In the classified documents of Swami Santacharya’s famous sting operation of 1973, a name shined bright amongst all: Virya Maharaj. Maharaj came into prominence as a miraculous spiritual guru in the 70s, when a young libidinous Santacharya was making love to his spiritual consort Cynthia in the Junglemahals.
In those days, Virya Maharaj was widely renowned for being the manifestation of holiness aka Dharma1 himself. Although not an heir of the five Pandavas, he even surpassed king Yudhishtira in terms of adherence to the doctrines of Hinduism — scriptures jotted down by muni-rishis of Satyuga. He was an ISKCON fellow intimately associated to Sril Prabhupada, who was his comrade in his capitalist ventures. His followers regarded him as the Kalki avatar of Lord Vishnu, who aimed to resurrect peace and faith in this decadent world.
Virya Maharaj was born in Motiganj, Santipur on 22 Sraban 1333 — the same year Mahanayak2 was born. He was entitled the honour of Khalnayak by the residents of Motiganj. Virja Maharaj wasn’t his birth name; it was Ankush Saha — a proud member of the famous Saha dynasty, whose godfather was the infamous Avijeet Saha.
The Sahas were the owners of the luxurious brothels of Motiganj, which had become the centre of Bengal’s sex industry during the reign of the godfather, during final years of the British Raj. Motiganj surpassed Sonagacchi in terms of sex economy in the beginning of twentieth cenutry. Even before the famous men’s magazine Playboy was conceptualised, godfather Avijeet Saha has already been publishing the Bengali men’s magazine Kaamdarpan3 since the 1930s. Kaamdarpan featured graphic sexual intercourse, unlike Playboy. Even though technology was severely limited back then, his press developed methods of enhancing camera stills with help of his distant relative Meghnad Saha — the self-renowned Bengali physicist.
Libidinous Ankush Saha had never been interested in colonial education; so he, a libertine, either loafed all day or spent time in the brothel with prostitutes. It’s noteworthy that, godfather paid special attention to the hospitality of homosexual clients for he had foresight that there will be a rise of homosexuality in the future.
One cloudy day, Ankush was loafing the bamboo grove as usual, when suddenly the lights began fading, until it turned pitch black. He panicked, and had frantically sought an exit. A strange sound wafted into his ears; he stopped, turned around, and saw a ghastly figure. Bhooter Raja4 then reassured him, telling he won’t harm, and had infact come to bestow Ankush three wishes; they were — (i) his brothel monopoly will prevail in perpetuity, (ii) he’d never fail in his libidinous endeavours, (iii) his lover Rudra, whom he befriended in the brothel, would never leave him.
When Ankush turned sixteen, he was entitled Virya Maharaj by his kulaguru5 Shishna Maharaj on the account that guru produces his protégé (i.e. penis (shishna) produces semen (virya)).
Almost thirty years before Andy Warhol’s Blue Movie came into being, Virya Maharaj had already produced an underground pornographic film in 1938, featuring prostitutes from his own brothel. It premiered in private theatres of the Sahas established throughout various districts of undivided Bengal. Virya Maharaj was well-aware of Bengali youth’s sexual fantasies, so in this film — a part of the Motiganj trilogy — he focused on portraying BDSM.
The first film of the Motiganj Trilogy was named Dukhiramer Songsar (transl. Dukhiram’s Life). It had the eponymous protagonist Dukhiram (played by Kaliprashad Mishra), who happened to be a boatman in the Hooghly river. He rowed his boat all day, then returned home drunk; stripped his wife’s (played by Urvasi Devi) saree, tied her against the khatia with ropes, and spanked her arse to arouse. It notably featured an unsimulated anal intercourse. The film became quite notorious in the underground, featuring unrestrained use of then-prevalent cuss words.
Other two films in the Motiganj Trilogy were the more controversial (even as of today) for portraying incest.
Kamer Pachali (transl. A Song of Sex) was the prequel to the former film, and the second film in the Motiganj Trilogy. It featured Dukhiram in his adolescence, and his carnal relationship with his maternal cousin before marriage.
Kamini was the last installment in the Motiganj Trilogy, featuring the eponymous protagonist Kamini Roy, a nymphomaniac, who after a vicious fall out at her in-law’s home, came home depressed and forced her father to have sex, threatening him to commit suicide otherwise. This film was perhaps the most controversial for its nihilism — portrayal of angst and suicidal ideation, and explicit intravaginal ejaculation.
The films unfortunately were reported to the Imperial British Government, and obscenity charges were brought against Maharaj and godfather Avijeet Saha, resulting in their imprisonment for ten years. They also seized the press, causing the magazine to shut down. Urvasi Devi and Kaliprashad Mishra, who were underground pornstars of undivided Bengal, were also jailed along with the father-son duo. It is rumoured that, all three — Maharaj, Devi, Mishra, and Godfather — locked in the same cell, used to have erotic foursomes in prison at night when the guards fell asleep.
In 1942, Virya Maharaj escaped jail, and became inspired by Gandhi’s Quit India Movement. He advocated for anti-birth control, and bought all the French leather (condoms) available in the markets of Calcutta; made balloons out of them; sold them to children to campaign against foreign goods. He even staged his long term associates — Devi and Mishra — on the road to have unprotected sex. He was about to imprisoned once again for obscenity and sedition, but this time he, along with his family, went undercover to live in the deep forests of Junglemahals.
