We step into the world of alien worshippers in India who have been thrilled by the discovery of rock paintings depicting UFOs in Chhattisgarh



The words, when they eventually emerge, are incredulous. But I’m surprised I am even uttering them. “But,” I say, “When… when will the Elohim reveal itself?” In the silence that ensues, I suspect I have been found out. That my disbelief and suspicion have been exposed. But when the voice at the other end of the line returns, it is deep and slow, and has the quality of a seer’s speech. “Everyone asks me this all the time: ‘Will the Elohim appear in Jerusalem? Will he show himself in 2025?’” says Anup Prasad. “Look up,” he says, and I look up to see a ceiling fan whirring in the room. “Look up at the sky,” he continues. “Do you think the Elohim will come? At this point in time? When we shoot down our own aircraft?” he asks, referring to Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 777, “What do you think we will do when we see Elohim in his flying saucer?”

Raëlians will probably say, ‘We told you so.’

It was perhaps inevitable that for those unmoved by religion’s explanation of creation, unconvinced by science’s account of the start of life, and unimpressed with atheism, agnosticism and their ilk, a new creed would emerge that holds the following as its central belief: that mankind cannot be the only intelligent beings in existence.

Anup Prasad, who prefers being called Blazing Light because it masks the Hindu origin of his given name, is a Raëlian. And Raëlism, a growing international cult that considers itself a ‘UFO religion’, is gradually establishing its presence in India. Raëlians worship aliens from outer space. They believe that these aliens, the Elohim (which in ancient Hebrew means, ‘Those who came from the sky’) created humans through genetic experiments. The prophet of this religion, a former French automobile journalist, Claude Vorilhon, who now calls himself Raël (‘the messenger’), claims to have met extra-terrestrials who emerged from a flying saucer near a volcano in France in 1973. These aliens, small human- shaped beings with pale green skin and almond eyes who later took him to the Elohim planet in a flying saucer, told him—in fluent French—about the origin of human beings, and then asked him to spread the information. One day, as the belief goes, these aliens will return, and teach us, through cloning and the transmission of memories and personality, how to attain immortality. Until that day, Raëlians are to build an embassy to prepare for their return, convey the message to others, and wait.

Prasad, who is a Level 4 National Guide Raëlian, is currently excited about the discovery of over-10,000-year-old rock paintings depicting what look like aliens and UFOs in a cave in Chhattisgarh’s Charama region. According to a Times of India news report, these paintings were discovered by the state archaeology department, which also claims that locals in nearby villages worship these and narrate ancient tales of small people landing from the sky and abducting humans. “Can you imagine if this were true?” he asks. “It would be evidence that extra- terrestrials were around back then and people were aware of it.” He plans to travel to the site on an exploratory trip next month.

Prasad is originally from Tinsukia in Assam and works as a digital marketing professional in Delhi. He claims he stumbled upon Raëlism in his search for an explanation of our true origins. Several years ago, one evening, when Prasad was studying Commerce at a Bangalore college, he, along with a group of friends saw something in the sky that would put him on this path. “How do I explain it? There was suddenly this large object in the sky, a combination of mysterious lights, travelling upwards at an incredible speed,” he says. It was nothing like anything anyone in the group had ever seen before. According to Prasad, some of his friends tried to rationalise it by claiming that it was either a meteor or military jet, and later forgot about it. But not Prasad. “I knew it was no meteor,” he says, “And it certainly wasn’t a jet. Our jets can’t move so fast. It’s not our science.” As he began to trawl the internet for answers, he learnt about Raëlism and came in touch with other Raëlians in India.

For those who eschew rites, the conversion process to Raëlism is an elaborate ritual. Called the ‘Transmission of the Cellular Plan’ and performed only four times a year—the first Sunday in April when the Elohim is believed to have created Adam and Eve; 6 August, when the bombing of Hiroshima began the Age of Apocalypse/Revelation; 7 October, when Raël met past prophets like Jesus and Buddha on board an Elohim craft; and 13 December, when Raël was first contacted by the Elohim—a senior member’s hand soaked in warm water is placed on an aspiring convert’s head, and thus is the ‘DNA frequency’ of the aspirant hooked up with the Elohim’s mother computer. Prasad, who is one of three members allowed to perform this ritual, explains, “The mother computer has the genetic information of all creatures on earth. The frequency of the one to be initiated, flowing through me, reaches the computer, as I inform the Elohim that the individual has accepted them as his creator.”

