Video Clips of the Rawats in India pre-1971

Prem Rawat's father had created a successful "Sant Mat" cult in India which was large and prosperous enough to be able to film at least some of his meetings and speeches and his family. Without this successful organisation and background Prem Rawat would not have been able to take advantage of his brief window of opportunity in the West. Once enough knowledge of Indian religion and meditation became known and more authentic gurus had come to the West, Rawat failed to gather more followers. In fact, he has far fewer now that he had 40 years ago. In 2017 a group of app. 3,500 followers gathered in Australia for the major event of their calendar. They are mainly in their 60s and they must wonder where the other 20,000 of their 1970s "brothers and sisters" were. The films "Satguru Has Come" and "Who is Guru Maharaj Ji?" contain more film clips from the days of the Indian Divine Light mission of the 1950s and 1960s.

Adwetanand
Swarupanand
Shri Hans
The Young Maharaji in India

"He was Maharaji, and he was already the central figure in a truly remarkable and timeless story. History tells us there have always been Masters or teachers who have helped people experience an innate beauty in their lives. Maharaji's father, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, had been the student of such a Master named Swarupanand. On Swarupanand's passing, Shri Hans Ji Maharaj became Master in 1936, he spent the next 30 years of his life spreading the Knowledge his Master had shown him."

The Young Maharaji in India
The Young Maharaji in India
The Young Maharaji in India

"This rare footage traces the development of a highly publicized and controversial career. Of all the well known gurus, the youngest, Guru Maharaji Ji is easily the hardest for the skeptical Westerner to believe in, particularly in the light of publicity concerning his family's struggles for control of the organisation which he nominally heads. What few people realize was that he was proclaimed Perfect Master and named head of the Divine Light Mission after his father's death. His father founded the worldwide organisation in 1961 and died five years later when the boy was just eight years old. He now claims millions of devotees around the world. Many of them, Rennie Davis, included, have braved the ridicule of family to follow this path to an experience of consciousness."

The Young Maharaji in IndiaThe Young Maharaji in India

"Maharaji does not teach a religion, dogma or doctrine nor is he the first person to impart this message. Many people have done so before him including his own father. Shri Hans Ji Maharaj, who was of Royal Indian descent, formerly conveyed this message throughout India. Taking the initiative of travelling to his audiences Shri Hans Ji Maharaj was able to reach people who could not come to him."

By the 1990's Prem Rawat had begun to reminisce about his childhood. The young Prem had attracted the crowds for his father, His Royal Highness Param Hans Ji Maharaj, the Perfect Master of the time.

The Young Maharaji in India "I've been doing it since I was very young. My father, Shri Maharaji, he would have events, they would advertise them and they would do the whole thing and the time for the event would be coming and I would look out the window and see how many people were there and many times there was nobody there so I'd go out there and I'd start speaking and when I would start speaking they'd see this little bitty thing there speaking and they'd all start coming and when the hall was full my father would come and he would talk. It's not something I went to school for, it's a gift too, it's a gift that I can show you how to catch that magic when it happens."
The Young Maharaji in India

"Maharaji was born in Hardwar, India, in 1957. By the age of 6 he'd already begun speaking to the large crowds that would gather to hear his father. When his father passed away Maharaji became the sole person to make this message available though he was only 8 years old. He continued to speak to large audiences thoughout India throughout his childhood. When he was just 13, Maharaji was invited to speak in London and Los Angeles."

The Young Maharaji in India

Sampuranand speaks of the passing of Shri Hans and the incarnation of Prem Rawat (Maharaji), the present Perfect Master.

"He stepped forward and he gave the hope to thousands of people who were crying and wondering and he promised then, "Don't worry, your Master is with you always," and he said "I will take care of Knowledge. I will try to spread the same Knowledge as Shri Maharaj Ji was doing."