Asaram Bapu, born Asumal Sirumalani, preaches existence of One Supreme Conscious and claims Bhakti yoga, Gnana yoga and Karma yoga as influences.
His ashram, located on the banks of the Sabarmati in Ahmedabad, is visited by devotees for prayers, yoga and meditation.
Asaram was widely criticized after his remark that the December 16, 2012 Delhi gang rape victim was equally guilty along with those responsible for the sexual assault on her. The victim should have called her assailants as brothers and escaped.
Asaram himself was involved in controversy this year, when a girl from Shahjahanpur, UP, alleged she was sexually assaulted by the 73-year-old godman inside his cottage in Jodhpur on the night of August 15, 2013. Jodhpur police arrested Asaram on September 1, after a hide-and-seek game. Since then Asaram has been cooling his heels inside Jodhpur central jail.
After the brave UP girl's complaint, two married sisters from Surat went to police and filed sexual assault complaints against both Asaram and his son Narayan Sai.
The two complaints name Asaram's son Narayan Sai, 41, his sister Bharti and mother Lakshmi. All three went underground after this police complaint.
