JOIN USNo end in sight to paryaya row
The deadlock over denial of paryaya invitation to Puttige seer continued on Tuesday even as the Pejawar and Puttige seers dropped their fast following the intervention of Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda.
However, the Puttige seer will not attend the paryaya darbar. The chief minister is said to have promised to make efforts to resolve the dispute.
The dispute arose with the incoming paryaya seer of the Sode Vadiraj Mutt not extending invitation to the Puttige seer to the paryaya durbar. The seers failed to work out an amicable solution. Several rounds of talks by Pejawar seer Vishweshateertha Swami failed to make the seers arrive at a consensus.
Pejawar formula
The Pejawar seer told the mediapersons that he presented a compromise formula to the fasting Puttige seer and Pejawar seer. The formula was not acceptable to both.
“I am not in a position to take the negotiations forward as all efforts made by me didn’t yield any positive result. However, I will be in touch with the Sode seer to find a solution,” he said.
The Pejawar seer suggested that the Puttige seer should give an undertaking in writing that he will not touch the idol of Lord Krishna in the sanctum sanctorum while performing pooja.
Another condition was that the Puttige seer should not administer ‘Sanyasa Deeksha’ to the boy proposed to be his junior. Instead, the ritual should be performed by Krishnapur Mutt seer Vidyasagarateertha Swami. However, the Puttige seer was against the idea since he felt that “the issue needs more time for a decision”.
The second formula recommended by the Pejawar seer was that the seers should vacate paryaya durbar after completion of half of the proceedings on Wednesday, so as to pave the way for the entry of Puttige seer to attend the durbar. But this was strongly opposed by the Sode seer who made his stand clear that if other seers move out of the durbar, he will walk out.
Earlier, Puttige seer Sugunendrateertha Swami said if the seers are adamant over the issue of not extending invitation to him for paryaya durbar, he will extend invitation to heads of all religions to the paryaya durbar during his next term.
He prefers to hold an all-religion durbar during his next paryaya, he said.
Speaking to mediapersons on his arrival in the city to attend the two-day paryaya celebrations on Tuesday, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda expressed the hope that the controversy would end amicably.
“It is an internal affair of the seers of the Ashta mutts. If the need arises, I have no problem holding talks with the seers to sort out the problem,” he said.
He said there is no cause for worry over the smooth conduct of the paryaya as everything seems to be going on very well, except the controversy.
“However, I am confident that the controversy will have a happy ending. The paryaya has a history of nearly 800 years. There has been no problem that led to any disturbance during paryaya.”
Answering a query on attending the traditional rituals at his ancestral house, the chief minister said he has special blessings of God and it is frequently experienced by him these days. These rituals are held every year. “There is no threat to my chair. The rumours are all created by the media,” he added.