Ghaziabad’s Golden Baba ascetic wears gold to atone for his sins amid policesecurity

GHAZIABAD, JULY 28: 54-year-old Sudhir Makkar, who is popularly known as Golden Baba, wears nearly 12.5 kg of gold during Kanwar Yatra  in Ghaziabad.

Sudhir Kumar Makkad, a 54-year-old former garment businessman from Delhi, now goes by the name ‘Golden Baba’. The ‘ascetic’,  who reportedly wants to “atone” for “sins he committed as a businessman”, wears gold jewellery to pay homage to Goddess Laxmi.

About 10 bodyguards and 200 followers are accompanying him this time in his annual pilgrimage, reported Hindustan Times.

The budget for his trip this year is ₹1 crore.

This is his 24th kanwar yatra, an annual Hindu pilgrimage by Shiva devotees to holy sites in India.

Partapaur police station inspector Ram Kumar Yadav was among hordes jostling to get a photograph with the baba in Mohiuddinpur, on the outskirts of Meerut.

“I will continue my kanwar yatra every year till my death,” the baba, who is on his 24th kanwar yatra, told HT.

He claimed to have spent Rs 72 lakh on his journey from Hardwar to Delhi last year, and that he had expanded his budget to over Rs 1 crore this year.

He is being accompanied by over 200 people and at least 10 bodyguards on his journey from Hardwar to his ashram in Gandhinagar, Delhi.

Police have an elaborate security arrangement for the baba as a team of officers escorts his convoy as it passes through their respective areas to ensure that nobody approaches him without permission.

A few policemen even get a seat on the roof of the baba’s vehicle to offer additional security, while personal bodyguards sit inside the car.

Most seers and priests accept eatables, but not the Golden Baba. In fact, for security reasons, he has a personal pantry follow him during the yatra.

His convoy includes elaborate tent set-ups for overnight halts and to deal with any vagaries of weather. The stops are pre-planned and the schedule tight.

He is associated with the Joona Akhara, and claims to be its biggest mahant (chief priest) now.

He helps around 200 women of poor families marry each year, he claimed. He usually travels in expensive cars like an Audi, Fortuner or BMW