Faith, Fortune, and Falsehoods: India's Self-Styled Godmen and the Exploitation of Belief

An investigative examination of how charismatic religious figures amass wealth and power while making unsubstantiated claims of divine powers

The tragic stampede at Hathras in July 2024, which claimed 121 lives during a congregation led by self-styled godman Bhole Baba, has once again thrust India's multi-billion rupee godmen industry into the spotlight. The incident underscores a troubling paradox: in an era of technological advancement and scientific progress, why does India remain fertile ground for religious charlatans who claim divine powers, prescribe unproven remedies, and accumulate vast wealth while their followers, predominantly from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, continue to face hardship?

The phenomenon of self-proclaimed spiritual leaders in India has evolved into a sophisticated industry. These figures known variously as babas, gurus, or godmen command followings that number in the millions, operate vast business empires, and wield considerable political influence. Many claim to possess supernatural abilities: the power to cure cancer with cow urine and dung, to predict the future, to exorcise evil spirits, and even to resurrect the dead.

The Hathras tragedy involved followers rushing to touch Bhole Baba's feet and collect the colored powder he had walked upon, triggering a deadly stampede. This incident, while extreme, illustrates the depth of devotion these figures command and the dangers inherent in unchecked faith.The financial scale of this industry is staggering. Baba Ramdev's company Patanjali has received an estimated $46 million in land acquisition discounts in states controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), demonstrating how political connections translate into economic benefits for these religious entrepreneurs.

Research reveals a troubling pattern in the demographics of godmen followers. Bhole Baba's followers are predominantly poor, landless, illiterate Dalits and members of Other Backward Classes (OBC) from Uttar Pradesh. This socio-economic profile is not coincidental.

The rigidity of India's caste structure creates alternative forms of religiosity as inevitable for low-caste Hindus, who are often barred from respectable positions within traditional Hindu religious institutions, according to Professor K. Kalyani of Azim Premji University, Bangalore. For communities systematically excluded from mainstream religious practice, godmen offer a sense of spiritual empowerment and belonging, however fragile.Women and children constitute a significant proportion of followers and, tragically, casualties. In the Hathras stampede, most victims were women and children. This demographic vulnerability raises serious questions about exploitation and the manipulation of those with limited economic resources and educational opportunities.

The claims made by many godmen directly contradict established scientific knowledge. Several high-profile figures have promoted cow urine and dung as cures for serious diseases, including cancer, despite the complete absence of peer-reviewed scientific evidence supporting such assertions.

Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, the 29-year-old head of Bageshwar Dham in Madhya Pradesh, exemplifies this trend. Shastri claims to possess supernatural powers through spiritual practice and organises gatherings where he purportedly conducts exorcisms and diagnoses illnesses, including terminal cancers. When challenged by rationalist Shyam Manav, founder of the Maharashtra-based Akhil Bharatiya Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (All India Superstition Eradication Committee), to demonstrate these abilities under controlled conditions, Shastri was challenged to correctly guess the names, phone numbers and personal details of 10 people, just as he had been doing at his performances. The challenge went unmet. Following the investigation, the Nagpur Police found no grounds for prosecution under the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act (2013), highlighting the difficulty in legally addressing such practices even when laws exist.

It is essential to distinguish between religious mythology and empirical science. Hindu scriptures contain profound philosophical insights and cultural wisdom accumulated over millennia. However, these ancient texts, like sacred literature worldwide, should not be conflated with modern scientific methodology or used to make empirical claims about the physical world. Science operates through observation, experimentation, peer review, and the rigorous testing of hypotheses. It is a self-correcting system that updates knowledge based on evidence. Religious narratives serve different purposes, providing moral frameworks, cultural identity, and existential meaning. The danger arises when religious mythology is presented as scientific fact, or when supernatural claims are made without evidence. India's Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satya Pal Singh called for Darwin's theory of evolution to be removed from textbooks, reasoning that "Nobody, including our ancestors, in written or oral, has said they saw an ape turning into a man". Such statements, coming from government officials, blur the crucial line between faith and fact.

