NAGAPATTINAM: Controversial self-styled Godman Nithyananda is back in the news. This time at coastal Vedaranyam where his disciples have staked claim over a mutt in the heart of the town. Following high drama in the mutt premises on Thursday night over its ownership, the revenue department has launched an inquiry and police personnel have been deployed at the mutt to prevent any untoward incident.
According to sources, the private mutt situated on the North Street of Vedaranyam town, known locally as Ramakrishna Mutt, has been managed by Gnaneswara Nanda (56), of Vedaranyam for the last 13 years. With a large number of temples located in and around Vedaranyam, the mutt, spread across an approximate area of 1,500 sqft, has been serving as a resting place for the pilgrims.
Sources said that a few decades ago, the mutt was attached to Aathmananda Mutt in Salem, which also manages several educational institutions, A few years ago, the controversial spiritual guru Nithyananda had reportedly donated `2 crore to Aathmananda Mutt. On Thursday, claiming that the Aathmananda Mutt had handed over the authority to manage the mutt in Vedaranyam to Nithyananda in return for his `2 crore donation, about seven persons, said to be disciples of Nithyananda, occupied the Ramakrishna Mutt.
Though Nithyananda’s disciples claimed that the mutt was legally handed over to Nithyananda’s organisation, police said that there were no valid documents to support their ownership claims. Following the tug of war between the disciples of the two spiritual gurus, Vedaranyam police have deployed personnel in the mutt premises on Friday.
Meanwhile, Gnaneswara Nanda lodged a complaint with the Vedarayam police to evict the disciples of Nithyananda from the mutt.
Following this, an official inquiry by Nagapattinam RDO has been initiated to ascertain the ownership of the Vedaranyam mutt.
It should be recalled that some three years ago, Nithyananda was in the news when he was anointed the junior seer of a centuries-old mutt in Madurai, leading to loud protests from other spiritual gurus in the State. It eventually led to the intervention of the State government, which warned of taking over control over the Madurai Aadheenam and its assets if Nithyananda is not removed from the position of junior seer.
Credits: The New Indian Express
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