FROM ONE ROOM TO THREE ASHRAMS WORTH CRORES
ALWAR:Starting from a small room at a dharamshala in Alwar, Kaushlendra Falahari Maharaj, who was arrested on the charge of raping a 21-year-old law student, went on to have three ashrams in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The self-styled godman, called ‘Falahari Baba’ because of his reported fruits-only diet, drew lakhs of followers in the country over the past three decades, his former devotees said.
“The maharaj came to Alwar in the early 1980s and stayed at a dharamshala. He came to limelight in the early 90s after performing a ‘Vishnu Maha Yagna’ at Baikunth Dham Mandir in Alwar,” said a former devotee on condition of anonymity. He said the yagna earned baba fame and devotees from Rajasthan and outside; a devotee donated land in 1998 where his Alwar ashram was set up.
“The godman started the Madhushudan Vaidik Vidhyalaya, which was a free school for poor Brahmin students, in his ashram; this further added to his fame,” said the former devotee.
He said the maharaj organised in recent years lavish gatherings of devotees and functions, which were often attended by many high-profile people.
“During interrogation, the maharaj told police that he was born in Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh and also has wife and a daughter. He said he had left them after embracing sainthood,” said a senior police official who interrogated the godman.