform his father's cremation according to Hindu traditions. Despite court rulings favoring the body's preservation, disputes persist over the circumstances of Maharaj's death and his followers' beliefs.
A decision by the Punjab and Haryana High Court has put a lid on the controversy shrouding the arguments and contentions of Jha to get possession of the body and also lay his claims over the assets of the Ashram.
Pal Singh Nauali, a senior Punjab journalist says, “Maharaj had set up his ashram near Jalandhar in the 1980s taking over a small piece of land (16-marla) and formed the DJJS to undertake meditations and deliver spiritual discourses. Soon it became popular, not alone in Punjab, but also in India and across the world. The outreach of the Godman kept expanding. Even now 10 years after his death (reportedly by heart attack) Nurmehal continues to see the footfall.”
However, visitors are not allowed to go inside the room where the body is preserved. There is round-the-clock security and even the VIPs are kept away, Nauali says. They also have branches in several countries like the US, Australia and Europe.
As per the website of the DJJS, Maharaja’s vision was self-awakening to global peace and his cherished mission was to continue to usher into the world wherein every individual becomes an embodiment of truth, fraternity, and justice through the eternal science of self-realisation—Brahmgyaan.
The website, among other claims, also highlights the role played by Maharaj during the dark period of militancy in Punjab.
“The year 1983 was a dark period of history in Punjab. His Holiness Ashutosh Maharaj ji appeared on the scene in Punjab and resurrected it into its bygone glory – Brahmgyaam,” it says.
The website also provides information about various mediation programmes run by (Maharaj ji) and a link to their Radio—Swar Sadhna, which can be downloaded on mobile phones to listen to discourses and bhajans.
The locals claim that the godman’s body was being preserved as a ploy to keep control of his wealth. They reject claims that he is dead. “Medical science does not understand things like yogic science. We will wait and watch. We are confident that he will come back," says a follower Krishan Chand.
The DJJS claims to have more than 40 million followers. He was 68 when declared ‘clinically dead’ by the doctors.
