Chandigarh: Armed forces veterans were once again troubled by the conduct of the Army chief, general Upendra Dwivedi, who recently visited the Jagannath temple in Puri in a blaze of publicity “on behalf of the Indian Army” to seek blessings for its personnel and their families.In an institution long accustomed to a secular, professional, and apolitical military, such recurring public conflation of religious ritual with institutional well-being by its senior-most officer struck a jarring note among veterans, serving officers, and observers concerned with the Army’s secular ethos. What might have been a private act of personal devotion was instead elevated into a symbolic performance – complete with ceremonial reception, media coverage, and the implicit suggestion that operational success and morale were somehow linked to divine favour and indulgence.“I feel very fortunate to have received the blessings of Lord Jagannath,” general Dwivedi said after visiting the temple over the weekend, accompanied by his wife, Sunita Dwivedi, according to multiple media reports and widely shared video clips. “My main objective,” he stated, “was to seek blessings on behalf of the Indian Army and for the well-being of its personnel and their families. I am confident that the Indian Army will perform even better in the coming days with the Lord’s blessing.”General Dwivedi later left Puri on a special military aircraft to review the training infrastructure at the Army Air Defence College in nearby Gopalpur, where he also witnessed a live firing demonstration at the local field range. The juxtaposition of these operational responsibilities with his temple visit illustrates how, in today’s Indian Army, ceremonial religiosity and professional military duties are increasingly performed in close succession, blurring the line between personal faith and institutional activity.Also read: Sam Manekshaw at 111: A Legacy of Integrity That Challenges Today’s Indian ArmySuch sequencing – moving seamlessly from high-profile devotional engagements to critical training and operational oversight – symbolically and publicly intertwine spiritual observance with military authority. It also, somehow, sends a subtle message across the force that religious presence is now a visible component of leadership within the armed forces, especially the Army.This, however, was not general Dwivedi’s first such high-profile visit since taking over as chief of army staff in June 2024. In December 2024, he accompanied defence minister Rajnath Singh to the Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, one of the country’s 12 Jyotirlinga shrines, where both offered prayers and performed rituals seeking blessings. The visit – covered widely in national media and including a traditional ‘rudrabhishek’ ceremony in religious garb in the sanctum sanctorum – was part of a broader official tour, like at Puri and Gopalpur, that also included engagements with Army personnel at nearby Mhow. While this event drew criticism from several opposition leaders and commentators, the BJP defended it vociferously. “Nobody should have a problem with the Raksha Mantri or the Army Chief, or anybody celebrating their own faith,” former BJP MP and central minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar told Times Now television. “Anyone who has a problem with that should look for a hole and bury themselves in it,” he contemptuously added.A few months later, soon after Operation Sindoor, general Dwivedi visited the spiritual leader Jagadguru Rambhadracharya at his ashram in Chitrakoot – also in Madhya Pradesh and just 130km north of the Army Chief’s hometown of Rewa – once again publicising it and prompting questions about undertaking a personal religious visit in uniform.Following the meeting, Rambhadracharya told PTI that he had initiated general Dwivedi into the Ram Mantra, “the same mantra Hanuman received from Sita before his victory over Lanka. When the matter of dakshina arose,” the priest said, “I told him I would ask for a dakshina no teacher has ever sought. I said I want PoK – Pakistan-occupied Kashmir – as my dakshina.The Army chief, he said, accepted his request, saying that India was prepared to give Pakistan an ‘appropriate response’. Meanwhile, as in his similar earlier visits to temples, several senior retired military officers noted that the Chief’s invocation of the Lord’s blessing at Puri framed the Army’s success as dependent, not solely on training or skill, but also on spiritual sanction.“Even when not in uniform, the Army chief’s public association with religious rituals sends a message that blurs the line between personal faith and institutional endorsement,” said a two-star retired infantry officer, declining to be named. Such acts, he cautioned, risk eroding the secular and apolitical ethos that the Indian Army has long maintained, but one that now seems to be swiftly eroding.Others concurred, noting that while private acts of devotion by military personnel remain a personal and inviolable right, even the Army chief was not at liberty to project the trappings of the majority faith in a manner that carried institutional weight. They maintained that when such gestures are made in the Chief’s official capacity – and amplified by ceremonial reception and official propagation – they assume an institutional hue, signalling endorsement and generating public attention that extends well beyond personal faith and belief. A wide cross-section of veterans further argued that such behaviour was ‘particularly concerning’ in a force drawn from the country’s vastly diverse manpower, where officers and soldiers come from multiple religious and cultural backgrounds. “Public displays of devotion to a single majority faith risk alienating minority personnel,” said a retired colonel‑rank Armoured Corps officer.