By Sharat Pradhan and Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS
Allahabad : The mortal remains of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who popularised Transcendental Meditation in the West and whose disciples once included the Beatles, were consigned to flames here Monday amid chants of Vedic mantras.
The funeral pyre was lit at the stroke of 12.45 p.m., the auspicious time on the Basant Panchami, the day when India invokes the deity of knowledge, at Shanthi Sthal or resting place erected for the purpose near the Sangam – the holy confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythological Saraswati rivers – where a dip, according to Hindu belief, washes away a lifetime’s sins.
A senior functionary of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement in India Girish Varma, also the seer’s nephew, lit the pyre decorated with incense and marigold in the presence of two of the Maharishi’s close relatives Anand Prakash and Ajay Prakash, both part of the seer’s TM family, a host of dignitaries, global leaders of the organisation and at least 70,000 devotees.
The rites were performed according to the wishes of the Shankaracharya of the Jyotirmath near Badrinath in the Himalayas and were presided over by Varma and Tony Abu Nadar, Mahesh Yogi’s newly nominated successor.
The Maharishi was a disciple of Swami Brahmanand Swaraswati, the Shankaracharya of the Jyotirmath in Uttarakhand.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced Transcendental Meditation to the West and gained fame in the 1960s as the guru of the Beatles, died Feb 5 at his home and headquarters in Vlodrop, the Netherlands.
“Apart from Maharishi’s nephews, several important members of the organisation from the US are present. Filmmaker David Lynch is one of them, along with American physicist John Hagelin and De Bevan Morris, chairman of the Maharishi University of Management,” Bob Roth, global in-charge of the media and publicity of the organisation, told IANS.
“The rites were one hundred percent Vedic, according to the edicts laid by the Shankaracharya of the north (Jyotirmath),” he said.
After his body was put on a high pyre made of mango and sandalwood logs, one of his relatives put Gangajal or holy Ganga water in his mouth. Other family members including his 97-year-old brother and a number of nephews placed sandalwood logs over the body that was smeared with sandalwood and vermilion paste.
The body was taken out in a procession from the Maharishi Vidyapeeth in Arail, where it was kept in state since Sunday, to the cremation site in a wooden cortege shaped like a palanquin at 10 a.m. Nearly 20 pall-bearers, mostly the ‘rajas’ (kings) or the movement’s country heads, carried the wooden cortege.
It was decked up in wreaths of marigold and saffron cloth. The one-km journey to the cremation was like a state parade, with devotees forming a human chain and carrying yellow and saffron flags.
His followers from far and wide – nearly every corner of the globe as well as different parts of India – closed their eyes amid chants of “Jai Ram, Jai Ram, Jai Shree Ram” as the body of the Maharishi was carried from the assembly hall of the Maharishi Ved Vidyapeeth (traditional Indian school) to the far end of the sprawling campus overlooking the Sangam.
Carrying the body in turns were members of the Maharishi’s family together with students of the vidyapeeth, attired in white dhotis and vests. It took nearly an hour and a half to cover the one kilometre to the point where Mahesh Yogi’s newly nominated successor Tony Abu Nadar and a team of ashram administrators were already seated in their hierarchical regalia, displaying the insignia conferred on them by the Maharishi.
They were dressed in white silk brocade robes, with long gold medallions round their necks and a golden crown on their heads. They included the 35 ‘rajas’ and 13 ministers named by the Maharishi to oversee the functioning of his organization, spread across 130 nations.
Just as the pallbearers climbed atop the mound, a helicopter showered rose petals on the body.
Uniformed policemen lowered their guns as the last post was sounded as a mark of state honour to the departed spiritual guru.
Then came the turn of Tony Abu Nader, now renamed Maharajadhiraj Raja Ram, to bow at the feet of the Maharishi. The other rajas followed.
Renowned spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who had been a disciple of the Maharishi, rose with a wreath in hand and went round the special platform to offer obeisance to his guru.
Extolling the seer’s contribution to an improved quality of life and global spiritual health, Lynch of the “Return of the Jedi” fame, who has been associated with the TM movement for nearly 40 years, said: “Vedic wisdom was lying all scattered. The Maharishi brought it together to a transcended level of life. He has left behind thousand of teachers and devotees, who will carry forward his movement.”
The pyre smouldered for at least two hours.
Those at the funeral included central minister Subodh Kant Sahay, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Ashok Singhal, former Uttar Pradesh assembly speaker and state BJP chief Keshri Nath Tripathi and top local officials.
Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the two surviving members of the Beatles, did not attend the funeral but paid their tributes to the seer.
“I was asked for my thoughts on the passing of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and I can only say that whilst I am deeply saddened by his passing, my memories of him will only be joyful ones,” Paul McCartney has said.