Jalandhar, Jan. 22 -- For the followers of Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan (DJJS), time has stood still since January 28, 2014. For 12 years, their faith, and the body of their founder, Ashutosh Maharaj, has remained frozen at a constant -21degC.

While doctors declared him clinically dead over a decade ago, the management at the sect's 100-acre Nurmahal headquarters maintains he is in 'samadhi (deep meditation)' and will eventually return to the physical world. Today, the enclosure where he rests remains a high-security zone, accessible only to a select few, while the organisation he built continues to flourish in his "divine presence".

The preservation is not merely a matter of faith but a ritual of clinical precision. Every six months-in...