Festivals / Events of Prem Rawat

A guru or spiritual Master is ordinarily considered to maintain personal contact with his followers to advise and teach them individually depending upon their character and development. While a personal relationship with the Master lies at the heart of the Rawat doctrines the reality is that all but a handful of his followers will only ever see him at large gatherings formerly called festivals or events. These festivals were so important in reinforcing premies' beliefs that they were held even when DLM was in a parlous financial situation. In the August 31, 1975 Divine Times a "personal letter" from Maharaji Himself was published requesting premies pay their registration fees immediatley so that the Hans Jayanti festival could go ahead. These festivals were far larger during the 1970's when there were more followers committed and enthusiastic enough to attend them. As Lucy Dupertuis wrote:

Guru Maharaj Ji's physical darshan required tremendous sacrifices by his followers, which dominated their social and economic lives. Except for a select few personal attendants, most devotees were offered darshan only at "festivals," held during the 1970's several times a year in Europe, the U.S., and South America. As "festivals" were frequently announced at short notice - sometimes within just a few days - and could involve thousands of miles of travel four, five, even up to ten times a year, many devotees found themselves unable to hold regular, full-time jobs. Those who were not already marginal to the society (see Downton, 1979, on their social origins) quickly became so. They also sacrificed community and leisure activities to the all-consuming necessity of earning enough money to travel to "festivals." … Festivals not only absorb tremendous amounts of premie resources and energy; they also mold a premie's life around periodic interactions with Guru Maharaj Ji and the crowd of other premies he inevitably attracts.

Mike Finch, a premie for 30 years wrote in his memoire "Without The Guru" wrote about the life of a festival junkie and the joys and difficulties therein. A pseudonymous premie, Kabir, kept a record of the nearly 150 festivals/events he attended between 1974 and 2005.

Before the early 1980's the highlights of these festivals was darshan, during which attendees would file past Rawat who was sitting on a throne and kiss his feet. This is also one of Prem Rawat's major sources of income as people make direct cash dedications (in envelopes) as they approach him. In the West festivals of this kind have only happened at Amaroo since the early 1980's. To prevent damaging publicity this ritual is done secretly and only after proving they are bona fide "People who Have Been Revealed the Techniques of Maharaji's Knowledge" by showing their Smart Cards or being vouched for by a premie with credibility within the organisation.

Many journalists saw parallels between the responses at the largest DLM festivals and 1930's Nazi rallies. As Rawat's halting speechifying was the opposite of the frenzied speeches of Hitler or Goebbels these parallels could only be discerned in the chants and acclamations at the end of the speeches. In 1978 I attended the largest festival Rawat held outside of India and I sat in the middle of a crowd of maybe 20,000 and the premies were faint-hearted and tepid compared to their Nazi counterparts of the 1930's. At their best (or worst) as recorded at the beginning of the TVTV documentary "Lord of The Universe" they were creepy.

• THE LOS ANGELES FREE PRESS, November 16, 1973: "Boli Shri Satguru Dev Marharaj Ki Jai" is the response, delivered in unison with both arms thrown toward heaven (or the Guru, whichever is closer) on the last word. The first time I saw this happen to 30,000 people in the Astrodome), it was one of the most frightening experiences of my life. My mind automatically flashed back to films I had seen of the early Hitler youth rallies and the "Seig Heil!" Nazi salute.
• Divine Light Mission As a Social Organisation by Maeve Price: 17. Festivals often reach a peak of mindless fervour some might associate with a Nazi rally.
• From Slogans To Mantras by Stephen Kent: Other articles were critical of him in a more ominous tone, as they spoke about the fascism or Nazism that reporters felt within his organization.
• Penthouse magazine: If the Divine Light Mission's cover-up attempt seems slightly suggestive of a Watergate, the sense of awe-inspiring power Guru Maharaj Ji instills in his devotees suggests another historical parallel. Last summer a festival was held in London to celebrate Guru Maharaj Ji's arrival in Europe. Rennie Davis observed the calamitous effect it had on British reporters. "When he spoke to 20,000 people and the press came, I watched the changes that the individual reporters went through-they were just completely freaked out of their heads, saying, 'It's like Hitler, it reminds me of Hitler.'"
  
  American journalists witnessed the same phenomenon last November when the Divine Light Mission staged "Millennium 73," a sort of God-in at the Houston Astrodome that Davis soberly billed as "the most significant event in the history of the universe." And while far fewer than 20,000 people attended, leaving the other 99.99 percent of Americans doomed to eternal perdition, the spectacle evoked an almost universal reaction among the press-an image of the Nazi Nuremberg rallies.