The relationship between godmen and political power is symbiotic and mutually reinforcing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has courted popular godmen, including Ravi Shankar, Baba Ramdev, and Sadhguru, with Ravi Shankar mentioned more than 35 times on the Prime Minister's website. Political patronage has amplified godmen's popularity, with both parties deriving mutual benefit from their associations—politicians profit from the godmen's ability to mobilise voters while godmen receive immunity from criminal prosecution, land grants, tax exemptions and other forms of state sponsorship.The case of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, sentenced in 2017 to 20 years for rape, illustrates this protection. Despite his conviction, Singh's political connections and cult following of more than 60 million resulted in him being granted parole nine times, with the most recent being in January 2025, invariably before state or parliamentary elections.

Criminal Records and Lack of Accountability

Several prominent godmen face or have been convicted of serious criminal charges:

• Asaram Bapu: Sentenced to life imprisonment for raping a woman devotee and a teenager. He has established over 400 ashrams and 40 schools in India and abroad, and faces additional charges, including witness tampering.

• Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh: Serving 20 years for rape and murder.

• Rampal Singh Jatin: When police attempted his arrest, violent resistance from followers ensued, and investigations revealed a lifestyle marked by excess and abuse, with a preference for women he referred to as "sadhikayaen" or hostesses.

• Bhole Baba (Suraj Pal Singh): Used to be a constable with the Uttar Pradesh Police 18 years ago and was suspended for sexually harassing a woman in Etawah. Despite the Hathras stampede killing 121 people, he was not charged in the initial investigation.

In 2017, the apex body of Hindu religious leaders, Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, compiled a list of fake godmen and called for a crackdown on such charlatans.

Child Exploitation and Legal Violations

A particularly concerning dimension is the exploitation of children in this industry. Young children are increasingly being positioned as spiritual leaders and "wonder-babas," raising serious questions about child rights and exploitation.Under Indian law, specifically the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, several provisions address child exploitation:

Section 93 (BNS): Criminalises abandonment of children under 12 years, with punishment extending up to seven years imprisonment.Section 98 (BNS): Addresses selling children for prostitution or immoral purposes, with imprisonment extending to ten years.

Section 99 (BNS): Penalises buying or obtaining children for immoral purposes, with imprisonment of seven to fourteen years. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, as amended in 2016, prohibitsthe employment of children below 14 years in hazardous occupations. Using children as religious performers for commercial gain potentially violates these protections. Penalties for employing children range from one to six months imprisonment and/or fines between ₹20,000 and ₹50,000.The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act, 2000, provides additional safeguards. When children are used as spiritual performers generating income for adults, questions arise about whether this constitutes exploitation under existing child protection frameworks.

However, enforcement remains weak. Between 2002 and 2008, over 3 million inspections turned up about 163,000 violations, but only about 45,500 cases were prosecuted, and about 8,700 ultimately ended in convictions.

The godmen phenomenon, while not unique to India, is particularly pronounced here. In developed nations such as Japan, Australia, and most of Western Europe, while religious figures exist, they rarely command the same uncritical devotion or amass comparable wealth through unverified supernatural claims. Several factors contribute to India's susceptibility:

Educational Gaps: India, as a developing country, is yet to achieve 100% literacy, and illiterate people cannot differentiate between fact and fiction, making them susceptible to irrational beliefs. Socio-Economic Vulnerability: Many believe that mainstream politics and religion have failed them, so with no politician or priest to alleviate their miseries, they turn to gurus and shamans for succour. Cultural Conditioning: In Indian culture, people are raised surrounded by superstitious rituals and practices, growing up inheriting such beliefs.

Fear of Social Ostracism: People fear being called outcasts, and being brought up practising such beliefs and rituals, they are afraid of not believing them or not performing the associated rituals. Elite engineering college students would flock to temples as examinations approached or seek comfort in cults, giving monetary donations or undertaking self-denial rituals to appease deities chosen pragmatically based on reputation for delivering desired outcomes, most often passing exams or securing a US visa. This reveals how even educated Indians often maintain superstitious practices alongside their technical knowledge.In contrast, societies with robust educational systems, strong social safety nets, and effective legal institutions provide alternative support mechanisms, reducing reliance on charismatic religious figures for solving life's challenges.

