Dada Lekhraj, a Sindhi jeweler, established a modern Hindu religious group called the Brahma Kumaris in the 1930s.
The organization moved its headquarters from Sindh (modern Pakistan) to Mount Abu in the Indian state of Rajasthan in 1947, after the partition of British India into India and Pakistan.
Despite the fact that the group has just around 100,000 followers, it is significant for many reasons.
The Brahma Kumaris, unlike other Hindus, actively seeks out and recruits new members, giving them a considerably greater profile than other religious groups.
The group teaches a philosophy that predicts the impending end of the world and calls for extreme asceticism to prepare for it.
It's also worth noting that women have made up the majority of its followers from the beginning.
Dada Lekhraj's series of apocalyptic visions sparked the movement.
These visions not only persuaded him of the impending tribulation, but also confirmed his belief that a person's true identity was found in the soul rather than the body.
Following this revelation, the group decided to practice total celibacy.
When some of his young female followers embraced this concept, it caused a huge commotion since they were abandoning their conventional responsibilities as spouses and mothers.
Despite the difficulties, the movement continued, tying the followers even closer together.
The organization had taken on a strong missionary bent by the time Dada Lekhraj died in 1969.
All of these characteristics make it unique and dubious in the eyes of many ordinary Hindus.
For further detail, read Lawrence Babb's 1987 book Redemptive Encounters.
