Pramukh Swami

(“President Swami,” b. 1921) Title of
Shastri Narayanswarupdas Swami, the
present spiritual leader of the
Swaminarayan religious community.
Swaminarayan Hinduism is based on
the life and teachings of Sahajananda
Swami (1781–1830), who because of his
piety and charisma was deemed by his
followers an avatar of the god Vishnu.
Pramukh Swami is the uncontested
head of the Akshar Purushottam
Samstha, a branch of the Swaminarayan
movement that separated from the parent group in 1906. He is a strict ascetic
who serves as religious teacher (guru) to
an estimated million followers all over
the world. His devotees (bhakta) are
predominately members of the Gujarati
community and mostly affluent merchants, making the movement financially robust.