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Celebrating the cult of personality - Economy and Politics - livemint.com
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Priyanka P. Narain
- But absolutely no one, it was evident, wanted to be left out in this self-promotional blitzkrieg. Between Rs4 crore and Rs8 crore was spent by godmen, babas, sadhus and kathakars (religious storytellers) on hoardings in Haridwar in the last four months, according to Rishi Sachdeva, owner of the Galaxy Advertising Agency, which won the Kumbh’s advertising contract this year.
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- Advertising spree: Hoardings with various messages clustered together at Chandi Ghat in Haridwar. Rishi Ballabh/HT
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Estimates vary, but most observers agree that, in 1998, during the last Kumbh Mela, there were no more than 350 billboards hawking religion to visitors. Even those were mostly advertisements for organizations, not personal promotions of babas, explained Sachdeva. “This trend of godmen setting up personal hoardings began with this Kumbh,” he said. “We have to watch what they do next.”
As more and more godmen diversify into religion-related businesses—selling food, Ayurvedic medicines, pooja products or doctrinal lectures—their organizations have come to resemble small, self-governed corporations.
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In the past, religious leaders, scholars, sadhus, saints, yogis and babas from all over the country did their best to attend the Kumbh, using the gathering as an opportunity to address the issues of the Hindu community.
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