Swami Nithyananda’s bail plea allowed by High Court

The Karnataka High Court granted conditional bail on Friday to Swami Nithyananda, also known as Paramahamsa Nithyananda. Once the bail order is produced before the jail authorities and the Ramanagara Magistrate, Swami Nithyananda will be free again, after about two moths of prison life.

During his days in prison for almost two months, Nityananda has filed several petitions before the Ramanagara Court and the Karnataka High Court in Bangalore. This is the first of such pleas to bring him some relief. Two other petitions, seeking quashing of proceedings against him, his trusts, etc., and another petition against freezing of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam Trust's bank accounts, are still pending before the court. He had moved the High Court after the Ramanagara Court rejected his plea for bail.

Senior counsel and former Advocate-General B.V. Acharya appeared on behalf of Nityananda before the High Court. He said the Karnataka CID had not been able to place any credible evidence against the godman so far. He said his client had been kept in jail on flimsy grounds. He also said Nithyananda was wrongly booked under several charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He urged the court to grant him bail.

In his order, Justice Subash B. Adi allowed the bail petition of Nithyananda, subject to certain conditions. The court order asked Nithyananda Swami to refrain from giving any discourses or going away without permission of the jurisdictional courts at Ramanagara / Bangalore. The bail order also asked Nityananda to furnish a personal bond of Rs.100,000 and two personal sureties of Rs.100,000 each. Also, Paramahamsa Nithyananda has to report to a local police station once every fortnight. Swami Nithyananda was also asked to surrender his passport.

Nithyananda is likely to be freed on Monday from Ramanagara jail, about 40 km from Bangalore, according to jail authorities. They said The Karnataka High Court verdict will be presented to Ramanagara Magistrate who then will order the jail authorities to release Nithyananda after he executes the bond and agrees to fulfill other conditions stipulated by the bail order.

In March 2010, several television channels aired videos of Paramahamsa Nithyananda in his bedroom at Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam Ashram at Bidadi in Ramanagara District, allegedly showing him in sexual act with a woman, believed to be a Tamil film and television actress from Chennai. Nithyananda claimed the video footage was morphed.

Swami Nityananda had been on the run since March 23, 2010 when the Karnataka High Court dismissed his petition for anticipatory bail. Following the alleged sex scandal, Nithyananda has resigned as the head of Dhyanapeetam Ashram and various trusts he controls.

Swami Nithyananda was detected and arrested on April 21, 2010, along with one of his close disciples Bhaktananda and two others by the officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Karnataka, from a house in a village near Solan in Himachal Pradesh. Nithyananda has been in lodged at the Ramanagara jail since then.

Swami Nithyananda’s driver, Lenin Karuppan, also known as Swami Dharmananda, has filed a complaint against him at a Chennai police station. The Chennai police transferred the case to Karnataka as the scene of the alleged crimes was in Bidadi. Once the Bidadi police registered a case, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Karnataka took over the investigations against Nithyananda.

Paramahamsa Nithyananda has been reportedly slapped with several criminal charges including rape, unnatural sex, and criminal intimidation and cheating. The discovery by CID of a non-disclosure agreement signed by his devotees showed that Dhyanapeetam Ashram allegedly asked followers to sign a 'sex contract' as a preemptive move against any legal action by the devotees. The 10-page non-disclosure agreement alerts devotees about participation in activities that ‘involve nudity... close physical proximity and intimacy, verbal and written descriptions and audio sounds of a sexually oriented and erotic nature.’

When the news of Nithyananda’s bail reached Dhyanapeetam Ashram at Bidadi, the inmates welcomed the verdict and greeted each other with joy. They hoped that the ashram would ‘spring back’ to life once again on the return of Paramahamsa Nithyananda.

Nithyananda’s judicial custody extended to June 9

Swami Nithyananda’s judicial custody, which ended today, has been extended to June 9 by the Karnataka High Court. The court also adjourned the hearing of the bail plea of Nityananda Swami, who was arrested on criminal charges including rape, to June 8.

The orders of the court was announced when the case came for hearing before Justice Subhash Adi, after the CID police sought more time to conduct investigations into the alleged cases against Nithyananda Swami, aka Paramahamsa Nithyananda, after hearing the arguments of both the sides.

Also, a writ petition filed by the counsel of Swami Nithyananda against freezing of bank accounts of the trusts of which he is a trustee has been adjourned to June 4 for hearing. Earlier, Nithyananda’s trust’s bank accounts were frozen as the CID police had communicated to ICICI Bank, Corporation Bank and Canara Bank to freeze that the accounts of Dhyanapeetam Charitable Trust, Nithyananda Foundation, Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam and Nithyanandeshwara Devasthana.

Nithyananda’s lawyer contended before the court that there were ‘no victims or witnesses in the case and it was admitted by the investigating agency’.

Swami Nityananda landed in legal controversies in the first week of March 2010 after some TV channels aired alleged videos showing him in a compromising position with a Tamil film and TV actress. He was later arrested from a village near Solan in Himachal Pradesh on April 21.

Nithyananda’s American devotees issued notices

Media reports say that Swami Nithyananda’s American devotees have been issued notices by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Karnataka, seeking their cooperation in the investigations against the self-appointed godman, who is now in judicial custody facing alleged cases of rape, unnatural sex, fraud, criminal intimidation, hurting of religious sentiments and financial irregularities, after he was caught on hidden cameras in a compromising position with a film and television actress and broadcast by television channels.

The American citizens, believed to be the followers or devotees of the alleged sex-scandal hit Swami Paramahamsa Nithyananda, were tracked down through their e-mail ID, according to sources. The two American citizens, now being summoned stayed in Swami Nithyananda’s Bidadi ashram, have agreed to cooperate with the investigation, though no specific date has been fixed for their return to India, according to Deccan Herald.

