BAPS: The Hindu organisation at the heart of Modi’s cultural diplomacy
“Strike and closure of the Eiffel Tower after the expulsion of female staff during a visit by a Hindu delegation”This was what a prominent French newspaper said on September 7 this year. The Hindu delegation belonged to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or the BAPS, and it made global headlines. But the interesting question is not just what happened in Paris.It is this: how did a religious organisation with deeply conservative internal rules become one of the most powerful global faces of Indian culture?BAPS has spectacular temples, a wealthy and influential global…
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