By Express News Service
ANANTAPUR:Swamy Prabhodhananda, whose ashram is in news following violence and arson for the last couple of days, is a mysterious figure. He has been preaching ‘Thraitha Siddantam’ to his followers in his ashram since 1993. The establishing of the ashram itself was riddled with controversies and differences with local politicians, sources said.
Though several people believe that Swamy Prabhodananda is from North India, his roots are in Anantapur district. Sources said Swamy Prabhodananda’s real name is Venkanna alias Choudary and he hails from Ammaladinne village in Pedakapuppala of Tadipatri mandal. Choudary had reportedly served in the Army for a few years before quitting the service. He was involved in local politics in his village for a while.
In 1980, he left for North India where he took religious path and returned to Anantapur in 1993 to set up his own ashram. Initially, he bought three acres of land in Chinnapolamada and reportedly took water from the Satya Sai Trust-run water scheme. This was opposed by Reddy brothers who have a sway in Tadipatri politics.
Since then, there have been differences between Prabhodhananda’s followers and local politicians supporting Reddy brothers. It is learnt that though Reddy brothers opposed setting up of the ashram, Prabhodhananda managed to build it with nearly 200 plots to house more than 4,000 devotees. The self-styled godman gives discourses on ‘Thraitha Siddantam,’ said to be a creation of Prabhodhananda himself. The followers of Prabhodhananda in 2017 claimed that they had joined the BJP, but the party neither confirmed nor denied the same. Soon after the violence, the State government reportedly made inquiries into the antecedents of the Swamy.