The controversial godman Swami Nityananda’s bail plea is to come up for hearing on May 26 before the Karnataka High Court, and the CID is expected to include an updated list of notices issued to American nationals in the statement of objections to Swami Nithyananda’s bail plea before the Karnataka High Court. The bail plea was earlier dismissed by a lower court.

Also, the Karnataka High Court, through an order of Justice B.S. Patil, adjourned petitions filed by four trusts run by Nithyananda challenging the freezing of his bank accounts as part of the CID investigation into the alleged sex scam. Earlier, Nithyananda’s Trust’s bank accounts were frozen as the CID had communicated to ICICI Bank, Corporation Bank and Canara Bank to freeze the accounts in the names of Dhyanapeetam Charitable Trust, Nithyananda Foundation, Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, and Nithyanandeshwara Devasthana.

The CID sleuths have informed the High Court that they have collected evidence from at least 35 witnesses on cases against Swami Nithyananda. Acting upon a search warrant issued by a lower court in Ramanagara, the police have also seized 23 computer hard disks from Bidadi Ashram of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam.

The bail plea of Nithya Bhaktananda, a disciple of Swami Nithyananda, has also been adjourned to May 26, along with Nithyananda’s petition.

Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, Hyderabad: According to reports, on Wednesday, May 12, Nithyananda’s ashram was attacked and the ashram inmates chased away by locals of Satamrai in Shamshabad, near Hyderabad. It was the second such attack on the ashram in the last three months. The ashram is built on a 4.5 acre property donated by Sujatha Reddy, a former devotee of Swami Nithyananda. Recently, the locals, who were annoyed by the poor maintenance of the temple and the attitude of Nithyananda’s staff, approached the donor and explained the situation to her.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sujatha Reddy, along with the locals, went to the ashram and asked the Nithyananda’s disciples, who were working as priests and caretakers of the temple, to leave the ashram. Consequently, alleging that they were manhandled by Sujatha Reddy and the local people, the ashram staff approached the RGI Airport police. On the case, inspector R Sanjay Kumar said, "We are talking to both groups and so far no cases have been registered".

Earlier on March 3, after the alleged sex scandal of Swami Nithyananda broke out on television, internet, etc. the local people evicted some of the inmates of Nithyananda’s Ashram here.

Swami Nithyananda - Actress Ranjitha Love Story

Swami Nithyananda is rarest of the rare enlightened masters, if what he tells his disciples is taken seriously. A description of himself in one of the webpages of Life Bliss Foundation is summarized below.

“On 1st January 1978, past midnight in Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, India, Nithyananda was born, with the birth name Rajasekaran. When Nithyananda was about three years, he met Yogiraj Raghupati Maharaj (Raghupati Yogi). Raghupati Yogi was a friend and Guru to young Nithyananda. Raghupati Yogi arranged for Nithyananda to deliver his first public lecture on the Patanjali Yoga Sutra at the age of ten in Thiruvannamalai to an audience of over 1000 people.”

“Right from his early childhood Nithyananda has been drawn to spirituality. He spent as much time as he could with idols of gods. These were his only joys. He rarely participated in sports and games like normal boys of his age.”

You won’t get much to understand about his days in school, the polytechnic institute where he studied for a diploma, his childhood friends, or about five years he spent in Ramakrishna Mission in his biographies or other places. These are things that he tried to hide in his ghost-written biographies.

His date of birth “1st January 1978” has been challenged by the Newspaper Deccan Herald by producing copy of his visa cancelled by the authorities at the Canadian border while he was trying to cross to the United States.

The Kannada TV channel TV9 interviewed Shivakumar, Nithyananda's classmate in the school, class 6 to 10. Shivakumar tells about Nithyananda's crush with Actress Ranjitha when he was in the school.

Ranjitha made her debut in Tamil films when director Bharatiraja cast her in his movie ‘Nadodi Thendral' (1992). When the movie was released in his native Thiruvannamalai, it was watched by Rajasekaran (Nithyananda) who was in his 10th class. It was ‘love at first sight’ (on the movie screen) for him, says Shivakumar. After watching that movie, he tells Rajasekaran always carried Ranjitha's photo in his school bag. Now, Shivakumar is surprised that after many years of waiting, he made his dream love, infatuation come true.

Ranjitha, born Sri Valli, has acted in a number of Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. Her first film was a Telugu film Kadapa Reddemma. She played lead roles in Tamil films till 1999, and she briefly retired from acting after marrying Rakesh Menon, an Army Major. Since her comeback in 2001 she has acted in supporting roles and special appearances in films and in television shows.

According to news reports, Ranjitha, who has been eluding the police after the scandal involving Nithyananda Swami was telecast, has been summoned by the Karnataka CID to record her statement.

Meanwhile the CID officials said one victim of Nithyananda's Tantric practices has come forward willingly to testify against Nithyananda, but the person's identity is being kept a secret. They said the person was a former devotee of Nithyananda Swami.

It may be noted that Nithyananda had told the CID to conduct a potency test on him, saying "I’m not a man. There’s no way I could have indulged in sexual activities with women". But the CID is convinced of his gender as his passport clearly identifies him as a male and not as a transgender.

Nithyananda: Himachal Pradesh to Bangalore

nityanandastorynewgrid, originally uploaded by newszilla.in.

Swami Nithyananda

nityananda, originally uploaded by newszilla.in.

The identity of this photo has been disputed by the readers of this blog in their comments. But a news site http://www.newszilla.in/ shows this photo as Swami Nithyananda. You can click on the photo to go to the original source of the photo. It is not uploaded by me. It is uploaded by the site quoted above, and they show the same photo as Swami Nithyananda.

Nithyananda being interrogated by CID

Most Popular Nithyananda SMS jokes

While Swami Nithyananda is busy spending his divine energies to tackle the mundane or the most ordinary worldly matters like answering the interrogators/CID in police lock-up, shuttling between the sub-jail where he has his current abode and the court to move bail applications or to face inconvenient questions, SMS jokes and short tweets on Twitter return to amuse the younger generation, especially students. As the Hindustan Times, and other news sites reported, texting about the ‘Kaami Swami’ is again a campus pastime and over ‘50 SMS jokes are doing the rounds’.

