New Delhi: Travel around 50 km from Rajasthan’s Jodhpur towards Pali and you will come across a heavily congested area beside the highway, with hordes of travellers and devotees making a pit stop, paying obeisance to a Royal Enfield Bullet while on their way in their journey. Locals say the shrine is dedicated to Om Banna, Bullet Baba of the state who “fulfils wishes and prayers”.
Who is Bullet Baba?
The shrine, where devotees worship the motorcycle RNJ 7773 is dedicated to Om Singh Rathore, also known as Shri Om Banna or Bullet Baba. It is to this late Rajasthan youth that hundreds of devotees turn up every day to pray for a safe journey.
History of Bullet Baba
The legend of Om Banna dates back to 1998, when on fateful day, a youth called Om Singh Rathore, the son of a local village leader, was travelling from the town of Bangdi near Sanderao of Pali, when he lost control of his motorcycle and hit a tree. While Om passed away immediately, his motorcycle skidded and fell into a nearby ditch.
As per local folk narratives, the morning after the accident, local police took the motorcycle to a nearby police station.
The mysterious bike
However, reportedly, the bike disappeared from the station and made its way back at the site of the incident. The police, once again, ferried it back to the station, emptied its fuel tank and put it under lock and key. However, strangely enough, despite their best efforts, the motorcycle once again found its way back to the accident site.
“The police on the second night chained the bike and kept a vigil to see who was stealing the bike and taking it back to the site of the accident,” said a local traveller Raman Jay Singh, who was on his way to Jodhpur.
He claimed, “The police were astonished to see that a little after midnight, the motorcycle self-started and made its way back to where its owner had died.”
Folk legends claim that the motorcycle kept on returning to the same ditch, thwarting every effort to take it away from the site of the accident.
Raman agrees saying that he has heard that post that incident police stopped trying to take the bike back to the station. Soon locals began seeing the site as a sort of pilgrimage and began worshipping Bullet bike. The news soon spread and villagers built a temple to worship it. It is generally believed that the spirit of Om Banna helps out travellers in distress.
Experiences
While Raman may have heard of strange occurrences at the temple, Kirnesh Yoganandi says that the locals believe Om Banna is a “jeeta jaagta devta (a living God)”.
He adds, “Kuch bhi logical cheez maanglo, woh milega (ask for anything positive and logical, your prayers will be answered). But you have to offer him some alcoholic beverage in return.”
Prod him further on how can he be so sure, Kirnesh says, “I was embroiled in a case for which I was going to Udaipur. While crossing the shrine, I paid a visit and promised Om Banna that if I became free of the woe, I would visit him while returning. Lo, behold! In two days, I was a free man.”
“I did return to visit him and thank him, when the case got over.”
Kirnesh says, something similar happened to his friend as well. “He was stuck in a divorce case for three years, without any sight for respite. He went there with a bottle of wine, and prayed. In the next hearing, his prayers were answered and the court ruled in his favour. And within six months, his divorce finally went through.”
Daily rituals
Travel down the Pali highway and you are sure to come across hordes of devotees making a beeline for the shrine dedicated to Om Banna. There are long queues where travellers wait patiently to offer alcohol to the folk deity. It is believed that, not paying obeisance to Om Banna could lead to a perilous journey.
The shrine also sees daily havans and if pilgrims are unable to stop, they usually honk twice to offer respects while on their way towards their destination. A lot of people pray for wish fulfilment at the site and if their wishes are met, they offer alcohol to Om Banna.
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