One could be forgiven for thinking someone was taking the piss.
Blessed by a self-proclaimed godman, a gathering was gulping down cups of cow urine and panchkavya — a cocktail of cow urine, dung extract and milk products — to try and appease the coronavirus, or the “Corona demon”.
“Arey wah, maza aa gaya (Wow, feeling groovy)!” some of them drooled as they swigged the golden elixir at the “gaumutra party” on the lawns of Hindu Mahasabha Bhavan on Saturday afternoon.
A yagnya (fire ritual) wore on before them, looking to drive the pandemic back to the netherworld.
A faction of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha — a defunct political party — led by a litigant in the Ayodhya title suit held the ritual, during which a 10-armed, fire-breathing Corona was offered cow urine, panchkavya, puris and paneer, which were then gulped down by the 30-odd participants.
A live band belted out devotional songs, and men in saffron robes smeared one another with pink powder in a Holi-style celebration.
The vinyl poster of the Corona demon also carried images of East Asians eating reptiles and insects, with speech bubbles showing the animals praying, “Save us, Corona.”
The message seemed to be that Corona was punishing the world for non-vegetarianism, as symbolised by East Asians who were the first victims of the outbreak, and would be placated only with a yagnya.
Two women devotees at the party pleaded for second servings of the cow urine, which they guzzled down enthusiastically.
Yashoda Devi, a middle-aged homemaker from Rohini in northwest Delhi, told The Telegraph: “I believe one hundred per cent that gaumutra can protect us from any illness. I have been drinking it for 25 years.”
She and her neighbour Sunita Devi claimed they had suffered “ordinary illnesses” but nothing life-threatening “at a time when major diseases like cancer and AIDS plague the world”. They attributed the feat to gaumutra, drunk with “full faith in Guruji”.
Swami Chakrapani, the “Guruji” and Ayodhya litigant who held the event, had previously been in the news for supporting the segregation of menstruating women, calling for actresses to shun their “immoral” profession, and claiming that Rahul Gandhi is gay.
“When God created the Earth, he sent the cow as a last resort to save mankind. The Corona is punishment for mankind for the killing of animals,” he told reporters.
“Only this amrit (elixir of eternal life — a reference to cow urine) can save us from this deadly disease as it contains all the healing elements and will convince the virus, which is an avatar (incarnation), of our feeling of repentance.”
The chants at the yagnya — the site flanked by armed police from Chakrapani’s Z-plus security detail — included “Corona shant ho (Be calm Corona)” and “Bharat Mata ki jai”.
Rajesh Kumar, leader of a Hindu youth group linked to rape-convict godman Asumal Harpalani or Asaram Bapu, told this newspaper that he cared little for modern medicine.
“Those who want to understand will do so. Modern medicine has only caused more illness,” he said.
“I have been drinking gaumutra since 2013 — 50ml of it on an empty stomach in the morning. It healed scars on my leg. It’s difficult to drink only for the first few days.”
The organisers say they will be sending vials of cow urine to US President Donald Trump — currently an international poster boy for Hindu nationalists — and other world leaders.
Plans are afoot for similar events in the state capitals.
At a recent meeting in Mumbai, Union minister and Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale had chanted “Go Corona” along with Chinese consul-general Tang Guocai in the presence of Buddhist priests.