The Nityananda jokes that resurfaced this week show more and more people are now getting new Nithyananda jokes on their mobile phones and they are a huge hit among the youth. The young and enterprising people, who shared their favourite SMS jokes on the self-styled godman Paramahamsa Nithyananda of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam and Life Bliss Foundation, include students, graduates and postgraduates in disciplines as varied as IT (information technology, software solutions, etc.) business management, engineering and technology, humanities, journalism, medical sciences, etc.

The purported aphorisms such as, “Science destroyed humans’ peace the day the camera was invented” and “It’s easier to find God than a hidden camera,” are a direct pun at the claims made by the swami, like, he has 360 degree vision, and his divine powers to see the future, past, the unknown, etc.

Surf the Net to find out how inventive and clever people can be at devising puns and rhymes. The command of multiple languages and cultures make the possibilities seemingly endless, observes a news reporter, to poke fun at the twin lives of the Swami.

Some of the most popular Nithyananda SMS jokes collected from various sources are below:

Bangalore by day, bang galore by night
Discourse by day, intercourse by night
Divine message by day, divine massage by night
Incense by day, incest by night
Chamatkar by day, Balatkar by night
Sri Sri by day, Stri Stri by night
Saffron by day, blue by night
Mahadev by day, Kamdev by night
Shivlinga by day, cunnilingus by night
Moral by day, oral by night
Pray by day and prey by night
Preach her by day, breach her by night
Ram by day, ram by night
Renounce by day, pounce by night
Sandalwood by day, Tiger Woods by night
Seer by day, leer by night
Spiritual by day, spirited by night
Swahaa by day, Aaah aaaaaha by night
Dear God by day, Thank God by night
Do-gooder by day, Good-doer by night
God-man by day, lay-man by night
Hari Om Shanthi by day, hurry home Shanthi by night
He is a Swami who is also a Kaami
Swami by day, show me by night
Holy by day, Holi hai by night
It’s easier to find God than a hidden camera
Missionary by day, missionary by night
Monk by day, bonk by night
Monk by day, Old Monk by night
Shiva’s disciple by day, Chivas’ disciple by night
Baba by day, black sheep by night

Swami Nithyananda Caves

PIC_0251, originally uploaded by bat_the_cat.

The Holy Caves, which are the main attraction at Kanhangad Nithyananda Ashram, were constructed by Sadguru Nithyananda (also, variously referred to as Bhagawan Nityananda, Swami Nithyananda) in the 1920s. The caves have forty four room-like structures carved into a rocky hill without any technical assistance. Considered as an engineering marvel, the caves are a standing ovation to Satguru Nithyananda’s divine inspiration and glory.

Nithyananda used to call the caves “Sunrise-Sunset Caves”, as there is daylight in them all through the day. Also, it is warm inside the cave during winter and cool during summer. There are six entrances - three of them facing the east and three facing the west. The space inside most of Holy Caves is large enough for a person to sit and meditate. On the top of the caves, a very beautiful temple that has the exterior architecture of the famous Somnath Temple (located in the Prabhas Kshetra near Veraval in Saurashtra, on the western coast of Gujarat, India) was built.

In the temple, there is the most remarkable statue of Sadguru Nithyananda made of ‘Panchaloha’ (means five metals, the composition of which is laid down in the Shilpa Shastras as an alloy of gold, silver, brass and iron with copper as the major constituent). The statue shows Nithyananda with his right hand indicating his famous ‘Abhayamudra’. Gurudev once predicted that some day, great saints will be living in those caves and inspire the birth of another Golden Era of Sanātana Dharma (or Dharmam Sanātanam, meaning approximately ‘eternal law’).

After completing the construction of all the caves in Kanhangad in 1931, Bhagawan Nityananda once again began his journey northwards and visited many holy places in the country. In 1934 he came to Akroli near Vajreshwari and to Ganeshpuri in Maharashtra in 1936. Ganeshpuri was to be his permanent residence and centre of pilgrimage as well as worship to his devotees. Also, hundreds and thousands of people who had heard of his divine powers used to flock together at Ganeshpuri.

Are Swami Nithyananda’s interrogators mesmerized?

The investigators interrogating Swami Nithyananda are seemingly mesmerized by the godman, because either they complete a session of interrogation under CCTV and record the entire proceedings only to find that it does not have any sound, but only pictures like the movies of the silent era.

There was even a report saying that one of the sleuths who went to arrest the Swami from Himachal Pradesh was cured of some mysterious ailments by the Swami.

Then there were reports that the swami uses delaying tactics and it is very difficult to make him speak. He frequently goes on a trance or is meditating so that the sleuths could make hardly any significant headway in the interrogation process. On this ground, they have to get his custody extended till May 12, 2010.

Yet another report that sounded funny is that they are searching for one Nithya Gopika, who has been the Swami’s ‘intimate friend’ and used to travel with the swami on his foreign trips, and take care of his personal belongings. Reports say the interrogators are unable to fix the identity of her, or locate her.

Quite funny! The name Nithya Gopika is possibly the same woman who is known as Ma Nithyananda Gopika. If it is so, she was initiated into Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam or his other organizations along with Nithyananda’s associate Gopal Sheelum Reddy alias Sri Nithya Bhaktananda, who is already under custody of the police. The interrogators can easily find out her details from Nithya Bhaktananda, who is already in their custody. Also, I remember to have seen some other names on the list below in some reports on the case.

As per some unconfirmed reports her husband Sri Nithya Sevakananda (Raj) was also an Ashramite and they are now back in the US. Here is a list of people who were ‘blessed’ by the swami on May 11, 2006.

