'My Daughter Joined A Cult': Swami Nithyananda Has Been Dubbed As 'Osho Of The Digital Age'

The show ¡®My Daughter Joined A Cult¡¯ tracks the quick rise and subsequent fall of Swami Nithyananda, a man who built a global following as an enlightened spiritual teacher and self-proclaimed godman. It also shows how he used the power to exploit vulnerable people for his own benefit.

Nithyananda

The coverage is narrative but doesn't offer anything new to someone who's already been following his life story. It just pieces together the most notable and infamous events of a two-decade-long timeline to give you a better picture. Disillusioned ex-devotees and survivors have mixed opinions about the guru, with some expressing admiration for his work while others freely discussing abuse they have seen.

Swami Nithyananda: Forger or Godman?

The series shows how he portrays himself on stage and screen as a Saffron Clad Sadhu who is under the vows of celibacy and living the life of dharma, promoting Hinduism, despite having a sex life and a disturbing criminal record of sexual predation behind the scenes. DiscoveryPlus has questioned whether we should regard him as a conman or a Sadhu figure in their new series.

Because he was so well-liked, many people assumed he was god-like. The Ashram, which was despised by millions, had something wrong with it. He's been accused of raping women several times. Many people saw this saint living a womanising and predatory lifestyle. Some people, on the other hand, were concerned that if they visited his ashram, something bad would happen to them as well.

Nithyananda

Is He The Modern-Day Equivalent Of Osho?

Nithyananda is touted as a modern-day version of Osho. His dealings have been extensively reported on and most people around the country have looked at him with amusement or disdain. Sarah Landry, also known as Sudevi, his social media manager, and Jordan Lozada, who recall goings-on in the ashram including abusive language and the beating of disciples, best expose Nithyananda's two-faced ways.

Surprisingly, there are still people who get excited by his actions. It's intriguing to see how memes, parody videos and other such content have a desensitising effect. This docuseries does an excellent job of showing the consequences. But, with a real-time perspective, the series unfolds the truth of the self-proclaimed baba.

If we refer to the Nithyananda story, many were quick to point out that social media reduced his crimes to a joke. Nithyananda has exploited this lightheartedness to conceal the darkness of his cult, which he portrays as 'cool.' This is a fascinating and timely angle for any future documentary about him.

¡®My Daughter Joined The Cult¡¯

The title is certainly eye-catching, but closer inspection reveals it's a nod to the kind of obfuscating rhetoric that has allowed the self-professed godman to escape punishment. The documentary starts in 2019 as Janardan Sharma and his wife arrive at Nithyananda's ashram after their two daughters were taken from Bengaluru without their knowledge.

"Please ask them. Ask them where my daughters are!" The mother screamed at the assembled journalists, who had only recently begun piecing together the ashram's evil schemes.

It was the father who took his two daughters to meet the guru in 2014, completely unaware of Nithyananda's intentions. Till today it is a mystery for this family as they are still in search of their daughters that went missing in 2019. Nithyananda was accused of rape and fled the country in 2019 fearing arrest for a rape case.

Wild Wild Country vs. My Daughter Joined The Cult

Osho and Nithyananda

Wild Wild Country is an eye-opening Netflix documentary series. It delves deep into the history of the Rajneeshpuram community located in Washington County, Oregon and uncovers some shocking truths hidden by Rajneesh's followers. Similarly, Netflix released a documentary series on Bikram: Yogi and Predator, which details the many sexual assault allegations made against popular yoga guru Bikram Choudhury in 2019.

My Daughter Joined A Cult has one thing in common with these series. All of these series are based on the misdeeds of self-proclaimed Gurus who masquerade as Hindu believers who promote the belief of Dharma. In reality, they are all two-faced Gurus who are sexual predators and womanizers. They are all facing serious criminal charges for exploitation and rape.

Vice Studios, Vice Media Group's global production division, captured the exposure of the self-styled 'Godman' in a three-part series. My Daughter Joined A Cult is available on Discovery+.

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