Rajinikanth and his ‘Spiritual Politics’
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Rajinikanth is often considered as Indian’s biggest superstar. His movies are known to break and create new records. The hype around one of his films, Kabali, is so high that, even aircrafts were painted resembling the actor’s profile in the movie. Rajinikanth has a massive fan following even in countries like Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and parts in China.
He made his debut with the movie Apoorva Raangangal (1975), directed by K Balachander. In his 4-decade journey, the actor has reached new heights that no one could possibly imagine. The actor attained cult status in Indian Film Industry. The word ‘superstar’ has become a synonym of Rajinikanth.
When media representatives questioned about jokes on the superstar, Rajinikanth’s daughter said, ‘we take it as a pride. We have no problem. Fans feel that Rajinikanth Sir can do anything.’
Political Entry
Right from the mid-1990’s, the whole of Tamil Nadu was waiting for Rajinikanth’s entry into the state politics. But the actor always remained tight-lipped. There were instances where political parties were waiting preparedly with strategies if Rajinikanth announces his sudden entry into politics. Calling-off a 2-decade long wait, Rajinikanth announced his ‘formal’ entry into politics on December 31st, 2017. For fans, there was nothing bigger than the announcement from Rajinikanth for the upcoming new year.
Party Logo and Controversy
There was another element that caught everyone’s attention during Rajinikanth’s announcement; the ‘Apana Mudra’ symbol in the background. ‘Apana Mudra’ is found as a part of classic yoga practised in India. The mudra symbolises ‘detoxification’. But shockingly, a lotus flower was seen in the foreground of the ‘Apana Mudra’ symbol, along with a snake surrounding the complete logo.
According to Hindu texts and scriptures, the human body consists of 7 Chakras; Sahasrara (Crown Chakra), Ajna (Third Eye Chakra), Vishuddha (Throat Chakra), Anahata (Heart Chakra), Manipura (Solar Plexus Chakra), Swadhisthana (Navel Chakra) and Muladhara (Root Chakra).
The Sahasrara Chakra is said to be the most elusive of all other Chakras. It represents pure consciousness and powers of transforming into the divine. The Sahasrara Chakra is represented [or thought] as a 1000-petaled lotus. Similarly, the lotus flower in the background during Rajinikanth’s political entry can be considered to be a representation of the Sahasrara Chakra. The ‘Apana mudra’ along with the lotus and snake encircling, is expected to be the logo of Rajinikanth’s upcoming political party.
After political analysts opined that the ‘lotus’ symbol is sending wrong signals about Rajinikanth’s and BJP’s alliance, the actor has reported dropped the idea of including the ‘lotus’ from his party logo.
Rajinikanth’s spiritual journey
Everyone knows about the disturbance in Rajinikanth’s life. The superstar who rose to fame unheard-of also became addicted to bad habits like alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking. It was during this time, Amitabh Bachchan introduced Rajinikanth to the spiritual guru, Sachidananda Saraswati. Post that, under the able guidance of the spiritual guru, and after going thru a ‘spiritual retreat’ in the ashram, Rajinikanth managed to keep himself away from his addictions.
It was during this time, Rajinikanth got familiar with Mahavatar Babaji. Though Rajinikanth came across the best-selling book on Mahavatar Babaji, ‘Autobiography of Yogi’ by Paramahamsa Yogananda in 1978, the superstar did not get to read it, as he said his English was poor.
Later, towards the ending of 1990’s, Rajinikanth developed admiration and devotion towards Mahavtar Babaji. He even came up with the film ‘Baba’, in which he also claimed the second coming of Jesus Christ to Babaji.
What does Rajinikanth mean by ‘Spiritual Politics?
After all the hype and drama created around Rajinikanth’s political entry, the Tamil superstar met the media representatives, and journalist on 2nd January, two days after his political entry announcement. The superstar went on to clarify what does he mean by ‘spiritual politics’ that he used while he spoke about his entry into politics. Rajinikanth said, ‘spiritual politics mean, Honest and secular politics’, bringing an end to all the speculations and rumours about the term.
Many political analysts assumed the term ‘spiritual politics’ to be closely related to BJP, which is often considered as a Hindutva based party. Speaking at the press conference, Rajinikanth also called for ‘transparent governance’ and enthusiastic participation of the public in the state politics.
Conclusion
The fate and future of Rajinikanth in Tamil Nadu state politics will only come out with the 2019 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. One has to wait and see whether the ‘spiritual politics’ can bring a revolution in Tamil Nadu, or the same old corrupted politics will rule over once again.
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