Leaving behind the familiarity of everyday life and carrying a message that is deeply rooted in India’s civilisational memory, Baba Anal’s ongoing yatra is emerging as more than a journey across geographical distances. As the yatra moves from Uttar Pradesh towards Srinagar and Uttarakhand replace news, its route passes through places that have for centuries been associated with India’s spiritual traditions, but its larger destination lies somewhere far beyond the map—in the consciousness of a generation increasingly distanced from its own cultural roots.
For Baba Anal, the journey is an effort to keep the flame of Sanatan Dharma alive through personal movement, dialogue and spiritual practice. His message does not call for withdrawal from modern life. Instead, it asks a more fundamental question: can a society move forward without forgetting the civilisational foundations that shaped its identity?
That question becomes particularly significant at a time when modernity is often understood merely as abandoning the old. Technology, changing lifestyles and global influences have transformed the way young Indians think, communicate and live. Yet, amid this rapid transformation, the deeper traditions that once connected generations to their history, philosophy, rituals and spiritual practices can easily become distant memories.
Baba Anal’s response is simple: take one step towards Sanatan.
That step, however, is not necessarily about rejecting the contemporary world. It is about rediscovering what lies beneath it. It could mean understanding an ancient text, learning the meaning behind a ritual, visiting a temple not merely as a tourist, listening to the wisdom of a sadhu, practising meditation, participating in a havan, or simply asking where one’s cultural traditions came from and why they survived for thousands of years.
The significance of the yatra lies precisely in this distinction. It is not being presented merely as a physical pilgrimage from one sacred destination to another. It is a journey intended to awaken an inner connection with Sanatan thought and with the idea of Bharat as a civilisation whose spiritual traditions have continually evolved while retaining their essential continuity.
The sight of Baba Anal walking through different parts of the country in saffron attire, carrying his conviction with simplicity, also presents a contrast to the increasingly hurried nature of contemporary life. There is no shortcut in a yatra. One has to walk, endure fatigue, meet people and experience the land closely. In that sense, the journey itself becomes part of the message.
His concerns also extend beyond ritual. Baba Anal has spoken against discrimination and for the rights and dignity of Hindus, including in the United States, where he has spent part of his life. His engagement with Sanatan therefore appears to be rooted not simply in religious symbolism but in a larger concern about cultural identity, dignity and the preservation of civilisational memory.
As the yatra proceeds towards Haridwar, every halt becomes an opportunity for interaction. The traveller meets ordinary people, devotees, spiritual seekers and those curious about the purpose behind such a long journey. These encounters give the yatra a social dimension, allowing its message to travel not only through roads but through conversations.
At the heart of Baba Anal’s journey is an appeal to young Indians. He appears to be asking them not to choose between modernity and tradition, but to understand that the two need not be enemies. A young person can use artificial intelligence and still know the Gayatri Mantra; can build a global career and still understand the meaning of a diya; can live in a modern city and still remain connected to the philosophical traditions of Bharat.
Sanatan, in this understanding, is not merely something inherited from the past. It is a living civilisational idea—one that continues to acquire meaning through every generation willing to engage with it.
The yatra also brings back an old Indian tradition: the idea that knowledge is not always found within institutions. Sometimes it is encountered on the road, in an ashram, beside a river, during a conversation with a monk or in the silence that follows a havan. The journey becomes both teacher and discipline.
From Prayagraj to Haridwar, the road may be measured in kilometres, but Baba Anal’s larger journey is about something that cannot be measured geographically. It is about reconnecting the individual with a cultural inheritance that modern life can sometimes make easy to overlook.
Perhaps that is why his message resonates beyond the conventional language of pilgrimage.
In the race to become modern, are we forgetting the civilisation that taught us who we are?
Baba Anal’s answer is a call rather than an argument: take one step towards Sanatan—not away from the world, but closer to your own roots.
And sometimes, a civilisation begins its renewal with nothing more dramatic than a single step.