Avisit to Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam’s website will give the following info:

“Swamiji commences the fourth Acharya training in the US at picturesque Camp Buckhorn near Los Angeles, CA… May 11 - Swamiji blesses Los Angeles Ashramites with new spiritual names. The ashramites who received new names are -

Sri Nithya Bhaktananda (Gopal [Sri Anand Roop])

Ma Nithya Dayananda Mayi (Jyothi [Ma Nithya Roop])

Sri Nithya Medhananda (Krishna [Sri Nithya Omkaar])

Ma Nithya Medhananda Mayi (Kavita [Ma Ananda Maatrusri])

Sri Nithya Sevakananda (Raj [Sri Nithya Shaaleen])

Ma Nithyananda Gopika (Vidya [Ma Ananda Satyaprakashini])

Ma Nithya Shaantananda (Suman [Ma Nithya Premanjali]

sri Nithya Sahajananda (Sreraman [Sri Nithya Saadhak])

Sri Nithya Vimalananda (Vinay [Sri Nithya Satyajyothi])”.

Interestingly, there are a number of photos on the page of the ceremony, which may have the photos of the above persons (I do not recognize them). It may be noted that the photos may be removed or the entire page may be removed, because many pages of the websites related to/owned by Swami Nityananda are being either re-done or deleted, or the entire websites made uninformative or surrendered as in the case of his Los Angeles Vedic temple and the Singapore and Malaysia Ashrams, the sites of which was simply not renewed and now being offered for sale.

Go for the photo of Ma Nithyananda Gopika at http://www.dhyanapeetam.org/web/WorldTourJuly2006.asp. The other persons in the photo are, the description above the last photo says, “Swamiji is seen along with Swamis and Swaminis of the Nithyananda Order of Los Angeles. Seated from left to right are Ma Nithya Sachitananda, Ma Nithyananda Gopika, Ma Nithya Dayananda Mayi, Ma Nithya Mitraananda. Kneeling from left to right are Sri Nithya Sachitananda, Sri Nithya Sahajananda, Sri Nithya Bhaktananda, Swamiji, Ma Nithya Medhananda Mayi and Sri Nithya Sevakananda”.

CID: Interrogating Swami Nithyananda was like a punishment

theeradha vilayatu pillai:):):P:P, originally uploaded by maran d learner.

This symbolic caricature gesture entitled 'PLAYBOY NITHYA SPL' seems to be showing the attitude of the Tantric Nithyananda towards the CID sleuths questioning him. News on print media as well as the electronic media brings out news headlines totally unexpected of a swami or guru, with new charges being slapped against him such as his alleged involvement in smuggling gold, flouting of FERA/ FEMA regulations, possession of banned items like tiger skins, and skins/hides of leopards, spotted deer, wild dogs, etc., and a historic first for any godman of any denomination in the form of making his devotees sign Non-Disclosure Agreements on sexual activities that they are expected to perform in his Ashram.

The author of this caricature says, "India is the land of many saints and gurus but not all of them are good. Very often, we hear scandals and fraud against these gurus. Swamy Nithyananda fraud is the latest addition in this regard. Last month a private news channel released a shocking scandal video, where Swamy Nithyananda was caught having sex with a top Tamil actress. This video sent shockwaves across India… Swamy Nithyananda or so-called Paramahamsa Nithyananda is known as the guru of Tamil Nadu. He has been very popular among people and he had significant followers. After the release of the video tape, people accused him fraud. He made them believe that he is a swamy.... at last he has arrested by police yesterday . . .!! Any way our poor people not going to stop believing this kinda poli saamiyars. . !!!"

An interesting news item that appeared in a newspaper says IPL (Indian Premier League) eclipsed SPL (Sex Premier League) because the IPL news encompassed all the three major religions of India, Cricket, Bollywood and Politics. The news even went on to say IPL this year was juicier and spicier than SPL.

Here is an example of how Nithya Tantric power rendered the interrogators brain-dead. A news item from NDTV had the headline “Interrogating Sex Swami was like a 'punishment',” because ‘when the officers were done with their questions for the day, they played the tape and found it did not have any sound. The tape ran like a silent movie in colour… Hours of effort had gone waste.’

After the CID officers transported the swami and his accomplice from his hideout in Solan district in Himachal Pradesh to Bangalore on April 21, the swami was remanded by the Ramanagara local court to police custody and they took him to their new interrogation cell in Bangalore. They interrogated the swami in the cell and recorded everything and when they played back the recordings, it was just like a movie of the silent era! No sound at all; and nothing could be made out of what the godman said.

"It was very difficult to make him speak. And then our efforts went waste thanks to our poor technical knowledge. We had to repeat the entire exercise on Sunday," a CID source said. “There was a problem with the audio output of the recording. The video was just fine. When the statement was recorded the sound was audible but the output on the computer was considerably muted," explained a technician.

The interrogators had to ask the same questions again, and Nithyananda smiled his trademark grin at his interrogators as usual before getting into his trance-like state, the state in which his encounters with Ranjitha and others were recorded. “He has been either slipping into sleep every now and then or kept chanting mantras whenever the police asked him an important question”, the police sources said.

"It was horrible. Imagine having to repeat the entire exercise! It was like a punishment for us," said the interrogators.

Yet another report said Nityananda Swami was shown the video that was shot by his driver Lenin Karuppan and aired by a popular TV channel. The Smiling Swami recognized Ranjitha, but he could not recognize the man in action (he himself!).

Then, as the CID sleuths could not complete the interrogation, he was presented before the additional civil judge (senior division), at Ramanagara, who ordered his police custody till April 29. The investigators were also awaiting the technical report from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Hyderabad on the CDs seized from his Ashram. Also, the counsel for the police argued that several witnesses, including the Tamil actress, were yet to be interviewed.

