Baba Bhaniara is the founder of a religious sect that attracted mostly the marginalized Mazhabi Sikhs. In 1998, the Sikh religious body Akal Takht ex-communicated Bhaniara, accusing him of insulting Sikhism and the contemporary Sikh religious leaders. In summer 2000, a local gurudwara disallowed one of Bhaniara's followers from carrying the Sikh religious holy book Guru Granth Sahib. In response, Bhaniara's followers decided to create a new holy book (granth), which would not be controlled by the dominant section of the society. Over the next few months, Bhaniara and his followers created the Bhavsagar Granth (officially called Bhavsagar Samundar Amrit Vani).