Here is a recorded darshan and pranam of Prem Rawat's wife and devotee, the former Marolyn Johnson. Prem Rawat gave her the title of Durga Ji after their 1974 marriage. In 1979 to the ecstatic chants of "Bhole Shri Satguru Dev Maharaj Ki Jai" from the thousands of premies watching she symbolises their devotion by crowning Prem Rawat with the crown of Krishna and then doing full pranam before him and lovingly kissing his "Lotus Feet" as his students then referred to them. Unfortunately this is a very poor quality video clip. If anyone still has the original tape or a better quality clip, please contact me.

In 1980 at a Divine Light Mission religious festival to a song which makes a pretty straightforward statement about Prem Rawat's role on earth, a song called 'You Are My Saviour'. Prem Rawat's wife is shown crowning him with the crown of Krishna whose costume he is wearing and then doing full pranam (lying on the ground in front of him) and kissing his feet in adoration.

In the previous years, before Prem Rawat began his public dancing performances, darshan was the peak feature of all Divine Light Mission religious festivals. This clip of a darshan line is from 1979. It was held in a darkened tent either to enhance the mystery and experience or keep them secret and ushers prevents too much enthusiasm from his followers as they kissed his feet in adoration. On the left he is giving "Holy Breath" to a first time darshanee.

Here is a video clip of a darshan line during the Guru Puja Festival, London, England in 1973 from the movie 'Who Is Guru Maharaj Ji?.

Here is a video clip of a darshan line in Montrose, Colorado in July, 1972. Bihari Singh collects the donations as the premies come to pranam to Maharaji.

In India such huge crowds gather for festivals that darshan is sometimes seeing the Master drive past but in the West darshan lines of over 20,000 were known in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Darshan in the West is now only held at Amaroo in Australia where lines of a few thousand have been known in the 1990's.

A scene from the Hans Jayanti festival (in honour of Prem Rawat's father, the previous Master) in November, 1978 years before, the premies, then in their twenties, dancing with Prem Rawat, their Lord of the Universe. Dance, dance, dance Our hearts long to see you dance It seems we've waited for ages Turned countless pages Can't wait much longer The music's getting stronger Click for video of Dance, dance, dance

When the number of premies was growing rapidly in the 70's Prem Rawat devised a system where two people could do pranam at the same time. When numbers fell in the 1980's this was no longer required, note premie in right lane receiving Holy Breath by holding his cupped hand behind his right ear.

Click to see darshan at Millenium 73. Prem Rawat wrote to his followers that Millenium '73 was going to be "the most Holy and significant event in human history". Rawat is giving Holy Breath.

Prem Rawat being drawn through the crowd at the Hans Jayanti Festival in Kissimmee, Florida in 1978 or 1979.

Prem Rawat (Prem Pal Singh Rawat) whose devotees call him Maharaji (meaning Ultimate Ruler) first came to attention in the West as Guru Maharaj Ji, the self-proclaimed Perfect Master and Lord of the Universe ridiculed in the media as a fat, squeaky-voiced God boy. He had inherited his titles and position as the Satguru, The True Revealer of Light and Spiritual Master of the Divine Light Mission, India (Divya Sandesh Parishad) when his father died in 1966. His father, Hans Rawat, was a successful Indian guru, self titled HRH (His Royal Highness) Yogiraj Param Sant Satgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj. As a child the youngest Rawat son was informally called Sant Ji, more formally Balyogeshwar ("Born King of the Yogis") and even more formally Param Sant Satgurudev Shri Sant Ji Maharaj. In the West Rawat dropped these more verbose titles in the early 1980's and instructed his followers to call him Maharaji. He has also changed the names of his organisations many times: Divine Light Mission (DLM), World Welfare Association (WWA), World Peace Corps (WPC) and Divine United Organisation (DUO) became Elan Vital in the early 1980's and in 2001 The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) was created and from 2010 his major orgs are Words Of Peace Global (WOPG) registered in Holland, Words of Peace International (WOPI) in the USA, HDSK (Human Development through Self Knowledge) in Great Britain and Raj Vidya Kender (Royal Knowledge Society) in India. He no longer claims to be an Incarnation of God but an internationally famous humanitarian leader and teacher of peace. He's neither.

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Prem Rawat's "Knowledge" has three parts: regularly listening to his speeches, doing voluntary work for organisations serving him or donating money and daily meditation correctly practicing the four techniques he recommends. The techniques are so simple it's hard to see how they could be practiced incorrectly. First technique ("Divine Light") involves sticking your thumb and middle finger on your eyeballs (NB: with eyes closed) and your index finger between your eyebrows. Second technique: ("Heavenly Music") poking your thumbs into your ears and listening. Third technique: ("Holy Name") thinking about your breathing (NB: continue to breathe). Fourth technique: ("Nectar") curling your tongue backwards and tasting. Rawat's father taught slightly different techniques but either way it's difficult to see how these could produce the benefits claimed for them especially as Rawat claims His Knowledge is the only method of attaining real happiness and love in this life.