Pejawar Mutt seer Sri Vishwesha Teertha Swamiji has reiterated that the heads of astha mutts in Udupi were keen on protecting the Krishna Pooja tradition and not any notion of ‘impurity’ over the overseas trips of Puttige Mutt seer Sri Sugunendra Teertha Swamiji. There is no personal bitterness involved, he said.
Answering media queries regarding the Paryaya Pooja controversy, in Bangalore on Wednesday, he said: “All ashtamathadheeshas have to concur on the issue. We love and trust Sri Sugunendra. But, the question is of protecting the tradition of Krishna Pooja. There are some rules for Krishna Pooja and they have to be retained.”
When asked whether Dalits could be allowed to perform pooja in the Krishna temple as sought by Jnanapih awardee U R Ananthamurthy, the seer said that except the ashtamathadheeshas, nobody else was entitled to do the pooja.
He also said that going abroad was not ‘impure’, but dhanamoha and videshamoha were bad.