But Paramahamsa Nithyananda complained of severe chest pain on the way back and he had to be admitted to the government-run Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology on Bannerghatta Road. But the doctors expressed satisfaction over his health, as an Electrocardiography (ECG) test revealed that his heart condition was normal. The Swami also underwent a treadmill test that showed normal results. So he was discharged to police custody. The swami’s disciple, Nithya Bhaktananda Swami, aka Gopal Seelam Reddy, is also under judicial custody.

The godman used to say, “I am not here to give you words, but I am here to take you beyond words”, and he is virtually doing so to the interrogators now. As these godmen are supposed to know the past, present (tense!) and the future, he seems to have foreseen the ‘present times’, and would have reserved those words for the interrogators!

The Karnataka High Court will hear a bail application filed by the swami’s counsel HS Chandramouli on April 29.

Paramahamsa Nithyananda and Tiger Skins

Swami Paramahamsa Nithyananda, who was arrested in Himachal Pradesh and now undergoes his ‘spiritual seclusion’ under police custody in Karnataka, is now reported to be a ‘lover of wildlife’, as he is fond of skins/ hides of wild animals such as tigers, leopards, spotted deer and wild dogs.

Nithyananda, now credited with fancy titles such as Swami Sexananda, Sex Swami, and many other names, used to tell his followers, “I am Lord Shiva”, “I am Lord Krishna”, etc. When I read these statements after he was made ‘enlightened’ by Lenin Karuppan, and sex videos on YouTube, I thought that he made such claims when he was under a divine trance. I had to make such a wild guess just because he earlier claimed that he was under a similar trance when he was served by Ranjitha, Gopika, and some other men and women, as some jealous TV channels and journalists reported.

I have the bad habit of Googling up every thing, when I find myself in unknown territories such as California sex, Tantric sex, Bidadi sex, so on and so forth. My search led me to the Wikipedia page that said, “Nityananda (Sanskrit: nitya, eternal + ananda, bliss) may refer to:

Nityananda, the Vaishnava saint (born 1474 CE),
Bhagawan Nityananda, the Ganeshpuri Guru (1897-1961),
Mahamandaleshwar Nityananda, Mahamandaleshwar of the Mahanirvani Akhara, Haridwar India, disciple of Muktananda of Siddha Yoga,
Nitya Anand, a scientist,
Swami Nithyananda (Dhyanapeetam), Alleged Sex scandal figure and spiritual Guru from Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu (1978–)”.

My attention was caught by “Alleged Sex scandal figure and spiritual Guru from Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu…”, because that had something to do with what I read in the news. My search also ‘enlightened’ me on Tantric Sex Rites. It is one of the most organic things, as ‘the male partner visualizes himself as Shiva and the female partner visualizes herself as Shakti. Now I understood why he often said, “I am Lord Shiva”, and the name Gopika to ‘I am Lord Krishna’. Also, I came across two pages of what people call a Tantric Sex agreement in which they agree to undergo all kinds of sexcapades and also not to disclose their divine experiences to anyone, else they might encounter instant Samadhi. “A few dots in the eternal ocean of love and oneness with the universal conscience”!

Now I am convinced that Sun TV, Lenin Karuppan, Douglas McKeller of San Jose (US) and the Karnataka Police talk about the same Nithyananda, and not the four others listed above. So, I join the dots to see what figure emerges, though I do not expect a size zero. So, it emerges something as follows (sorry for any factual errors, your corrections and comments welcome!):

Secret Tantric Rituals have been going on in his Ashram, as the seized ‘sex agreements’ that were signed by the Tantric’s followers show. And that seems to be the reason why a top official of the Karnataka Police said that there is no evidence to prove rape or forced sex, and there is nothing in law to punish a swami who enjoyed sex with the consent of his partners. The videos uploaded by Sun TV and many others also do not show any ‘forced sex’. In fact, from the standards of what is shown in Indian cinema and popular TV shows, what Nithyananda does on the videos is just expressions of love. One can see more offending and obscene scenes in most of Indian films and TV serials. So, I wonder, what the big deal is! Some of my friends tell me that the godman misguided his devotees by assuring them that he is a celibate. Some others say that he was trading in Hinduism in wholesale and attributed all his dirty deals to Hinduism, the Vedic scriptures, and he even placed everything under the Nithya brand, like Nithya Yoga, Nithya sex, Nithya Temples, etc.

Then I came across Nithyananda’s biographer ('Glimpses of a Master', republished as 'Nithyananda' Vol 1: by Ram S Ramanathan, formerly Swami Advaithananda, who runs a business in Singapore), who was the speech writer, all other things he dispensed with his devotees, and his many volumes of biography. The biographer now distanced himself with Nithyananda, and says, “So, the so-called 'enlightenment' experience perhaps was a Tantric initiation from the Aghori babas. Certainly not one that would allow anyone to declare himself a Paramahamsa and initiate unsuspecting innocents into Sanyas and Brahmacharya… As his biographer, people have accused me of lying on all these facts including the birth-date. I have to accept those accusations as I was foolish to believe, as I was equally foolish to teach over a thousand people in turn to believe”.

So, I consider Nithyananda as a Tantric, who is trying to attain Tantric superpowers through Vamachara Tantra Rites, which are associated with the pancha-makara or the ‘Five Ms’, also known as the pancha-tattva’. These are Madya (wine, addictive substances like drugs, etc.), Mamsa (meat), Matsya (fish), Mudra (cereal), and Maithuna (sexual intercourse, all varieties and poses, but animals included or not, I do not know). In Vamachara or Vamamarga Tantric practices, most of the practitioners insist on the use of these ‘Five Ms’. These are props to make Tantra practitioners successful in their ‘quest for ‘Life Bliss’ and union with Param Shiva’. Because these practices are not approved of by most spiritualists and the cultured society, the Vamamarga Tantrics, Aghoris, and sects and cults like Kapalikas practice these rituals in utmost secrecy.

