A Rajasekaran, known popularly as Nithyananda (also called Paramahamsa Nithyananda, born c. 1977-1978 in Tiruvannamalai, India) is an Advaita Vedanta Hindu spiritual leader and godman (charismatic guru). He is believed by his disciples to be an avatar - a reincarnated deity (named Mahasadashiva). He is the founder of Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, which is based in India but has devotees on a broader international scale, with temples, gurukulas, and ashrams in many countries. In February 2013, the title of Mahamandaleshwar was conferred on Nithyananda in a closed ceremony by the Panchayati Mahanirvani Akhara. Various legal controversies involving Nithyananda - both accused and accusing - have appeared in Indian and occasionally international press; many are still unresolved as of June 2018. His name is sometimes given with various honorific titles, as in "H.H. Sri Nithyananda", and "Swami-ji Nithyananda".
Video Nithyananda
Early life
Nithyananda was born with the name Rajasekaran, in Tiruvannamalai, in the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India, to father Arunachalam and mother Lokanayaki. Sources conflict as to his birth date - even in official documents provided by Nithyananda. His passport and a 2003 US visitor visa gave a date of 13 March 1977, while 2010 Karnataka High Court documents showed a date of 1 January 1978.
Maps Nithyananda
Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam organisation
Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, a religious organisation founded by Nithyananda, regularly hosts cultural events related to Hinduism in the United States. They have also set two Guinness world records, one in rope yoga and one in pole yoga (mallakhamba).
Swami Nithyananda's organization claims that he and his inducted disciples have spiritual powers, including kundalini awakening and third-eye awakening He has claimed that there are 400 extraordinary spiritual powers which can be expressed by humans and has claimed to have initiated his disciples into 60 such powers. He and his followers claim to be able to perform paranormal phenomena like extrasensory perception and materialisation, body scanning, distance vision, and ability to find lost objects.
Controversies
Sex Tape
In 2010, Sun TV released a sex tape of him and his follower actress Ranjitha which let to a wide spread criticism. Though Nithyanandaand Ranjitha have claimed the video is false, The Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Bengaluru had confirmed that Nithyananda and Ranjitha indeed were the two people shown in the tape.
Nithyananda's ex-driver Lenin Karuppan owned up to filming his 'guru' and Ranjitha clandestinely. Karuppan was a close aide of Nithyananda. A Mid-Day report from July 2010 says that Karuppan apparently confessed to his Swami the reason why he filmed him. Karuppan, who considered himself a dedicated and sincere disciple of Swami Nithyananda, lost faith in his guru after seeing him sleeping around with other women.
Rape accusation
He was accused of raping a disciple over a nearly five-year period, during her stay in the ashram. In June, 2018 a Karnataka trial court framed charges against Nithyananda. He faces trial under Sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 420 (cheating), 114 (criminal abetment), 201 (disappearance of evidence, giving false information), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and other charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Along with Nithyananda, several ashram associates are also facing charges in this case. All of the accused pleaded not guilty except for one who was absent from court.
Ashram death
Sangeetha Arjunan (alias Ma Nithya Turiyateetananda, of Trichy in Tamil Nadu), a 24-year-old Nithyananda sanyasi (disciple) working as the head of the Nithyananda organisation's computer department, died under "mysterious" circumstances on 28-29 December 2014 at Nithyananda's ashram in Bidadi, Karnataka, after a 28 December hospitalization.
Nithyananda and his devotees have stated that the woman appeared to have suffered a heart attack (cardiac arrest).Her mother, Jansi Rani, denied that Arjunan suffered from any cardiac ailment and has alleged foul play on parts of the ashram authority (including physical abuse) and subsequent shoddy investigation by the police.
She petitioned to the Karnataka High Court accusing the state government of obstructing the investigation, and seeking a complete re-investigation.Justice Aravind Kumar, opened an inquest in May 2018 into the failure of the Bidadi police to properly investigate the woman's death. The court recommended referring the death investigation to the national Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI),
Nithyananda's website has issued a press release denying the accusations, stating that unnamed "hospital sources" confirmed a natural death and asserting that her family had a history of heart problems.
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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