“It could well undermine cohesion in an institution that relies entirely on unity amid diversity,” he added, declining to be named for fear of repercussions. Another one-star veteran, also requesting anonymity, observed that soldiers tended to ‘internalise cues’ from the top military brass. He observed that when the Army’s highest-ranking officer repeatedly engages in religious rituals with ceremonial attention, it signals a merging of private devotion with the Army’s public persona, subtly shaping how institutional authority is perceived. “Over time”, he warned, “this can subtly influence recruitment, promotion, and camaraderie, privileging those aligned with the dominant faith and alongside pressuring others who may be inherently secular and non-sectarian into resorting to similar religious observances merely to maintain their standing and promotions.” Such a shift, he added, risks eroding the very meritocratic and inclusive foundations that the Army has long relied upon for centuries.The problem was compounded by the egregious public framing of such acts.All of general Dwivedi’s ecumenical visits, some in uniform, have been extensively documented, shared on social media, and carefully coordinated by the Army’s publicity wing managing his trips to various temples.“Private acts of devotion are one thing, but those officially amplified convert personal faith into institutional performance theatre,” said the aforementioned two-star officer. This not only elevates the visibility of the chief’s personal beliefs but also risks sending a message that the Army as an institution endorses specific religious practices, subtly undermining its long-standing secular and apolitical ethos. Such behaviour is neither incidental nor isolated. Over the past decade, veterans have privately expressed alarm at the growing frequency with which serving officers are increasingly participating in religious events, often alongside questionable godmen and spiritual figures linked to political parties, like the BJP. Instances of such behaviour by military personnel are many, but it is instructive to highlight a handful of recent high-profile examples. Senior, three-star commanders, each from the Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, for instance, were presented medallions and certificates by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev at the Maha Shivratri gathering in mid-February at his Isha Yoga Centre in Coimbatore. Video footage shows the officers being called up individually before a crowd of thousands to receive non-statutory medallions created outside the formal honours system, decorated with religious iconography rather than regimental or unit colours.Earlier, videos circulated widely on social media in January showing soldiers from the 14 Sikh battalion stationed in Kota attending a religious ceremony on the eve of Republic Day, presided over by self-styled godman Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, popularly known as Baba Bageshwar. The footage portrayed uniformed soldiers offering obeisance, presenting ceremonial offerings, and seated reverentially at Shastri’s feet, while the unit’s commanding officer appeared to publicly facilitate the event – creating optics that were difficult to dismiss: a military unit, in uniform, visibly participating in a personality-driven religious gathering headed by a self-styled ‘godman’ on the cusp of a national secular celebration every January 26.Also read: Army Bosses’ Views Are Now in Total Sync with the Political EstablishmentThe Indian Army later clarified that the ceremony had not been officially organised, though it maintained that personnel visiting places of worship in uniform is not prohibited. Yet Shastri – whose prominence rests on spectacle, claims of “divine” mind-reading, and overt political advocacy – addressed a crowd largely comprising army personnel, urging citizens to salute the forces, further entangling the imagery of the military with his own carefully cultivated public persona.And, last November, uniformed personnel assisted with the dharma dhwaj celebration at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, ensuring technical stability and facilitating the installation of a 22-foot saffron flag atop the 161-foot spire. Critics remarked that such engagement intertwined operational duties with religious theatrics, converting a spiritual ritual into a display of the Army’s public visibility.In conclusion, general Dwivedi’s visit to the Jagannath temple underscores the increasing prominence of religious engagement at the highest echelons of the Army. Far from being an isolated personal act, this publicised temple visit, along with the others before it, establishes a precedent that resonates across the force, reflecting an evolving culture in which ceremonial faith and institutional authority are publicly intertwined, shaping perceptions of leadership, loyalty, and institutional identity.As a consequence, many veterans fear that this is not a one-off occurrence but part of a broader trend that could gradually reshape the Army’s ethos, raising concerns about the long-term impact on cohesion, inclusivity, and its historically secular character shaped over a millennium.