Sant Rampal sits inside an air-conditioned glass booth while dozens of followers line up to touch or kiss his feet.
Before becoming a revered guru in India, he worked for almost 15 years as an engineer in the Haryana Irrigation Department. He left that life to found Satlok Ashram, and over time his devotion became so extreme that his assistants accompany him carrying air coolers so he never feels hot while walking.
Behind that image lies something much darker: in 2014, a confrontation between his followers and the police at his Barwala ashram left six people dead. In 2018, he received a life sentence, although in 2025 the Punjab and Haryana High Court suspended that sentence while his appeal is resolved. Today he remains free on bail, and his followers continue to line up to see him.
