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Men lie down on the floor in front of their elevated seats --
They called him asalan Babu.
His expressionless picture, with a flowing white beard, is everywhere in this huge crowd of 30 s.
Akry ashram in western India
But these days, the closed Wood of Guru
Millions of people once worshipped his carved altar as empty.
The rest is a big picture, an air purifier, a light on and a fake rose.
The guru, named Asumal Harpalani, is suffering in the prison of Jodhpur and was arrested last month for sexually assaulting 16 people. year-
Daughter of two followers
In recent weeks, for mega-guru —
He has a huge network of 20 million devotees and hundreds of ashram people, worth about $0. 76 billion.
Shocked India, split India
The scandal raised questions about the unprecedented prosperity of the spiritual leaders of the world's largest democratic nation --
And the great power and wealth they have.
Habalani is not alone in accumulating wealth or breaking the law.
A Saint Sathya Sai Baba died in 2011, leaving nearly $8 million in gold, silver and cash.
Other Masters have been charged with murder, sexual abuse, prostitution gangs and illegal land acquisition in recent years.
However, the guru phenomenon continues to grow in India --
24-encouragement
An hour of religious programming on TV and growing tension
The middle class seeks easy, prepackaged happiness.
"He has been blessing my family all these years.
Now it's my turn to pray for him, "said Anjali Chand, 42, who brought the child to the dojo with the longevity chrysanthemum.
"He is like a beautiful lotus flower, and the accusation is like muck and dirty water.
"The Dojo, once a land of peace, is now under siege.
Devotees look at each new person with suspicion.
The guards drove away the TV news staff.
There are rumors that there is a conspiracy to discredit their guru.
"The devotees called all day and asked, 'What do we do, what do we do?
"We told them to have faith and holy songs to get rid of false accusations," said Venkat Aravala, an Indian . "
A software engineer born in Nashville recently visited the venue on a rare occasion.
34-year-old Aravala, a follower of Harpalani's teenage years, is from the United States, volunteering at dojo once a year.
Allegations of sexual abuse, illegal land acquisition and even murder against female followers have plagued Harpalani for more than a decade, but he cannot escape the latest charges.
On August, two of his followers appeared at the police station.
He said he sexually assaulted their daughter.
The teenager, a student at a dojo School, told police that the "prodigy" called her into his room late one night to drive evil spirits.
He gave her a glass of milk, turned off the lights and started harassing her, according to the charge document.
According to the document, the girl told the police: "I have been crying for about an hour and a half . ".
"He told me not to tell anyone else that he would get my father killed.
Police accused Harpalani of sexually assaulting a minor, but it was not easy to bring him in.
Harpalani avoided several days of arrest, a clear sign of his influence.
When he was meditating and interviewed by the channel and the media, he asked the police to try to wait for him with a subpoena.
He jumped between his more than 400 Ashram and skipped the interrogation.
Finally, about 300 police officers dressed in riot gear arrested him at his dojo in Indore, downtown.
Angry devotees blocked railway and road traffic during the protests and beat journalists.
Harpalani insists he is innocent.
"There have been even greater charges against me in the past;
They didn't stick to it, "Harpalani said in an interview with al-Qaida.
"But it's a dirty charge, and it's an unfounded one.
I'm old. this girl is like my granddaughter.
"In the past 20 years, as Indians embrace the busy way of city life and stay away from the cultural roots of their villages, the country's spiritual life has changed --based worship .
As a result, many seek comfort by flocking to the practice room of the masters who provide spiritual truth, chanting routines, yoga classes and herbal remedies --
Or by watching them on TV, they show up on TV evangelists on American shows. These modern-day mega-
The guru is by no means like the wandering Saints in the ancient Hindu religious literature, who meditate and live on alms and give up all their worldly possessions.
Today's Masters have set up hundreds of ashrams worldwide and run a thriving business in all areas from herbal medicine to meditation and yoga workshops.
They travel by limousine, pass by airport security and are guarded by guns.
Salute the police and bodyguards.
Some people have criminal record.
"These masters who provide black services have sprung up. and-
For those who want quick shortcuts, white spirituality doesn't have much depth
Rhythm, city life "Katarina Poggendorf-
Kakar, an anthropologist and scholar of comparative religion in Goa, India, studied the controversial guru.
She suggested that Harpalani, 72, is no different.
According to local reports, he was born in a village and is now part of Pakistan. before he established his dojo in 1971, he worked at a tea stall and was also a pirate.
His empire eventually grew to millions of followers,
Famous businessmen and politicians.
But for some people who are no longer fascinated, the allegations about sexual union are not surprising, although this is the best --
The items sold in his dojo bookstore are his booklet about exclusivity, "the secret of eternal youth ".
"I saw him having sex with a female disciple with my own eyes.
Otherwise, I wouldn't believe that either, "said Amrutbhai Prajapati, a 12-year personal physician at Harpalani.
"These women were told that they were lucky to be moved by him, that he was the incarnation of Lord Krishna, who was his spouse at the time of his previous birth.
"The other, dark charges follow him.
At 2008, the bodies of two young students
Cousins aged 9 and 10
Found lying on the bank of a nearby river.
Relatives of the boy accused guru of a black magic ceremony;
He said the boys drowned.
Judicial reports on deaths have not yet been released.
In the days after his arrest, the worshippers still came to the dojo in groups, and people's beliefs were still high.
Within the complex, devotees sit there, pray to the flame with their rosary and chant, with camphor trees and flowers, or walk around the wish with bare feet --granting tree.
The conversation with these followers is filled with the teachings of habalani and the stories of how herbs cure them from indigestion to various diseases such as cancer.
On a recent morning tour, alavara, Nashville-
A software engineer says this is a huge painful moment for followers.
Asked about the allegations of sexual assault, he said: "I'm not stupid . ".
"For a master addicted to all this, will I give up everything and give up a $200,000 business contract in the US?
"But now, there are as many text messages from dojo as followers of Harpalani want to receive, except for a text message from prison posted on Friday.
He warned his followers not to do anything illegal and asked them to continue to shout slogans, keep peace and have confidence in the Indian legal system.
"The truth is fearless," Harpalani wrote a little unbelievably . ".
"There is no leg to a lie.
May God bless you.