The props used in some extremely secret Tantric practices include cannibalism (eating human flesh), smearing the ash collected from burned dead bodies, using human skulls and bones, consuming various organs of animals like tigers, leopards, etc. which many people believe to have magic properties to cure diseases, defy aging, increase sexual endurance and pleasure, etc. And this is one of the reasons why the tiger population of countries like China has decreased to the level of extinction and there are large scale poaching and smuggling of tigers and their body parts to China and other countries.

Further, as most of us see in the posters and other visual representations of Gods and Goddesses, animals and animal parts like the tiger skin form essential items in their make-up and accessories. For instance, Lord Shiva wears leopard skin and many gods are depicted as seated on tiger skins. So, if a self-proclaimed ‘enlightened Paramahamsa Nithyananda’ who claims to be Shiva possess skins of tigers, leopards, etc., it only shows his Tantric origins. But the problem is with the legal restrictions and ethical questions on the possession and use of body parts of some of these wildlife species.

Swami Nithyananda, after his arrest in Himachal Pradesh, is now in police custody for his alleged involvement in several criminal cases relating to obscenity, criminal intimidation, rape and hurting religious sentiments. But now he seems to be a bit more in trouble following the recovery of a CD, which was seized from his Bidadi ashram. It has visuals of Swami Nithyananda using wildlife products including a tiger pelt, skin of a leopard, spotted deer and a wild dog.

"The CD is with forest officials. The swami will land in deep trouble if wildlife sleuths decide to investigate how and where he procured the wildlife products," said an official from the forest cell of the Karnataka CID. He added, neither the swami nor his ashram had declared any of the products that are seen in the CD.

Also, said an official, "We couldn't interrogate Swami Nithyananda as he went into hiding. But now that he has been arrested, we will go ahead with the case". And Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests B K Singh is reported to have said, "I'll ask my subordinates to proceed with the investigations. They will also be asked to get details of wildlife products found in the CD."

After reading these reports, one can understand the dilemma the officials face. The crimes alleged against the swami involve various departments of the Government. These reports simply suggest that there is no proper coordination between various departments. For example, “local forest officials who are probing the case were reluctant to comment”, a report said.

If Nithyananda went into hiding it was the wisest thing he could do to save his life, because violent mobs vandalized his Ashram and set many things on fire, when his sex tapes were aired. The police just failed to protect him and his Ashram. After all, he is just an ordinary mortal, though he claims to be Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna, etc. But, they are just jargons of his trade, just as some politicians, actors, cricket czars, etc. say blatant lies to the public to promote their businesses.

For example, what I viewed on video about former Andhra Governor Narayan Dutt Tiwari is more ridiculous than what Nithyananda did with the actresses and others. The 84-year-old N D Tiwari was shown in bed with three women by Telugu language cable news channel ABN Andhra Jyothi, though he said that he ‘is framed’ and ‘it is a political conspiracy’. But, no one vandalized anything of Tiwari, nor was he jailed. He did everything for pure BLISS of his own enjoyment, but if Paramahamsa Nithyananda did every thing for saving the humanity from calamities like earthquakes around the Pacific Ring of Fire (work in progress in his Malaysian and Singapore Ashrams in the Pacific Ring), and he was about to stop the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökul from erupting when Douglas McKeller of San Jose, California put a stop to it by claiming ‘California Sex’ is ineffective, even if each participant has to shell out $400,000 for participation and a certificate of enlightenment.

Geetanjali V, Deputy Conservator of Forests (Ramanagar Division) was more concerned about the violations as she said, "Earlier, sandalwood pellets were also recovered from the swami's ashram. We'll conduct an investigation in that case. However, to take appropriate action in case of other wildlife products the swami is evidently seen with, we'll require orders from higher authorities."

But Nithyananda, though Tantric rites may need animal skins, don’t you think that it is only common sense to respect the laws of the country that you live in and by selling the Vedic wisdom of that country you made several millions and as such all your godly programs have to be redesigned to respect the laws and the sentiments of the people? After all, all well-meaning religions, including Hinduism, consider that animals too are creations of God, and they too need to be loved and cared for. You cannot get skins of animals unless you (or others) kill them for your petty, fanciful “Bliss” programs!

I think I am more confused about the business of BLISS through animals! But, where are the animal rights activists and PETA? The law seems to be helpless! For Nithyananda, enhancing ‘Nithyanandam’ for his dollar-spinning followers is more of a thing of union with universal consciousness and enriching the lives of his inmates than kindness to animals, and being a responsible law-abiding citizen!

Swami Nityananda's Tantric Sex Agreement

Swami Nithyananda's sex agreement with devotees

Swami Nithyananda Non-Disclosure Agreement, originally uploaded by irumuruhcchurumuri.

Ma Nithya Manessha at Bidadi Ashram

Ma Nithya Maneesha, originally uploaded by Sri Nithya Nirgunadevan.

This photo (5 Sep 08) by Sri Nithya Nirgunadevan shows Ma Nithya Manessha, described by him as 'Nithya Yoga Archarya President in Bidadi, India'. The woman seems to be an inmate of the Bidadi Ashram. The photographer, born as Richard in Guyana and now living in USA, he became Sri Nithya Nirgunadevan, a devotee of Swami Nithyananda.

Swami Nityananda back home after 'vanvas'

The self-styled godman Swami Nityananda, who elevated himself as Paramahamsa Nithyananda, is finally back home after his vanvas, thanks to Bangalore Police, who arrested him on Wednesday from his hideout in Mamlig village near Arki town in Solan District of Himachal Pradesh, about 50 km from Shimla.

Nityananda and his close aide and the head of his operations in the United States, Gopal Sheelum Reddy alias Nitya Bhaktananda were flown in to Bangalore and were whisked away to Ramanagaram Sessions court, the police told the media.

