With Sarathi Baba behind the bars, his ashram at Barmul near Kendrapada town on Saturday wore a deserted look on the occasion of the Janmastami, so far the biggest festival of the ashram.
Janmastami used to be celebrated with great fanfare in past with the Baba turning into Anthua Gopal (Baby Krishna) and performing the mother-son breastfeeding act with his female devotees. But with “lord Krishna” himself in jail, the “Yashodas” were nowhere to be seen this time.
The gates of the ashram are locked while the pandal on which Sarathi used to sit has turned into a rest shade for the police personnel deployed there to maintain law and order.
As per locals, the last time the festival was celebrated at its height was back in 2012. In 2013, the celebration at the ashram had to be called off due to a controversy pertaining to the Satsang field. Besides, a blockade of the Kendrapada-Indupur main road by hundreds of vehicles thronging the ashram on the day triggered discontent among locals who never approved of the fraud Baba.
That year, the Baba asked his devotees to celebrate the function at the smaller Sarathi Samitis across the State. And the celebration was carried out the same way in 2014.