When individuals hear the word cult, a specific image pops into their heads. Where the people brainwash devotees into worshipping a mad narcissist and are willing to sacrifice anything for them. While Jonestown, Heaven’s Gate, and the Solar Temple have given cults a violent name which is why the majority of cults keep a low profile. We can find cults everywhere. And the tactics they use to entice people aren’t in a civilize; rather, they use social manipulation techniques that anyone can fall for.

Politics, religion, business, self-improvement, therapy hate, aliens, meditation, YouTube channels, or eco-friendly lifestyles can all inspire cults. Cults are not solely religious and not all New Religious Movements or unorthodox groups are cults. ‘Cult’ does not mean “religion or group I don’t like” but refers to a specific structure and characteristics.  In a country as big as India, where new religious ‘gurus’ keep popping up every day, such cults in India are more common than you would think. 

Let’s take a look at India’s most notorious cults that have shocked the country and left a mark on history itself.

1. Dera Sacha Sauda

The ascetic Mastana Balochistani started this cult in1948, as non-profit social welfare and spiritual organization. It is considered one of India’s most notorious cults in history. Its primary headquarters are at Sirsa (Haryana), in India’s northern region. We can divide the movement into three factors, following the death of Mastana Balochistani. With Satnam Singh in command of the Sirsa faction, which chose Gurmeet Ram Rahim as his successor. The organization operates 46 ashrams (divisions) in India and other nations. By teaching the Naam method of meditation to members who agreed to follow the cult’s three precepts for the rest of their lives.

Consumption of meat, eggs, liquor, narcotics, tobacco, and other similar substances has prohibitions, as was illegal sex or adultery. Instructions were to refrain from performing religious rituals and from making monetary religious donations. However, this cult in Haryana rose to prominence after its controversial leader, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was charged with rape and murder. On August 25, 2017, he was convicted of sexually assaulting two Dera sadhvis (female followers).

2. Thuggee

Thuggee cult, also the ‘India’s Religious Death Cult’ and this is the key to the success of this band of murderers and thieves. From the 1200s through the late 1800s, this fanatical cult operated in India, joining groups of travelers and gaining their trust before startling them in the night and (usually) hanging them with a handkerchief or noose. This rapid and quiet procedure left no blood and did not necessitate a large number of people to execute. The Thugs were joined by something more powerful than greed or hatred. Bound by their devotion to the Hindu Goddess Kali, in whose name they committed their crimes.

3. Premananda

Premananda Swamy was a godman who migrated to Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu during the 1984 civil war in Sri Lanka. With the young women and orphans he brought with him from Sri Lanka, he began setting up the Premananda ashram there (which he eventually relocated to Fatimanagar in Pune). He would later open various branches all around the world. The reality about his ashram was revealed in 1994, when one of the ashram’s females, Arul Jyothi, left and stated that she had been raped and was pregnant.

Premananda has received a life sentence in prison on August 20, 1997, for 13 charges of rape, molestations of two minors, and murder. The most disturbing aspect of this is that Premananda, who died in prison on February 21, 2011, of acute liver failure, maintained his innocence throughout. A fast Google search will also turn up a slew of Justice for Premananda Swamy websites, which his supporters are managing to do.

4. Rajneeshpuram:

A spiritual organization with ashrams in both India and the United States. Rajneesh studied philosophy and spent the early portion of his adult life lecturing about mysticism and eastern spirituality throughout his country. Long before creating the ashrams, ideologies were cultivating in Rajneesh’s mind. Later, when they got a confirmation in the pages of the Rajneeshee manifesto. A search for following Rajhneesh took place. In 1981, he left his cult in India and set up a huge base for his cult in Oregon, USA, which sparked numerous difficulties. They made Sheela banish from Germany and charged her with her crimes. Also, Rajneesh was deported back to India, where he died in 1990.

As evident through this article, over the years India has been home to various cults. These India’s most notorious cults religiously practice manipulating their followers. They manipulate them into believing and doing whatever they ask of them and pressurizing them into the same in the false hope of nirvana attainment. Cult leaders use comparable and incredibly persuasive conversion strategies to exploit the vulnerabilities of ‘potential prey’. The religions and hidden cults of India are in the light now more than ever. We should make ourselves aware of these tactics and discourage following religious superstitions in 2021. 

Check out some more shocking facts here: https://indiachalk.com/blog/10-hidden-underground-tunnels-in-india/

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