Swami Muktananda Paramahamsa, born Krishna Rai, was a yoga guru and the founder of Siddha Yoga. He was a disciple of Bhagavan Nityananda. He wrote books on the subjects of Kundalini Shakti, Vedanta, and Kashmir Shaivism, including a spiritual autobiography entitled The Play of Consciousness. In honorific style, he is often referred to as Swami Muktananda, or Baba Muktananda, or in a familiar way just Baba.
Vishal Veeru Devgan, known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director, and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema. A leading actor of Hindi cinema, Devgn has appeared in over 100 films and has won numerous accolades, including four National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards. In 2016, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian honour.
Ramdev, known also by the prefix Baba, is an Indian yoga guru, businessman and brand ambassador for Patanjali Ayurved. He is primarily known for being a proponent of yoga and ayurveda in India. Ramdev has been organizing and conducting large yoga camps since 2002 and broadcasting his yoga classes on various TV channels. He co-founded Patanjali Ayurved and Patanjali Yogpeeth with his colleague Balkrishna in 2006. Ramdev has received criticism over his comments related to modern medicine, yoga, and ayurveda.
Gangaajal: The Holy Weapon is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language action crime drama film written, directed, co-produced and edited by Prakash Jha. Featuring an ensemble cast of 87 actors, it revolves around the Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar who takes charge of the fictitious district of Tejpur, Bihar, known for its high crime rate and organised crime carried out by dons Sadhu and Sunder Yadav. Due to the local police's slow response to crimes, residents of the district resort to pouring acid in the eyes of the criminals as an instrument for extrajudicial justice.
Aastha TV is an Indian spiritual Television channel, owned by Acharya Balkrishna in India. Established in 2000, it is owned by Aastha Broadcasting Network Ltd. The network's directors are Santosh Kumar Jain and Prabhat Kumar Jain. In 2005, the channel started the broadcast of Aastha International through UK affiliate as it had done previously in the United States as a 24x7 service on the DTH platform of BSkyB in UK. By 2006 it was reaching 160 countries around the world.
Sanskar TV is an Indian spiritual Television channel, based in Noida, India. Its programs feature to broadcasting on the Indian philosophy, religion, spiritual solidarity, and culture and focuses more on devotion than spiritualism. The channel started broadcasting in June 2000 and in 2004 The Tribune reported it to have been gaining popularity over the then dominated entertainment and news channels on Indian television.
Patanjali Yogpeeth is a yoga institute located in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. Founded in 2006 and named after the Rishi Patanjali, the purpose of the institute is to practice, research, and develop yoga and ayurveda. The institute is the flagship project of the yoga teacher and entrepreneur Ramdev.
Devgn Films, formerly known as Ajay Devgn FFilms, is an Indian film production and distribution company established by actor Ajay Devgn and his father Veeru Devgan in 1999. Based in Mumbai, it mainly produces and distributes Hindi films.
Ramdev is yoga guru in India. A manufacturing unit owned by his yoga trust was accused of violating labour law and medicine mislabelling. The controversy lasted from mid-2005 to March 2006, when the state government of Uttaranchal dropped charges against Ramdev.
Patanjali Ayurved is an Indian multinational conglomerate holding company, based in Haridwar. It was founded by Ramdev and Balkrishna in 2006. Its office is in Delhi, with manufacturing units and headquarters in the industrial area of Haridwar. The company manufactures cosmetics, ayurvedic medicine, personal care and food products. The CEO of the company, with a 94-percent share hold, is Balkrishna. Ramdev represents the company and makes strategic decisions.
Yog Sandesh is a monthly magazine published in India.
Muni Tarun Sagar was an Indian Digambara monk. His lectures are termed Kadve Pravachan because they can be candidly critical of common practices and views. His lectures have been compiled and published in book series also titled Kadve Pravachan. Excerpts from his discourses are often published by newspapers. Unlike most other Digambar Jain monks, his audience often included a majority of non-Jains. His discourses often addressed family or society issues.
University of Patanjali is a private university, having its Main Campus in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. It was established in 2006 after the Legislative Assembly of Uttarakhand passed The University of Patanjali Act, 2006. It was founded by Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna
Kranti Prakash Jha is an Indian Bollywood actor, film producer, television personality, businessman and model from Begusarai, Bihar, best known for his roles of Santosh Lal in the 2016 Indian biographical sports film M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story.
Balkrishna is an Indian billionaire businessman and chairman of the consumer goods company Patanjali Ayurved. He was reported by Forbes to have a net worth of US$2.3 billion as of May 2021. According to Ashish Kumar of Arya Samaj, Balkrishna has successfully established and managed a global business without a formal education.
Sexual abuse by yoga gurus is the exploitation of the position of trust occupied by a master of any branch of yoga for personal sexual pleasure. Allegations of such abuse have been made against modern yoga gurus such as Bikram Choudhury, Kausthub Desikachar, Yogi Bhajan, Amrit Desai, and K. Pattabhi Jois. There have been some criminal convictions and lawsuits for civil damages.
Gurus of Modern Yoga is an edited 2014 collection of essays on some of the gurus (leaders) of modern yoga by the yoga scholars Mark Singleton and Ellen Goldberg.
Modern yoga gurus are people widely acknowledged to be gurus of modern yoga in any of its forms, whether religious or not. The role implies being well-known and having a large following; in contrast to the old guru-shishya tradition, the modern guru-follower relationship is not secretive, not exclusive, and does not necessarily involve a tradition. Many such gurus, but not all, teach a form of yoga as exercise; others teach forms which are more devotional or meditational; many teach a combination. Some have been affected by scandals of various kinds.
