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Heart and Soul: India's TV Gurus

Baba Ramdev

09/11/2012 GMT

India's TV Gurus

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, India's TV Gurus

The gurus passing on their spiritual guidance via India's cable TV stations.

Sunita Thakur explores the gurus passing on their spiritual guidance via India's cable TV stations.

Having a guru, or spiritual teacher and guide has a long tradition in Hinduism. But what used to be a personal relationship between guru and disciple has now become a multi-media business in India. 

On Heart and Soul this week Sunita Thakur reports on the rise in popularity of India's TV gurus and the impact this is having on religious practise. She speaks to yoga guru Baba Ramdev (pictured) whose TV shows attract hundreds of thousands of people. With a combination of yoga, breathing technique and an emphasis on traditional Indian Aurvedic medicine he claims a range of illnesses can be cured.
 
And she hears why those who have been turning their backs on the faith of their parents are now rediscovering spirituality through television. 

This programme was first broadcast in February 2012.

(Baba Ramdev. Credit: MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

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