Asaram: The preacher who built an empire of Rs 10,000 crore

From the high pedestal of a preacher having thousands of followers, self-styled godman Asaram's fall from grace came after he was embroiled in the rape case of a minor girl.

If we go by figures, Asaram can surely give top businessmen a run for their money as the jailed self-styled godman created an empire of Rs 10,000 crore within four decades, starting from a humble hut on the banks of the Sabarmati river in the early 70s to over 400 ashrams across the country and the world.

The scrutiny of documents seized by the police from Asaram's ashram in Motera area here following his arrest in the rape case in 2013 had revealed that the 77-year-old Asaram
has amassed wealth of around 10,000 crore, which is
After partition in 1947, Asumal came to Ahmedabad with
his parents and studied only till the fourth standard at a school
After doing some odd jobs during his early youth,
Asumal embarked on a "spiritual quest" towards Himalayas,
Asaram came to Ahmedabad in the early 70s and started
Within a span of four decades, he added around 400
Asaram is married to Laxmi Devi and they have two
children - son Narayan Sai, who is also behind bars, and
Asaram ran into troubled waters for the first time in