>NerdyRas007 at 17:06, 1 June 2021

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{{short description|Indian Hindu saint}}
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{{Infobox religious biography
| background = #FFA500
| name = Devraha Baba
| image = Devaha Baba.jpg
| caption = Deoraha Baba
| religion = [[Siddha]] Yogi saint ([[Hindu]])
| school =
| lineage =
| sect =
| temple = Kuti Mandir Ram janki marg([[Basti, Uttar Pradesh|Basti]]), Sugriv Qila ([[Ayodhya]])
| alias =
| monastic name =
| pen name =
| posthumous name =
| dharma name = Sanatan
| location = [[India]]
| title =
| period =
| predecessor =
| successor = Sri Purushottamacharyaji, Devdasji (Bade Sarkar), Devraha Hans Baba
| ordination =
| post =
| previous_post =
| present_post =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Unknown
| nationality =
| death_date = 19 June
1990 <ref name=exp>{{cite news | title =Baba in the report who makes Congress squirm | newspaper =The Indian Express | date =8 December 2009 | url = http://www.indianexpress.com/news/baba-in-the-report-who-makes-congress-squirm/551370/0|accessdate=20 December 2012}}</ref>
| death_place = [[Vrindavan]], Uttar Pradesh
| resting place = [[Vrindavan]], Uttar Pradesh
| resting place coordinates = 
| age =
| teacher =
| students =
| works =
| reincarnation of =
}}
'''Devraha Baba''' (died 19 June 1990), also spelled '''Deoraha baba'''<ref>Lutgendorf, Philip p. 296</ref> was an Indian [[Siddha]] Yogi saint who lived beside the [[Yamuna]] river in [[Mathura]]. He was known as "ageless Yogi".

==Life==
Little is known about the early life of Devraha Baba, beyond that in the first half of the 20th century he visited Maiel, a town 20 km south west of [[Salempur, Deoria Uttar Pradesh]]. Here he started living atop a ''machan'', a high platform made of wooden logs, situated 3 km from the town on the banks of [[Sarayu river]]. The place was near chilma Bazar [[Basti District]], thus local people started calling him Devraha Baba , [[Baba (honorific)|Baba]]'' being an honorific for saints or old men. Thereafter he shifted to [[Vrindavan]], where again he lived atop a machan on the banks of [[Yamuna river]] for the rest of his years.<ref>{{cite web | title = Personalities: Devraha Baba|publisher=[[Deoria district]] official website| url = http://deoria.nic.in/PERSONAL.HTM | accessdate = 2014-05-10 }}</ref><ref>Cohen, Lawrence, p. 284</ref>

Devraha Baba was a hermit from Vrindava.<ref name=vrindavan>{{cite book|last=Jaffrelot|first=Christophe|title=Religion, caste, and politics in India|year=2010|publisher=Primus Books|location=New Delhi|isbn=9789380607047|page=240|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAO3i_gS61wC&pg=PA240&dq=devraha+baba#v=onepage}}</ref> He was considered to be a "spiritual guide to everyone from a pauper to the most powerful ... above narrow confines of caste and community."<ref name=inclusion>{{cite news|title=Devraha Baba's indictment enrages seers in Ayodhya|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-12-02/lucknow/28089206_1_liberhan-commission-gyan-das-ayodhya|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130505024458/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-12-02/lucknow/28089206_1_liberhan-commission-gyan-das-ayodhya|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2013|accessdate=18 December 2012|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=2 December 2009}}</ref> Village people as well as important personalities waited for hours to have a glimpse or ''[[Darśana|darshan]]'' of him.<ref name=cohen/> He received visits from politicians seeking his blessings at the time of general elections, including [[Indira Gandhi]], [[Buta Singh]],<ref name=cohen>Cohen Lawrence pp. 283–285</ref> and [[Rajiv Gandhi]].<ref name=swapan>{{cite news|last=Dasgupta|first=Swapan|title=Beyond the Old Books – Modern India and the discourse of faith|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091211/jsp/opinion/story_11846918.jsp|accessdate=19 December 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph (Calcutta)|date=11 December 2009}}</ref> Rajiv Gandhi and his wife [[Sonia Gandhi]] visited his ashram on the eve of the 1989 elections.<ref name=sonia>{{cite book|last=Kidwai|first=Rasheed|title=Sonia, a biography|year=2003|publisher=Penguin Books India|location=New Delhi|pages=131|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wCFuAAAAMAAJ&q=devraha+baba&dq=devraha+baba}}</ref> He used to bless the devotees with his feet.<ref name=chri>{{cite book|first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot|editor-first=Jacob |editor-last=Copeman |editor-first2=Aya |editor-last2=Ikegame|title=The Guru in South Asia: New Interdisciplinary Perspectives|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|location=New York and Oxon|isbn=9781136298066|pages=83|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q_byVNXT1aEC&pg=PA83&dq=devraha+baba#v=onepage}}</ref>

He lived on a {{convert|12|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} wooden platform near the river and wore a small deerskin.<ref name=Mark>{{cite book|first=Mark |last=Tully|editor-first=Dom |editor-last=Moraes|title=The Penguin book of Indian journeys|year=2004|publisher=Penguin India|location=New Delhi|isbn=9780141007649|pages=101–105|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BZznRtnus7gC&pg=PA102&dq=devraha+baba#v=onepage}}</ref> A barricade of wooden planks hid his semi-naked body from his devotees, and he came down only to bathe in the river.<ref name=barbara>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/22/world/india-to-begin-voting-today-on-fate-of-the-nation-and-the-house-of-nehru.html?pagewanted=all |title=India to Begin Voting ; Today on Fate of the Nation and the House of Nehru |author = Crossette, Barbara |date=November 22, 1989 |work= [[The New York Times]]|author-link=Barbara Crossette }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{Refbegin|2}}
*{{cite book|last=Cohen|first=Lawrence | title = No Aging in India: Alzheimer's, The Bad Family, and Other Modern Things|edition=2000|year=2000| publisher = [[University of California Press]]| isbn= 0-520-22462-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dd2iAGvMWC4C&lpg=PA284&dq=%22Devraha%20baba%22&pg=PA284#v=onepage}} - Total pages: 367 
*{{cite book|last=Lutgendorf|first=Philip | title = Hanuman's tale: the messages of a divine monkey|edition=2007|year=2007| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]| isbn= 978-0-19-530921-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fVFC2Nx-LP8C&pg=PT308 }} - Total pages: 434 
*{{cite book|last=Rama|first=Swami | author-link = Swami Rama| title = Living with the Himalayan masters: spiritual experiences of Swami Rama|edition=1978|year=1978| publisher = Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Sciences & Philosophy}} - Total pages: 490 
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://devraha.org/ Website about Devraha Baba]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baba, Devraha}}
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Longevity myths]]
[[Category:People from Mathura]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Deoria district]]
[[Category:Date of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Place of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Indian Hindu yogis]]
[[Category:20th-century Hindu religious leaders]]

Devraha Baba - Revision history

>NerdyRas007 at 17:06, 1 June 2021