Baba Rampuri

Background

Baba Rampuri was born William A. Gans on July 14, 1950 in Chicago where his father was a dental surgeon, possibly Jewish. He claims to be the first foreigner to be initiated into India’s ancient order of yogis and shamans, the Naga Sannyasis, during the Allahabad Maha Kumbh Mela in 1971. His guru is Swami Hari Puri Ji, son of Pir Sandhya Puri Ji), also known as Hari Puri Baba Ji, Baba Ji, and Guru Ji.

1980s In 1984 he founded the Hari Puri Ashram in the Himalayan foothill town of Hardwar. He divides his time between his ashram in Hardwar, Ujjain, and Goa.

2000s In 2004 he was admitted to the Council of Elders of Datt Akhara in Ujjain, Central India, and has become the special envoy of its Pir (usually the title of a Muslim Sufi leader, but it is also the title of the abbot of Datt Akhara in Ujjain.

He hosts an international camp at the Kumbh Mela (the most recent being the Ardh Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, 2007), as well as retreats, teachings, and initiations in India, and abroad.

In 2007 he was part of the documentary "India Trip" by film-director Lev Victorov (Moscow).

2010s

At the 2010 Kumbh Mela in Haridwar Rampuri was honored with a permanent seat in the Juna Akhara Council and given the title Antahrashtriya (trans. 'International') Mandal (trans. 'World Circle') ka Shri Mahant.

He was interviewed in the 2013 National Geographic documentary on the Kumbh Mela.

He now runs, along with his children, the Baba Rampuri Cultural Foundation Inc. located in Brooklyn, New York, created in January 2013.

On August 11, 2017 Rampuri featured in an episode titled Dear India from the Chelsea late-night talk show.

Rampuri v. Stern Rampuri says Edwin S. Stern approached him in September 2010, and asked him to secure the commitment of the Shri Panch Dashnam Juna Akhara religious society in a spiritual "Kumbha Mela" event to be held in 2012 in New York City. The planned event was cancelled by Stern in August 2011 due to an inability to secure sufficient funding. A court case subsequently ensued.

Rampuri's claim for a $250,000 plus expenses Agent Fee for his assistance in securing the Juna Akhara's participation and a further $1,325,967 that was promised by Stern and his company as a Dakshina (donation) to Juna Akhara itself, was dismissed by the New York Supreme Court on January 15, 2013.

Written works Rampuri's Autobiography of a Sadhu: A Journey into Mystic India was first published in English in 2005 (as Baba: Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Yogi) and translated into Russian in 2006 and German in 2008, with an updated republication in English in 2010.

Published in English as: – originally published as

Published in German as:

Published in Russian as: and translated by А. Горбатюк (A. Gorbatyuk)