Meanwhile, the act condemned by almost everyone, and it predated nudity as a widespread means of protest in western countries by almost half-a-century.
Godfather Avijeet Saha died on 15th August, 1947 from syphilis in the forests of Junglemahal, and the regiment of the Saha dynasty was automatically conferred upon his heir: Virya Maharaj, thus becoming the new godfather. The nascent godfather, now man in his 20s, returned to Motiganj only to find his brothel business being taken over by none other than his lover Rudra! He was shellshocked, having come to terms with this cruel fact, and ran to the woods where he saw Bhooter Raja. Apparently, the trial period for wishes he granted from Bhooter Raja has ended, and now he must renew his monthly subscription. Feeling cheated, he refused and went out the bamboo grove.
Distraught and disoriented, he went for Natore to seek peace in the thighs of Banalata Sen. Unfortunately, Jibananda Das6 refused, as he had no desire to pimp his mistress.
Maharaj came back to Calcutta. There, one day he met Prabhupada in a brothel, and following a threesome, two entwined their souls in a platonic affair. Having shared a similar life philosophy, the two — comrades in their capitalist venture — began their spiritual stride. Prabhupada introduced him to Vaishnavism, and handed out a fellowship of ISCKON free of cost. Maharaj was highly influenced by Lord Krishna’s libertine philosophies, and had envisioned the orchestration of an orgy with 108 consorts, and for this reason, he plotted a scheme to become a religious guru in hopes of garnering these 108 consorts.
Initially, he achieved no popularity. Thus, he had to follow a different path. Maharaj went to villages disguised as unsuspecting Sadhu, and secretly abducted teenage girls with the aid of Prabhupada’s men. The still ripening women went through a selection process; those who passed were interned, and those who didn’t were trafficked. It hurts to say, but a part of the process involved rape; such was based Prabhupada’s principles that ideal women prefer a man who can rape them. The girls were brainwashed into becoming devadasis7. Having built such a followership through his clandestine ways, Maharaj went onto attract more followers by offering — to heal incurable disesases, double the money, remedy extramarital affairs, etc. The followers, as they naive as they could get, were actually lured in by his alluring offers.
Virya Maharaj became a popular figure in the neo-religious movement of the 60s, all due to having friend-cum-guardian angel Prabhupada by his side. As with the case with popular figures, he had no shortage of haters and rumors, but no solid proofs against his criminal endeavours.
Enter Santacharya, the sleuth and arch nemesis of Virya Maharaj. Santacharya, after he graduated in Vajrayana tantricism under Cynthia’s aegis, came to Calcutta with his mother in 1973. Shortly after he came, he learnt about Virya Maharaj.
Sceptical of Maharaj’s capabilities, he one day randomly decided pay a visit with an intent to test his potency. Sleuth Santacharya discovered that Maharaj was orchestrating these orgies, and determined to run a sting operation. Unfortunately, for being broke, he had to secure some funding before he dived into the rough waters. Having a waited for a few months, one day a devious idea occurred to him. He would have exploited his androgynous appearance, choosing to crossdress as a maid servant to deceive Maharaj’s ashram fellows.
He successfully intruded into Maharaj’s cult, and saw the orgies happening before him — hundreds of women involved in mutual cunnilingus or tribadism, and Maharaj in centre of it all, embroiled in a threesome with the most beautiful of the bunch. Santacharya captured photos of all these from a hidden corner as solid evidence to demolish the clandestine empire of Maharaj. This operation was carried out with utmost precision before Durga Puja, and the reports published on Dashami (or Dusshera).
The reports generated a great deal of controversy, and brought Santacharya (or, the modern Diogenes) to fame as an independent investigator. Maharaj saw his clandestine empire fall apart like a castle of cards as the authorities arrested him, and brought to the Supreme Court for trial.
Virya Maharaj lost the case was imprisoned for life. For the remnants of power he held, he ordered his followers to bring packets of beedi and cheap liquor in prison. There, realising his life has effectively come to an end, he grew the habit of chain-smoking all day long. His prison cell had become a smoke chamber. When the prison authorities had once came to check if there was a fire, they learnt it was due to Maharaj. He was transferred to a solitary cell, and provided little to no food, but dozens of beedi to smoke.
In 1993, Maharaj was found dead in his cell. The autopsy report revealed that he developed lung cancer from his passionate beedi smoking. His autobiography, he wrote in prison was posthumously published as Mein Kampf, or: How I stopped worrying and love the Beedi. After the death of Maharaj and the posthumous publication of the book, his followers threatened to murder Santacharya and rape his mother. Wary of his life, he sailed to Japan the same year, and he has been there ever since.
In Mahabharata, Vyasa used the alias Dharma for Yama, the god of death. ↩
Uttam Kumar, a matinee idol of Tollywood, is referred to as Mahanayak for his outstanding acting oeuvre. ↩
Inspired by Dinabandhu Mitra’s revolutionary play Neeldarpan, godfather Avijeet Saha named his magazine Kaamdarpan as it defied the cultural norms of righteousness and sexuality. ↩
Bhooter Raja is the eponymous king of ghosts; the same one who appeared to the Goopy-Bagha duo. ↩
A Hindu kulaguru is the appointed preceptor of a lineage. ↩
Jibanananda Das, the Bengali poet of late autumn, was the lover of an enigmatic woman named Banalata Sen. ↩
Although Devdasis by definition are regarded as women married to a god, in popular culture it’s synonymous with women who’ve turned into sex slaves by a religious institution. ↩