He was arrested along with his four associates, after he had been absconding for over a month after a purported video footage of him in a compromising position with the Tamil actress Ranjitha and alleged sexual relations with some other women and men. The arrests were made by a joint team of Karnataka Crime Investigation Department and Himachal Pradesh Police.

Swami Nityananda, alias Paramahamsa Nithyananda, according to Assistant superintendent of police, Solan, Ramesh Pathania, was wanted by Karnataka police in two cases under Sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 376 (punishment for rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC. Nityananda Swami had been on the run since March 23 when the Karnataka High Court rejected his plea for anticipatory bail.

The scandal-hit godman was staying in a rented house for the past one month. Himachal police got a fax from the Karnataka police on April 17 that they had information that Nityananda was hiding in Himachal Pradesh. Subsequently, two Karnataka deputy superintendents of police reached Shimla for investigation.

The police team zeroed in on the accused godman and his associates based on the information provided by a local taxi driver of Himachal Pradesh. Though Nityananda and Nithya Bhaktananda (Gopal Seelam Reddy) rarely moved out, their three other companions used to visit the nearby market to procure items of daily needs.

A Bangalore police official M.S. Hussain said, "Nityananda and Reddy reached Himachal Pradesh from Haridwar and they stayed in the village." The police seized $7,000 and Rs 300,000 in cash from Nityananda, and three laptops, eight mobile phones, three video cameras, and one SIM card procured from Himachal Pradesh were also recovered from them. The house where Nityananda was staying since March 27 belonged to a Delhi resident, who would be questioned soon, the police said.

Meanwhile, a CID team conducted a search of the Ashram of Nithyananda Swamiji at Bidadi, near Bangalore on 20 April, 2010, and seized important documents including computer hard disks, Director General, CID, Dr D V Guru Prasad said.

After the scandalous videos of Nityananda were aired on TV channels on March 3, the godman’s former driver Lenin Karuppan filed a complaint with the Chennai police commissioner. Another case was registered at Coimbatore by Vishwanath for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. In Karnataka, the police registered the cases based on these two complaints and later they handed over the case to the CID, after which the CID sleuths started getting complaints from overseas through e-mails.

According to reports, Nithyananda is afraid of facing prosecution in the US following a case lodged by a US citizen Douglas Mckellor before the California State Attorney-General Jerry Brown, accusing the Swami of fraud, financial irregularities and physical abuse of devotees in USA. McKellor, a former devotee, also known as Swami Nithya Prabha, is a resident of San Jose in California and came in contact with Nityananda in 2007, and later became the head of the California branch of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam.

Douglas attended Nithyananda's enlightenment program held at Los Angeles ashram, where he said he paid Nithyananda a fee of $400,000 for the workshop and the enlightenment certificate. Nithyananda sexually exploited his American devotees, The American said in his complaint.

Nithyananda’s Life Bliss Foundation in the US has shut down after the scandal broke out. So, is his Vedic Temple in Los Angelese that is shut down to devotees! Lenin Karuppan, an insider who had recorded the sex tapes, and who had first filed a complaint with the Chennai Police Commissioner, has alleged that several foreign devotees have been duped by Nithyananda.

Also, a court in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu had issued a non-bailable warrant against him on Monday with the direction to the police to produce him before the court on May 20.

Swami Nityananda has rejected sex scandal allegations against him, and his lawyers said they are ready for a legal battle.

Swami Nithyananda arrested in Himachal Pradesh

The Bangalore Police, with the cooperation of Himachal Pradesh Police, arrested Swami Nithyananda (the self-styled Paramahamsa Nithyananda, who claims to be enlightened) from a hideout in the Solan District of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday. Reproduced below is a Press Note issued by the Bangalore Police on his arrest:

A team of Karnataka State CID took into custody Swamy Nithyananda in Solan District of Himachal Pradesh this afternoon. Along with Sri Nithyananda Swamiji, Sri Nithya Bhaktananda alias Gopal Seelam Reddy has also been taken into custody. Both these persons are wanted in connection with two cases registered at Bidadi Police Station. Both the persons are being produced before the local Magistrate and after securing body warrant, they will be brought to Bangalore.

A CID team conducted a search of the Ashram of Nithyananda Swamiji at Bidadi on 20.4.2010, and seized important documents including computer hard disks.

Dr D V Guruprasad

Director General of Police

COD, Training, Special Units & Economic Offences

Bangalore

Nithyananda Swami who has been charged in a sex scandal, and other counts including fraud and cheating, as per various reports, has been hiding since March 23 after the Karnataka High Court dismissed his plea for invalidating the criminal charges against him and for providing him an anticipatory bail. Nithyananda was arrested from Mamlig village near Arki town in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, where ‘he was staying in a rented house for the past one month, quoted Additional Director General of Police I.D. Bhandari.

According to reports, Swami Nithyananda, will be taken to a local court in Solan District or Simla for transfer remand and soon after he will be moved to Karnataka, where he has an Ashram at Bidadi near Bangalore, or to Tamil Nadu, where he was born in Thiruvannamalai.

It is reported that the warrant was issued against him following a complaint of an advocate, who accused Swami Nithyananda of ‘hurting religious sentiments of people of India’ and doing a malicious act by indulging in affairs with a Tamil actress and other women without their consent.

Nithya Bhaktananda Swami's Teachings

Sri Nithya Bhaktananda Swami, originally uploaded by Duncan Creamer.

Well, I found this interesting caricature uploaded on Flickr on 14 Nov 2008 (not in March 2010), which reminded me of the monkey businesses of some Indian godmen caught recently in inglorious situations by the Indian police and media. It seems that the last one year was particularly bad for at least some of the fake gurus, especially because they have been the living gods of their devotees, have established huge imperial Ashrams worth several millions of dollars within a few years, and some of them just had humble huts to begin with in India, but soon they were establishing their branches and temples abroad, their favourite first destination being USA.

In fact most Indians come to know about them because of their US and NRI connections that flood the media and internet.

