Religion: Junior Guru

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A Great Kid. The premies adore their chubby guru, despite his frustrating habit of showing up hours late for rallies or sometimes not at all. "People who stick to their schedules become like a rock," he explains. As a mark of their devotion, his premies wear their hair short and shave their beards. Makeshift barber chairs were set up in Air India's lounge at Kennedy Airport in New York to shear some lingering longhairs before the Divine Light pilgrims took off for the Delhi festival. The grateful faithful have also laden their lord with gifts, including a Rolls-Royce, a Mercedes and two private planes.

When he and his devotees landed in New Delhi, customs officials thought they had caught the Perfect Master with an embarrassment of riches—a suitcase containing diamonds and other jewels plus $65,000 worth of undeclared foreign currency. The guru's retainers claimed that the money amounted to only $12,000 and represented excess funds from their Divine Bank for travel expenses. The jewels, they said, were the "gifts of devotees from many nations" to the Lord of the Universe. Indian officials were unconvinced, and launched an investigation.

The amiable young master remained unperturbed at the airport as he smilingly greeted his followers from a marigold-decorated throne set up on the back of a Jeep. "The amazing thing about him," said his private secretary, Gary Girard of Los Angeles, "is that he can meditate 24 hours a day no matter what is happening."