A group of 30 seers from various mutts met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here on Friday, urging him to not allow Adda Pallakki Utsav, during which Veerasomeshwara Rajadeshikendra Shivacharya, pontiff of Rambhapuri mutt in Balehonnur  is carried in a palanquin in Jewargi town of Gulbarga district.

Religious heads, including Mahanta Shivacharya, Mate Mahadevi, Nidumamidi Veerabhadra Channamalla, submitted a memorandum to Siddaramaiah, expressing serious reservations about the tradition.

‘Inhuman’

They told him that the Adda Pallakki, a practice in which a Veerashaiva religious head is carried in a palanquin by others, was “inhuman and an insult to the civilised society.” Allowing such practices would encourage blind beliefs, they contended.

The panchapeetas (meaning the Veerashaiva seers) should not encourage the practice, they argued and suggested that if at all the tradition had to be continued, the Veerashaiva leader could be taken out in a procession in a vehicle. The delegation also reminded the chief minister that the government had committed a “blunder” by permitting the Adda Pallakki.

Siddaramaiah, however, did not assure the delegation about anything. He said he would not talk directly to the Veerashaiva leader but would instead ask the Deputy Commissioner of Gulbarga to find out whether he would agree to a change in the procession.

After the meeting, the agitated seers told reporters they would wait for the government’s next move. If it failed to respond positively to their demand, they would launch an agitation, they warned.