In India, there are around 80 registered members so far. According to Prasad, there are another 20,000 who have not converted in fear of the response of their family and friends. Members of the religion come from all walks of life, from young students unconvinced by their parents’ blind faith in God to older members who believe Raël offers the most convincing explanation so far of the origin of human beings.

Sai Subramanian, who uses the alias DJ Psy Inertia when he works as a DJ in Mumbai nightclubs, became a member, he says, because it helped him give up smoking. People have to renounce alcohol and nicotine once they become Raëlians. The group performs a set of breathing and meditation exercises that they call ‘sensual meditation’. After about six months of doing this, which he says helped him quit smoking, Subramanian once saw a woman, Yaho—a South Korean Raëlian who had helped set up the Indian chapter and whom Subramanian had met earlier— in a dream asking him to wake up and perform the meditation. “But it wasn’t like a dream. It was more life-like,” he says. When he wrote to Yaho about the experience, she wrote back saying she was glad to hear of it since she had been trying to telepathically connect with him for several months. She told him he was now purer than he ever was and could receive telepathic messages. Subramanian hasn’t had an experience like this again and believes that he owes this lull in telepathic ability to the infrequency of his meditative performances.

At the heart of the Raëlian core is an adolescent pursuit, the question that drives the engine of every million dollar spiritual enterprise and religion: ‘Who are we?’ The answer they offer is safe. They do not dismiss the existence of divinities. They claim that what various established religions consider ‘gods’ are in fact aliens. That Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad and other prophets were all past ambassadors of the Elohim; it just so happened that we misunderstood their messages. They do not believe in the soul, but believe that through cloning and transmission, human lives continue. They do not subscribe to scientific theories of the Big Bang and evolution, but insist on the supremacy of science and technology. They are not outright agnostics or atheists, but borrow strains of thought from them.

One of the most active Indian Raëlians is Jay Trivedi, who works for a recruitment firm. He claims to have always had a keen interest in paranormal activities and been highly perceptive to energy fluctuations around him. This awareness, he claims, has increased by practising Raëlism. “Can you explain how ancient humans built the pyramids? What is this vimaan (flying object) Ravan [of The Ramayana] is travelling on? I looked for these answers in religion and science, but found none,” says Trivedi. “But these, as Raëlism will tell you, were all createdby aliens who in technology are far superior to us.”

Raëlians, however, have one major grouse. The manner in which science- fiction films and books have depicted aliens. “Why do they always show them taking over earth, attacking humans?” asks Farnaza Governor, a Raëlian in Mumbai who works in the corporate social responsibility department of an MNC. “They created us. Why would they kill us?”

The Raëlian Movement International, as it’s sometimes called, is not an evil cult. They are a benign group of laid-back people who believe in peace and oppose the imposition of restrictions. In the West, they are known to be liberal on matters of sex and relationships, on individuals having multiple partners without anyone claiming the right to feel jealous or possessive about anyone. ‘Osho meets UFO,’ as some commentators quip. In India, however, if you join the group expecting a smorgasbord of free love, you’ll be disappointed. Here, Raëlians mostly occupy themselves in meditation, telepathic communication with the Elohim, and attending Raëlian seminars.

Prasad claims he is selective about the people who are initiated into the group. This is because requests to join the movement are often motivated by the group’s liberal stance on sex. “They often don’t want to know about the Elohim or how to spread the message. They want to know how many men and women are in the group. If each one is equally open to lovemaking,” he says, “But I tell them, ‘That’s not what Raëlism is about. How will you face your creator if you think in this manner?’”

Among Raëlians in India, Prasad finds himself in a peculiar spot. Although he has been able to excuse himself from all temple visits and prayers (by telling his family he does not believe in deities), his family now wants him to marry. “But we don’t believe in marriage and its rituals, like other religions do. But my parents are adamant. So I have told them that if they forcibly try to get me married, at least pick someone who will not think aliens are imaginary creatures.”

Despite their stated objective of trying to spread peace, as this will facilitate the return of the Elohim, Raëlians can sometimes have momentary lapses of temper. Recently, when Prasad shared the news of the paintings found in Chhattisgarh on Facebook, one of his friends on the website challenged the findings, claiming that there is no proof of aliens. A fellow Raëlian replied that a lot of evidence on intelligent alien life is being held in various secure locations around the world. Prasad, however, seemed more upset. ‘Even GOD can’t be proven…,’ he wrote, ‘and the scientists you talk about are corrupt and slaves of the power-hungry world government who want to enslave you… For ‘PROOFS’ I would suggest you look up in the sky minimum 1 hr @ night.’