Well, kind of. Or maybe not. Really.
While the year 2032 for the end of the world sounds obviously Christian (32 AD being the supposed year when Christ was crucified), it turns out that there *are* local Hindu traditions in Odisha which also dates the apocalypse to that year. But how "traditional" are they really? I suspect they might be fairly modern. But obviously not invented by the flashguru I called out in a previous blog post...
The Bhaviṣya Mālikā (often just called Mālikā) is a fascinating and unusual text from Odisha, India — not one of the classical Sanskrit Purāṇas, but a much later prophetic work written in Odia language. It holds a special place in the regional religious imagination.
Here’s a clear overview:
📜 Origins
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Attributed to Ācārya Achyutānanda Dāsa (16th c.), a saint and poet of the famous Pañca Sakhā (“Five Friends”) group of bhakti poets in Odisha.
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The Pañca Sakhās (Achyutānanda, Balarāma Dāsa, Jagannātha Dāsa, Ananta Dāsa, Jasobanta Dāsa) were major figures of the Jagannātha tradition and wrote many spiritual and devotional works.
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Unlike their other writings, the Bhaviṣya Mālikā is prophetic — claiming to reveal the course of future history, the decline of dharma, and the eventual coming of Kalki.
🔮 Contents
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Written in cryptic, metaphorical verses, often resembling riddles.
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Predicts wars, famines, invasions, natural calamities, and social decay.
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Suggests that the world will pass through a period of chaos before the arrival of Lord Kalki, the final avatāra of Viṣṇu.
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Mentions dates and years (interpreted differently by readers), with many devotees believing that the decisive change will occur by 2032 — when the present Kali Yuga will end and a new Satya Yuga will dawn.
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Also contains regional prophecies about Odisha, Puri, and Jagannātha worship.
🛕 Religious Use
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Recited in some Jagannātha-associated temples and mathas (monasteries), especially in Odisha.
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Devotees regard it as a warning and guidance text, calling for piety, remembrance of God, and moral living in the face of decline.
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It is not considered a Purāṇa in the mainstream Hindu canon, but rather a local apocryphal scripture with strong cultural influence.
📌 Key Beliefs Around It
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Many followers in Odisha sincerely believe that the prophecies are unfolding now (wars, pandemics, climate changes, etc.).
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The date 2032 is often repeated in popular retellings as the year when Kalki will appear and the world will be renewed.
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Scholars, on the other hand, see it as a medieval bhakti text using prophecy to inspire devotion and social reform.
✅ So in summary:
The Bhaviṣya Mālikā is a 16th-century Odia prophetic text attributed to saint Achyutānanda Dāsa. It predicts world upheavals, the end of Kali Yuga, and the arrival of Kalki (sometimes placed around 2032). In Odisha it is revered as a semi-scriptural work, though not part of the orthodox Sanskrit Purāṇic canon.
Would you like me to outline the main predictions of the Bhaviṣya Mālikā (the ones popularly said to point toward 2032), or keep to the background only?
Great — let’s get into the heart of it. The Bhaviṣya Mālikā is full of symbolic verses, but devotees and interpreters (especially in Odisha) have extracted certain major predictions and a timeline that connects to the year 2032.
🔮 Main Predictions of the Bhaviṣya Mālikā
(Paraphrased in plain English, since the Odia verses are cryptic)
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Global Upheaval & Natural Disasters
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Great floods, famines, and epidemics will sweep across the earth.
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Earthquakes and storms will destroy many cities.
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Rivers will change course, the seas will rise, and fertile lands will turn barren.
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Social and Moral Decline
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Kings (or governments) will be corrupt and fight among themselves.
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Religious leaders will lose their purity and exploit people.
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Families will fall apart; dharma (righteousness) will be nearly lost.
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People will live only for money, abandoning spiritual life.
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Wars and Foreign Domination
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Foreign powers (interpreted as invasions, colonialism, or modern global control) will dominate India.
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Major wars will engulf the world before the renewal of dharma.
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Crisis in Jagannātha Worship
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The Jagannātha temple in Puri will face a period of neglect, disruption, or even closure.
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Some interpreters link this to recent COVID-era shutdowns of temples, taking it as “fulfillment” of prophecy.
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The Appearance of Kalki
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At the climax of Kali Yuga’s darkness, Kalki, the 10th avatāra of Viṣṇu, will appear.
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He will restore righteousness (dharma), destroy the wicked, and re-establish Satya Yuga (the Age of Truth).
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📅 Why 2032?
The number doesn’t appear explicitly in the verses, but devotees and interpreters arrive at it by combining clues:
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Millennial Calculations
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Many point to the idea that 5,000 years of Kali Yuga will be marked by extraordinary decline.
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According to some Odia seers, the last portion of Kali Yuga ends around 2032, when Kalki’s age begins.
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Achyutānanda’s Writings
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Some verses (depending on interpretation) mention a 500-year cycle after his own lifetime (he wrote in the 16th century). That roughly aligns with the early 21st century.
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Local Oral Tradition
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Among Jagannātha devotees in Odisha, the belief has circulated that Kalki will manifest and Kali Yuga will collapse by 2032.
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This has become especially popular in the last few decades, partly through public discourses and pamphlets.
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✨ Summary
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The Bhaviṣya Mālikā predicts wars, disasters, moral decline, temple disruption, and global crisis.
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After this, Kalki will appear to renew dharma.
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Popular interpretation — not universally accepted by scholars, but widely believed among devotees — pinpoints 2032 as the year when Kali Yuga ends and Satya Yuga begins.
👉 In other words, for many in Odisha today, the year 2032 has become a spiritual countdown date, parallel to Christian “Second Coming” expectations.
Would you like me to also show you how mainstream Hindu cosmology’s huge Yuga cycles (like 432,000 years) differ from this “2032” shorter-cycle prophecy, and how people reconcile the two?
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