A follower of the Hare Krishna movement, Alfred – who also goes by the name Ambarish Das – has invested millions of dollars into building monuments and cultural sites across America, India, and even Russia.

In 1975, along with Elisabeth Luis Reuther, daughter of a key figure in the United Auto Workers union, he bought and refurbished a Detroit mansion before donating it to the Bhaktivedanta Cultural Center of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The refurbishments alone cost $2 million (£1.6m).

Another major project is the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium in Mayapur, to which Alfred has contributed $25 million (£20m) in seed money. Construction of the temple began in 2009 and is still ongoing today. Speaking to Rediff, Alfred said: "I was nervous as that was the time the Ford company was about to go bankrupt because of the economic downturn". (In fact, Ford narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2009).

This picture shows Alfred and Elisabeth sitting beneath a mural in the mansion in 1983.

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