Asharam Bapu | |
---|---|
Religion | Hinduism |
Founder of | Shree Yog Vedanta Sewa Samiti |
Philosophy | Advaita Vedanta |
Personal | |
Nationality | Indian |
Born |
Berani, British India |
17 April 1941
Spouse | Lakshmi Devi |
Children |
Narayan Prem Sai (Son) Bharti Devi (Daughter) |
Parents | Mehangiba (Mother) Thaumal Sirumalani (Father) |
Guru | Lilashah ji Maharaj |
Website | www.ashram.org |
Asumal Sirumalani, known as Asharam Bapu (Hindi: संत श्री आशारामजी बापू),(Sindhi: سنت شري آسارام باپو)) or just Bapuji by his followers, is a Self-Realized Saint from India. He preaches the existence of One Supreme Conscious in every human being following the traditions of Advaita Vedanta. According to rough estimates, he has about 40 million disciples. He was born on 17 April 1941.He left the home at the age of 23 and set out on his journey in the search of God. In the early 1970s, Asharam's followers built an ashram for him on 4 ha (10 acres) of land in Gujarat. By 2013, he had 400 major and minor ashrams in India and abroad, with numerous followers. In 2008, the death of two boys at his Motera ashram led to public protests, amid allegations that black magic was being practiced at the ashram which were later found false. In 2013, Asharam Bapu was arrested when a 16-year-old girl accused him of sexually assaulting her in Jodhpur.
Asharam Bapu was born on 17 April 1941, in the Berani village of the Nawabshah District in British India (Present-day Berani Town is located in Jam Nawaz Ali Tehsil of District Sanghar Sindh Pakistan), to Menhgiba and Thaumal Sirumalani. His birthname was Asumal Thaumal Harpalani or Asumal Sirumalani.
Following the partition of India in 1947, he and his family moved to Ahmedabad, then part of the former Bombay State in India, now Gujarat, leaving behind their immovable assets in Sindh. The family moved to Ahmedabad, where Asharam Bapu's father founded a coal and wood business. Asharam Bapu ran this business for a short time after his father's death.
After his father's death, Asharam Bapu dropped out of Jai Hind High School, where he had studied till class III. According to Sant Asharam Bapuji ki Jeevan Jhanki, a biography published by his ashram, he ran away to an ashram in Bharuch at the age of 15, eight days before his scheduled wedding. His family persuaded him to return, and he married Laxmi Devi. At the age of 23, he again left home and wandered in pilgrimage places in Uttarakhand and Uttar pradesh. He met the spiritual guru Lilashah in Nainital, wanting to be his disciple; but the guru sent him back home. Lilashah named him Asharam Bapu on 7 October 1964.