JOIN USRishikesh seer gave shelter to Nithyananda
Nithyananda was allegedly roughed up by a few local journalists after he asked them to leave him alone in his room at Lee Grand Hotel on the outskirts of Hardwar. Following the altercation, Nithyananda managed to take a dip in the Ganga well past 10 pm on Monday, after the shahi snan (grand bath) at the Mahakumbh mela was over. It is understood that his dip at the VIP ghat, which is out of bounds for common devotees, was arranged by an influential person.
He subsequently left for Chandigarh, an information which could not be immediately confirmed. It has now emerged that Paramarth Niketan Ashram chief Swami Chidananda reportedly arranged Nithyananda’s interview with some television news channels.
An office bearer of the Rishikesh ashram, R K Dixit, told Deccan Herald over phone that Nithyananda did visit the place after arti last Sunday evening and met Chidananda. “He visited some other ashrams in Rishikesh and later left for Hardwar,” Dixit said.
When reports of Nithyananda’s arrival at Lee Grand Hotel in Ranipur, on the outskirts of Hardwar, spread, a large number of journalists rushed there. Panicky, Nithyananda tried to avoid them and asked his personal aides to clear out the room into which he had checked in. Irked by Nithyananda’s attitude, a local journalist allegedly slapped him for giving selective interviews to some television news channels.
The godman, who has been constantly changing his location since he left the Kallugopahalli ashram in Bidadi near Bangalore on March 2, thereafter briefly spoke to the local media before leaving the hotel in a huff. He spent Sunday night at an undisclosed location, sources in Hardwar said.