Here are some of the teachings of Sri Nithya Bhaktananda Swami (Gopal Seelam Reddy, a disciple of Nithyananda):

It cannot be taught
But it can be caught

Chewing the cud from the past
Chewing the cud of the future

Mind is a monkey
Body is a donkey

You guys have no past!

Lenin on Paramahamsa Nithyananda - Part Three

In the last seven years, the assets amassed by Nithyananda are estimated to be about Rs 2000 crores. There are over 1000 products on sales, including books, CDs, etc. Most of the books/CDs on sale at Nithyananda’s website are prized at $65 each. There are sales sites and shopping carts in his site, all selling spiritualism, meditation, etc. Besides, according to Lenin Karuppan, there is a company Nithyananda Imports and exports private limited that gets most of the money as donations that are exempt from tax, without regular shipping bills or export documentation. Therefore Karuppan feels that there is large scale tax-evasion going on, but it is to be seen by the Government/tax authorities.

Every Ashramite/ inmate of the Ashram is to sign a contract of secrecy or confidentiality with the Swami Nithyananda, Karuppan says. Excepting women who attend on the godman, no one is allowed in his bed room/ private quarters. So, no body knows what is going on there, or anything about the lifestyle of the godman. Asked when whether the women and men abused by Nithyananda have been forced into giving him sexual favours, Lenin Karuppan says, the swami uses his powers of hypnotism, mesmerism, Tantra techniques, etc., to win over the victims’ consent for sex. For the same reason, and for fear, none of the victims complain against the godman.

The whereabouts of Swami Nithyananda is not known, so is of Ranjitha. Karuppan told Sun TV in an interview that the swami can be in Delhi, Haridwar, Nepal, or in another safe Ashram, hiding from media, or to evade arrest. The police is investigating and a case is in the court. The people in the area around Bidadi, where his Ashram is situated is deadly against Nithyananda’s questionable practices. They have raided his ashram, set fire to his photos and other articles, and there was a fire engulfing some huts in the Ashram area.

As Lenin awaits the truth to emerge from the investigations, the CID is probing into the scandal involving the godman and Tamil actress Ranjitha. Though Lenin had made allegations of sodomy against swami Nithyananda, there is no video evidence to corroborate that charge, an official was quoted as saying.

The CID has conducted raids at the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam ashram and searched his premises before seizing documents relating to his activities, including registers from the headquarters of the cult located at Kallugopahalli in the Bidadi Taluk of Ramanagara district of Karnataka, on the basis of a warrant obtained from the Ramanagara magistrate.

Also, the CID sleuths are going through the documents to unearth evidence related to his financial resources, land acquisition, and links with women brahmacharinis, sources said, adding, “We suspect he has destroyed some incriminating papers.” Sources said they are also trying to find out the role of Nithyananda’s secretary T Dhanasekaran, alias Sadhananda, alias Aiyya, in the land acquisition deals.

On April 12, reports from Chennai said that the Chennai High Court has dismissed a petition seeking a CBI investigation into allegations against Nithyananda Swami. In his order justice R Regupathy said, "When investigation of the case is still pending on the files of special agency at Karnataka and when nothing has been alleged against them, I cannot find any merit to transfer the case to CBI". This petition was filed by Nithya Dharmananda alias K Lenin. Based on his complaint the police had registered cases against Nithyananda for various offences under IPC including rape.

Also, there are reports suggesting that some cases are filed against the godman with American authorities in California/ USA for fraud and other charges.

Lenin on Paramahamsa Nithyananda - Part Two

According to Lenin Karuppan, who was made Swami Dharmananda by the self-proclaimed Paramahamsa Nithyananda, the godman claims himself as the God, not even an incarnation. Nithyananda claims, “I am Lord Krishna, I am Lord Shiva…” According to news reports, Lenin planted video cameras inside the bedrooms of Nithyananda with the help of one or more of the female victims. Once the godman got wind of that, he confronted Lenin, but he escaped from the Nithyananda Ashram, at Bidadi, near Bangalore (Bengaluru) and reached Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Ever since then the godman has been calling Lenin frantically to get hold of the proofs against him which Dharmananda had carried with him. He says, the godman has been threatening him, and sometimes pleading with him, saying that he is not threatening. The interviewer asked Dharmananda whether it is true that he has really quit as the head of the Ashram, his trusts, etc., as announced by Nithyananda. According to Lenin, it is ‘complete drama’, and his secretary who was managing the Ashram earlier is still managing it and there is no actual change in the management.

Asked why the godman is still not arrested by the police, Lenin claims that Nithyananda is in the good books of the politicians and hence, he is not arrested yet. The Karnataka police team has interrogated Lenin, and the Nithyananda Ashram near Bangalore was raided by the police and now the police are investigating the activities of the Ashram’s Branch in Malaysia.

A Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) datelined report on April 11 said that the Malaysian ashram linked to the scandal tainted Swami Nithyananda will cooperate with the Indian police probing the sex scandal. However, the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam Ashram's spokesman K. Murthi said ‘he did not know how the Indian police could link the center’s activities with the scandal, as they were purely spiritual in nature’. He said Nithyananda had visited the ashram a few times and all activities at the Malaysian ashram had stopped since the scandal broke out last month. This is in reference to what earlier the Bangalore Police had said that it was planning to send a probe team to Malaysia to unearth any evidence at the ashram.

As ANI reported, "Through our investigation, we know there is an ashram in Malaysia (Penang). If there is credible information, we will send our officers to probe," said K.N. Yogappa, Superintendent of Police of the Bangalore Criminal Investigation Department (CID). A total of 30 sex tapes showing Swami Nithyananda indulging in sex with at least six different women have reportedly been submitted to the CID. The investigating officials, who conducted a raid on the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam ashram at Bidadi on April 5 and 6, have so far interrogated 29 people, according to ANI.