Spiritual guides such as Shankarāchārya, Vallabāchārya, the mahārājas or spiritual heads of the sect called Swāminārāyan, Lālo Bhagat and Talo Bhagat are worshipped by their devotees with offerings of food, garments and cash. In this Kali Yuga or iron age, men who are really great are rare, and even if there be some, they are invisible to the faulty vision of the present day degraded mortals. A few come into contact with such holy men by virtue of the good deeds performed by them in their past lives. These are said to attain paradise by this satsang[9] (contact with the righteous).
Holy men receive personal worship during their life-time. After they are dead, their relics, such as impressions of their footsteps, their photos or busts are worshipped with offerings of sandal paste, flowers, red powder, frankincense, lamps fed with ghi and ārati (swingings of lamps).[10]
Every sect of Hindus has a Mahārāja or spiritual head, and it is considered meritorious to entertain and worship him on certain special occasions. The Mahārāja or Guru is received with great éclat. His followers form a procession and carry him in a palanquin or a carriage and pair accompanied with music. At the house of the person who invites him, the floor is covered with rich cloth, over which the Mahārāja is led to a raised seat specially arranged for the purpose. He is then worshipped by the host with the same details as the image of a god. His feet are washed by panchāmrita (five nectars), that is a mixture of ghi, milk, honey, sugar and water, which is sipped by the worshipper and distributed among the followers of the Mahārāja. Very often the feet of the Mahārāja are washed in water, which is considered as purifying as the panchāmrita. Great festivity and rejoicings are observed on this day at the house of the Mahārāja’s host, where crowds of the Mahārāja’s followers assemble eager for a sight of him. After spending about half an hour in the house, the Mahārāja departs, first receiving valuable presents from the host.
Spiritual guides who claim the power of working miracles are held in high esteem by the people. Some of these guides are said to have control over spiritual beings or to possess their favour. These spirits are supposed to endow them with the power of preparing mystic threads, which, when worn round the waist, neck or arm, cure various diseases.
In the Kadavāsan woods, near the village of Daldi, there lives a bāvā called Bhimputi, who is believed to possess miraculous powers. He surprises visitors by his wonderful feats and commands vows from the afflicted by mitigating their sufferings. Every day, before breakfast, the bāvā visits seven villages to collect sugar and flour, which he throws in handfuls over every anthill which he meets on his way. This act of charity has established him as a saint, and most of his prophecies are believed to be fulfilled.
A Musalmān named Muhammad Chhail is held in great respect by the people on account of his great magical powers. He is believed to be in the good graces of a Pir, who has endowed him with the power of commanding material objects to come to him from long distances, and of breaking them and making them whole again.[11]
Great men of antiquity often command worship as gods. A fast is observed by Hindus on the 9th day of the bright half of Chaitra, the birth day of Rāma, whose birth anniversary is celebrated at noon on that day in his temple. On this occasion, all visitors to the temple offer a pice or two to his image and receive his Prasād, that is, consecrated food, which consists of a mixture of curdled milk and sugar. The birth of Krishna is celebrated at mid-night on the eighth day of the dark half of Shrāvan, when people keep awake for the whole of the night.
The Jains observe a fast for seven days from Shrāvan Vad Bāras, that is the 12th day of the dark half of Shrāvan, to the 5th day of the bright half of Bhādarvā, in honour of Mahāvir Swāmi, one of their spiritual teachers, who is believed to have been born on the 2nd day of the bright half of Bhādarvā. This period is known as the Pajusan, during which the Jains cause the slaughter-houses and fish markets to be closed and give alms to the poor.[12]
A century ago there lived at Nalkanthā a sage named Bhānsāb. He met a holy death by deep meditations, and a few days after rose up from his grave in his original form. This led him to be classed in the category of great men and to command divine worship.[13]
Vithal, a sage of the Kāthi tribe, is revered in Pāliād. Sāvo, a devotee at Zanzarkā, is worshipped by Dheds. Fehalā, a Rajput and Tolat his wife, are enshrined at Anjār, a village in Cutch. Lālo, a Baniā devotee of Sindhāvār, received divine honours in his life-time and his image in Sāyalā is held in great reverence to this day. The samādh of Mādhvagar, an atit of Vastadi, situated in Unchadi a village in the Dhandhuka taluka in Ahmedābād, is an object of worship. Harikrishna Mahārāja, a Brāhman saint of Chudā, received divine honours at Chudā and the Charotar.[14]