Article 51A of the Indian Constitution includes among the Fundamental Duties of citizens: "to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform." This constitutional provision, added through the 42nd Amendment, represents a clear mandate to promote rational thinking. Yet this obligation is honoured more in the breach than in observance. Following Dr Narendra Dabholkar's murder, allegedly by conservative groups like Sanatan Sanstha, the Maharashtra Assembly passed a law against superstition and miracle cures. However, Dabholkar, along with activists Govind Pansare, Gauri Lankesh, and Professor Kalburgi, paid with their lives for challenging superstition.

The persistence of this phenomenon raises uncomfortable questions about government complicity. Why have successive governments failed to enforce existing laws? Why do politicians across party lines seek blessings from figures with criminal records?

The answers appear rooted in electoral calculations. Politicians across party lines, including the BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Nitin Gadkari and Congress's Kamal Nath, are among the followers of Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham. The political connections these godmen enjoy come in handy, especially when they face legal trouble. The BJP's governance galvanises existing groups and emboldens new ones to emerge, as Hindu nationalist groups openly support these cults because their practices are similar to Hinduism. This creates a vicious cycle: godmen deliver vote banks to politicians, who in turn provide legal immunity and state patronage. The ultimate losers are the vulnerable citizens who place faith in these figures, often spending their limited resources on worthless "remedies" while foregoing proper medical treatment.

Social reformer Shyam Manav observes that "Baba culture has always been there. It is gaining more traction now because of the increased attention the media provides to it. Television and social media together have played a significant role in the emergence and popularity of these self-styled godmen.YouTube channels of prominent godmen have millions of subscribers. Their televised "divine courts" reach vast audiences, normalising supernatural claims and miracle cures. Without critical journalistic scrutiny, media platforms amplify these messages, contributing to their legitimacy in public perception.

Addressing this complex issue requires multi-pronged action:

1. Education Reform: Improving the literacy rate and providing quality education, especially in rural and tribal areas, can be a game-changer. Education must include critical thinking skills and scientific literacy.

2. Strict Law Enforcement: Existing laws against fraud, medical malpractice, child exploitation, and false advertising must be rigorously enforced without political interference. Strengthening laws and regulations to hold fraudulent godmen accountable is essential.

3. Awareness Campaigns: Raising awareness can play an important role in eradicating such social evils. People should be made aware of the rationale behind particular beliefs and how superstitions can harm their social and personal growth.

4. Medical Regulation: Claims of curing diseases must be subject to the same regulatory scrutiny as pharmaceutical products. Organisations promoting unverified medical treatments should face serious legal consequences.

5. Child Protection: Robust enforcement of child labour and child protection laws must extend to children used in religious performances for commercial purposes.

6. Political Accountability: Politicians who endorse godmen with criminal records or who promote unscientific claims should face public accountability.

7. Media Responsibility: News organisations and social media platforms should implement fact-checking for supernatural and medical claims, refusing to amplify content that could endanger public health.

This investigation does not challenge anyone's right to religious belief or spiritual practice. Faith is a deeply personal matter protected by constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. What must be challenged, however, is the exploitation of that faith for financial gain through false claims, the harm caused by promoting dangerous medical misinformation, and the protection from legal accountability enjoyed by those who commit serious crimes. The vast majority of genuine spiritual teachers in India's rich religious traditions emphasise ethical conduct, self-improvement, and service to others—not supernatural powers, miracle cures, or material enrichment. These authentic voices are increasingly drowned out by showmen who have transformed spirituality into spectacle and faith into a commodity.

Conclusion

India's godman industry thrives at the intersection of poverty, inadequate education, social inequality, and political opportunism. Until these underlying conditions are addressed and until existing laws are enforced without fear or favour, vulnerable citizens will continue to be exploited by those who claim divine authority while living in luxury. The 121 lives lost at Hathras were not lost to an act of God or an unavoidable tragedy. They were lost to a system that allows charismatic figures to operate massive gatherings without proper safety measures, that protects powerful religious leaders from legal accountability, and that values political expediency over citizen welfare. As Article 51A of the Constitution mandates, it is the duty of every citizen to develop a scientific temper. It is the duty of the state to protect its citizens from exploitation. And it is the duty of society to ensure that faith uplifts rather than exploits, and that those who prey on the vulnerable face justice rather than enjoy impunity.