I
first heard about Dayalbagh Radhasaomi Satsang sect around 25 years ago when my
friend, Vasanta, who did M. Tech at HCU, and was briefly my roommate, handed me
her wedding invitation. The groom was based at Agra and the wedding was to be
performed there. At that time, her parents used to live in Kakinada, or maybe
Hyderabad, and I was surprised that they were performing the wedding at Agra. That
is when she explained that her wedding was fixed by their Guru and was to be performed
in His august presence at Dayalbagh.
I
slowly got introduced to more followers post my marriage. My father-in-law was
a follower during some part of his life and his cousins were ardent followers.
So when my husband’s cousin was performing his daughter’s wedding at Dayalbagh,
and invited us, we took the opportunity to visit. Of course, it was our
privilege as there is a cap on the number of invitees, well, I will get to that
later. My father-in-law, and during the brief time that I got to interact with
my brother-in-law, often used the phrase “Simple living, high thinking”, and I finally
saw what they meant.
So
last weekend, we went to Dayalbagh. Since it was four hours drive from Delhi,
it made sense for us to travel by train directly from Secunderabad to Agra. Entering
the gated enclosure, I saw a self-sufficient village in itself. For convenience,
I will refer to the gated enclosure as Dayalbagh, though I believe the name
actually encompasses a larger area surrounding it too. Motorized vehicles from
outside, including two-wheelers are banned inside. Honking is prohibited in
Dayalbagh. There are cycle-rickshaws and e-rickshaws for the convenience of the
inmates. Bicycles are a common mode of transport in addition to walking. People
meet in the Satsang hall twice a day, around 3:00 am for morning prayers and
3:00 pm for evening prayers, followed by a visit and service in the fields.
Young and old alike, throng to the prayer hall and maintain pin drop silence
during the prayer time. Normally, it is difficult for people to stay quiet without
making noise in most places, and with mobile phones switched off!! But in the
prayer hall, I saw pin drop silence being maintained even though there were hundreds
of people in a single hall. The prayers are broadcast live(audio) to various
prayer halls across the world. After prayers, people go towards the fields,
where they perform duties, which include farming activities based on the current
crop that is being grown.
Let’s
now see how the wedding was performed. Only residents of Dayalbagh get an opportunity
to get married in the presence of the Guru. So the groom had to take a month
off from work to stay at Dayalbagh and participate in service activities there
in order to gain the eligibility. There are strict guidelines regarding the
wedding expenditure. It cannot exceed Rs. 18000, which is hardly enough to even
buy the bride’s saree, these days. This includes the cost for the wedding feast
for 100 people inclusive of the bride and groom along with their families and food
for the guests at the accommodation provided. There is even an audit done to verify
whether additional celebrations are being done. The menu is very simple like
any normal day, and the sumptuous feasts that are common in most weddings were
conspicuously absent. This also ensures the guests eat healthy. Only about 65
people from the bride’s side and 35 people from the groom’s side partake of the
wedding feast.
The
marriage itself is a civil ceremony, that took place early morning around 5 am with
the presence of the bride and groom along with their parents, a witness and a
photographer. No other person, including the siblings, grandparents, uncles,
aunts, or other relatives are allowed to witness the marriage in close quarters.
The actual process took not more than 20 minutes for the marriages of 14
couples seated in a semi-circle in front of the Guru. An exchange of garlands, signing
of the marriage register, followed by the singing of a couple of shabd
(prayers) completed the wedding. For an hour prior to the wedding, the bride,
groom, parents and guests were tasked with cutting grass on the fields. The
wedding was an activity to be witnessed in the midst of this task. So everybody,
including us were involved in the task and could barely witness the wedding
from a distance. All Dayalbagh devotees wear a uniform(cotton kurta-pyjama) when
they go for prayers. The couple, parents and the guests were wearing similar
attire for the wedding. No pomp, blaring music, silk sarees, jewellery, baraat,
band, videographer, drone, etc. The wedding gifts are supposed to be a standard
amount of eleven rupees. Any residual festivities/celebrations on a small scale
are performed in the temporary residence of the bride/groom.
