Asaram Bapu Biography 
Asaram Bapu is a controversial Hindu preacher and saint from India. His real name is Asumal Thaumal Harpalani or Asumal Sirumalani. He preaches the existence of One Supreme Conscious and claims Bhakti yoga, Gnana yoga and Karma yoga as influences. He has been involved in several controversies including criminal cases filed against him, remarks on the 2012 Delhi gang rape and the latest one being sexual assault of a minor from his ashram. Jodhpur police arrested him on September 1, 2013 from his ashram and at present he is in jail.
Asaram was born as Asumal Sirumalani on April 17, 1941 in Berani. Following the partition of India, he and his family moved to Ahmedabad. Asaram’s father did coal and wood business and Asaram used to sell tea in front of the Magistrate's office. After the death of his father, he became spiritually associated with religion. He learned meditation and spirituality from his mother. He acquired about 10 acres of land to build an ashram in the early 1970’s. He took his new name, Asaram Bapu and left the family to reach Vrindavan. He was married to Lakshmi Devi and has two kids. His son Narayan Sai is also a spiritual leader. Now Asaram owns more than 400 around India and abroad.
His comments in public have always caught media and public attention. In 2012, he asked youth to celebrate Valentine's Day as Parents' Worship Day and published a booklet also. In 2000, the Asaram Ashram was allocated about 10 acres in Bhairavi village of Navsari district. But ashram encroached on an additional 6 acres resulting in protests from public. Ashram’s remark that the 2012 Delhi gang rape victim is equally responsible for the incident and that she should have called the culprits brothers and begged before them to stop invoked wide protests from all over the country. In August 2013, Asaram was accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl at his ashram in Jodhpur to free from evil spirits. Though Asaram denied the allegation, medical reports proved otherwise and he was arrested from the ashram on September 1, 2013.
Published: N/A
Updated: January 22, 2014
