Finally, you reach the ashram of Bajrang Maharaj, or Bapu as he is called by the villagers of Oran and adjoining areas. The moral and religious order is confirmed by a tin placard resting against a pillar, on which are written Bapu's orders with the footnote: ``By the orders of Ranjeet Hanuman Supreme Court of India''.

Here, sitting in the courtyard, the Jat from Etah in Uttar Pradesh receives people and dispenses his homilies, as he has been doing since he came to Oran some 50-odd years ago. Why Gujarat? For a minute he is silent. He looks you straight in the eye and says: ``Mujhe Hanuman ne bulaya tha. (I was sent to this place by Hanuman). He came in my dreams.'' In fact, Bajrang Maharaj says he is a ``representative'' of the Monkey God.

Today, this has become just one of the many legends that surround him, as do the swarms of people who come to see him every day. Some say he wields malkhambs and maces even today, some say he is more than 100 years old, some say he plays several instruments at one time... People also talk about his beard that ``should be in the Guinness Book of Records''.

This last legend is not, alas, in evidence, though a vernacular daily in the State reported of its existence, along with its photographs, about two decades ago. ``Maharaj ki dari unke pag ke neeche ake toot gaye hain,'' a follower says.

Bapu is not averse to himself relating these stories. ``Chini yudh ke aarambh mein maine prachar kiya tha ki mujhe bhej diya jaye, to main shankh nad se Chiniyon ko peeche hata sakta hoon. (During the Chinese aggression in 1965, I had said that I could make the Chinese retreat with a blow of the conch.)'' Then what happened? The seething maharaj curses the State for not forwarding his call to the Centre.

Bapu is not discriminatory in his blessings. His ashram is situated in a village that boasts a mosque and Hindu and Jain temples. Villagers say that during crop failures or heavy rains, the maharaj's tractors are despatched to buy grains for the villagers, irrespective of caste or creed. ``No one goes hungry because of the maharaja's establishment. There's always food for everybody,'' says Umed Singh, a young sevak hailing form Pithoragarh in UP.

When the maharaja travels, it's in a jeep with a red light on top. When his younger brother and chief aide Batuk is asked about it, he says ``It came from Delhi. The maharaj wished, we bought it from the market.'' What about the legalities? ``The maharaj does not need anybody's permission. It is by the orders of Ranjeet Hanuman Supreme Court of India''.