Absconding godman Nithyananda offers 3-day visa to ‘nation’

KAILASA VISAHOLDERS WILL HAVE TO TRAVEL FROM AUSTRALIA ABOARD A CHARTERED FLIGHT SERVICE

NEW DELHI: Controversial selfstyled godman Nithyananda, who was reported to be on the run last year after facing charges of rape and kidnapping, and who went on to set up a new “nation” called Kailasa, has now begun issuing special three-day visas for tourists to visit the mysterious island nation, several news websites reported on Friday.

Kailasa visa-holders will have to travel from Australia aboard a newly launched private chartered flight service “Garuda”, Nithyananda announced in a recent video.

“Today, you can start applying for Kailasa visa. You have to reach Australia on your own. From Australia, Kailasa has its own chartered flight services,” he said in a video from his official Facebook page. “Please do not ask for more than a 3-day visa. Kailasa can accommodate anyone only for three days for now.”

Nithyananda said all visitors will be provided with free food and accommodation during the course of their stay but will only be allowed to meet or see him once during their visit. While travellers will have to make their own arrangements to arrive in Australia, airfare to and from Kailasa will be covered by Nithyananda’s organisation, he clarified. The island nation has also created an e-mail ID (contact@kailaasa.org) through which visitors can apply for the visa, reports said.

While the exact location of Kailasa is unknown, it is believed to be close to Australia. Several news reports suggested that the “nation” is located in a small private island near Trinidad and

Tobago.

Nithyananda has also promised that the visitors will be allowed to visit “param Shiva” during their stay.

Nithyananda, 42, founder of a trust, Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam, which has temples, gurukulas, and ashrams across many countries, went missing last year after an FIR was registered against him in November on charges of alleged kidnapping and wrongful confinement of children to make them collect donations from followers to run his ashram, Yogini Sarvagyapeetham, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, police said. He was also an accused in a rape case filed against him in Karnataka.

In December, a few days after the Gujarat police confirmed that Nithyananda had fled the country, a website – kailaasa.org – came up that said he had set up a new “nation” called Kailasa that aims to provide a haven for “dispossessed Hindus”.

India had dismissed reports of a “nation” being set up, with the then external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar saying: “Setting up a website is very different from creating a nation.”

According to the website, Kailasa has its own flag, passport and emblem.

In August this year, Nithyananda unveiled freshly minted currency of Kailasa called “Kailashian dollars”.