Nithyananda wants to ‘cleanse’ self in Ganga
He checked into a hotel on the outskirts of Hardwar Sunday night
In the dock following a video expose showing him having sex with a Tamil actress, self-styled godman A Rajasekharan, alias Paramahamsa Nithyananda on Sunday made a dramatic appearance at the ongoing Mahakumbh in Hardwar, Uttarakhand, where he said he wanted to ''bury'' his ''past in the sacred waters of the Ganges''.
In a brief interaction with the media, Nithyananda who checked into Room 104 (air-conditioned) at Hotel Lee Grand at Ranipur on the outskirts of Hardwar, termed all allegations against hims as ‘lies’.
The room was booked by one S K Tewari, according to the hotel manager. Believed to be a disciple of Nithyananda, Tewari did not even submit his identity with the hotel reception. Nithyananda, who checked in on Sunday night left in a huff for an undisclosed destination after the local media got the information and reached there. Now a fugitive from the law, Nithyananda is believed to be constantly changing his location in the vicinity of Hardwar.
There was a brief altercation between Nithyananda’s personal aides and the media after the godman tried to keep the media persons at bay and prevented them from asking questions. “I am being falsely implicated....it’s all lies...the truth will come out after the investigation is complete,” said Nithyananda, claiming he was “innocent”.
“I don’t know the people who are conspiring to implicate me... I am being held guilty even though the investigation is on,” he added. “No case against me has been registered anywhere...there are only allegations and no charges have been filed against me,” Nithyananda, against whom the Tamil Nadu police has filed two cases -- of cheating and criminal intimidation -- claimed.
Nithyananda, however, said he did not want to talk about the past. “I do not want to talk about the past....I have decided to start afresh...dropping my past in the scared Ganges and starting afresh,” he said when pressed further.
It was not clear if Nithyananda would take a dip in the Ganges on the occasion of the third shahi snan (grand bath) on Monday though a disciple of his said the godman would take a bath in the river. Till late on Monday evening, he was not spotted at the ghats where hundreds of sadhus and thousands of people took the holy dip.
The Mahakumbh Mela administration officials had cancelled the allotment of land to Nithyananda after the video came to light and protests were organised outside his ashrams in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Nithyananda is likely to face strong opposition from the seers and sadhus gathered at the Mahakumbh after the All India Akhara Parishad recently expressed concern at ‘fake godmen' and decided to identify and expose them.
