Superstition Rules Over Medical Science, Treatment Through Cremation Rituals In 'Developing' India

Even as the medical science has been successful in its struggle against diseases and various ailments, it seems to have failed to win the battle against ignorance and superstition in this part of the country.

Bizarre though it may sound, at Haradwara Ashram near Nuagaon Chhack in Niali block, ailing people are treated as dead with an assurance that this would rid them of their diseases.
As a part of the ‘treatment’, people are also taken to a cremation ground where they are fed human ashes. The brain behind this ritual is Baba Aghorinath alias Trinath Bhoi, a self-styled godman who heads the Haradwara Ashram.

The patients are made to sleep on a ‘Kokei’ (a frame made of bamboo and mattress to carry dead body), tied up with Pala Daudi (ropes made of straw) and carried to the Chari Sahi cremation ground, 30 metres from the ashram, by Aghorinath’s disciples amid chanting of ‘Ram Nam Satya Hai’. Then, all the rituals, meant for the funeral ceremony, are performed.

At the cremation ground, the patients are told to lie on a Jui Gata (a small trench meant for cremation). Subsequently, the godman and some of his close disciples come to the cremation ground in a procession accompanied by beating of drums, blowing of cymbals and bursting of fire crackers. They dance on the back of the patients, beat them with canes and finally, feed them funeral ash from the cremation ground. Corpses of four adjacent villages are cremated in the Chari Sahi cremation ground.

The ‘treatment’ is carried out every Monday and for it, people offer cash and ‘prasad’ to the godman. No one, though, reveals how much of cash is offered to Aghorinath. Locals said every Monday, 50 to 100 people gather at the ashram to undergo the ‘treatment’.

Apparently, it is yet to come to the notice of the local administration. Even as most of the locals are averse to such practice, people from different parts of Cuttack district and other areas continue to visit the ashram. Aghorinath’s disciples claimed that people, mostly affected by paralysis, from Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Kendrapara, Puri and Jagatsinghpur visit the ashram seeking relief from their ailments.

A 52-year-old resident of Baharan village under Niali block, Bhramar Samal, said he was unable to walk due to acute pain in his waist. “After Baba’s treatment, the pain has completely subsided,” he said.

Similarly, Debendra Biswal of Balipatana in Khurda district said he has been cured of paralysis after undergoing the “death rituals”.

While antecedents of Aghorinath are not known except for the fact that he belongs to Nuagaon, locals said he opened the ashram eight months back and the popularity of his treatment spread through words of mouth.

Aghorinath said people who offer themselves to the ‘Jui Gata’ are cured of all diseases. Doctors at the Niali Community Health Centre, which is just two km from the cremation ground, rubbished the godman’s claim. “They are a bunch of frauds who are cashing in on people’s faith,” said Loknath Patra, Medical Officer in-charge of the CHC.

When contacted, Niali BDO Renuprabha Nayak admitted her ignorance about the practice at the ashram. However, she assured that she would look into the matter.