Prem Rawat's Property Empire

From Lord of the Universe to Real Estate Mogul


Prem Rawat's public organisations have always requested donations and to the devotees have often claimed to be barely able to function adequately and certainly if their goal was to increase the number of people attaining peace through Rawat's methods they have failed miserably. However his private organisations have fared far better. He has amassed quite the international property empire over the last 50 years and as these are not usually held under his own name there may be even more than I have posted here. Some of his front organisations are SEVA Incorporated, North East Forest Ivew Propertis LLC and Adtec Management. Of course, Rawat Inc. could be heavily leveraged and so his actual real estate wealth cannot be ascertained.

Malibu Mansion
31334 Anacapa View Dr, Malibu CA 90265, estimated value: $9 - 11 million, originally purchased for $23,000

Malibu Beach House
32440 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265, estimated value: $3,050,000

Miami Residence
207 Bal Cross Drive, Bal Harbour, Forida, estimated value: $8,842,372

Amaroo Residence at Ivorys Rock Conference Centre
310 Mt Flinders Road, Peak Crossing, Queensland, Australia, There is at least one house in Rawat's cult compound for his exclusive use

Brisbane Residence
236 Jesmond Rd, Fig Tree Pocket, Brisbane, Australia, estimated value $3 to $5 million

Reigate Residence
Swiss House, Mogador Lower Kingswood Surrey, estimated value > £2 million

Massachusetts Residence
27 Ayrshire Lane, Concord, estimated value: $2,142,400

Residence in the Raj Vidya Kender compound and ashram at Mehrauli, New Delhi.

Residence in Ojai, California, 93023; Value $500,000

Residence in Harwich, Massachusetts, 02645; Estimated value: $655,000

Prem Rawat has more residences in the following places:

Gulfstream AerospaceResidence in Savannah, Geogia close to Prem's place of pilgrimage where he worships at his holy temple, the headquarters of Gulfstream Aerospace.

A Holiday Home in Barbados

(Use of) a Holiday Home in Morocco

Kyoto, Japan Residence

Barcelona Residence

Hyderabad Residence

Kuala Lumpur Residence

Nepal Residence

Ranchi Residence

A Residence in South Africa

the Maharaji Mystery

Rawat's initial success was a product of being acclaimed as the divine head of an Indian religious organisation at the very time that lots of doped-up, disllusioned young Westerners were looking for "the Truth" and knowledge of Indian religions in the West was very small. His failure to build on his initial bandwagon are easily explained by his lack of charisma and the paucity of inner experience his methods produce even though many of his passing parade of devotees have made great efforts to "propagate." The devotion of his long-term followers could be the paradigmatic case of the Festinger Effect: Rawat's long-term followers have become more convinced, not less, of their beliefs.

Festinger's five conditions are:

  • There must be conviction
  • There must be commitment to this conviction
  • The conviction must be amenable to unequivocal disconfirmation
  • Such unequivocal disconfirmation must occur
  • Social support must be available subsequent to the disconfirmation.

The real mystery is not how Rawat seems to have accumulated so much money but exactly how wealthy is he. For over 50 years he has been the Divine Leader of a relatively small cult. Initially he was not only open about his Divinity but loudly proclaimed his position as Guru Maharaj Ji, the Lord of the Universe and similar titles but from the mid-1980s semi-secretly. Many academics of religion seemed unable to see the difference between ordering your followers to stop openly worshipping you and telling them not to worship you. A few statements about not being God should not hold the same weight as continuing to act like he is God. During all this time his income has derived totally by donations or from investments made with income from donations. During this period his overt relations 99% of the donaters is to make speeches that they can listen to though in most cases they have to pay for this privilege. Those who are wealthy enough can pay for "Privileges"

such as access to Rawat in person.