Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that Western countries had developed the concept of socialism in 19th century, however, Shivasharanas in Karnataka had sowed the seeds of socialism way back in 12th century. 

Speaking at the valedictory of  841st Sidarama Jayanthi celebrations, in Kadur on Wednesday, he said that Sharanas had believed in equal opportunities for all. They had propagated idea of a society free from the clutches of caste and religion and upheld the values of humanity. 

The CM said that Sharanas were responsible for social revolution by emphasising on labour and food. They had sowed the seeds of social revolution in commonman who had fallen prey to superstitious beliefs, owing to lack of knowledge. 

“The birth anniversary celebrations of all Sharanas should not be restricted to a caste. People from all irrespective of caste and creed should jointly hold the celebrations. We need to follow preachings of Sharanas in our day today life. Nobody is born in a particular community by submitting an application. The caste is decided by his profession. There is a need to come out of the framework of caste system and develop broad mind set up to give meaning to the preachings of Sharanas,” the CM said. 

The CM said that Vachanas and Dasa literature are different from conventional literature. At a time when a majority of the section of the society were kept away from literacy and knowledge, Sharanas expressed their experiences and knowledge through Vachanas which could be understood by all commonman. 

Guru Siddarama had guided commonman towards economic security. Casteless society can be built when there is economic equality.  

MLA Y S V Datta, Yalanadu Mutt seer Jnanaprabhu, Cooperation Minister H S Mahadevaprasad, freedom fighter H S Doraiswamy, Minister for Youth Services and Sports Abhayachandra Jain, MP Jayaprakash Hegde, G S Basavaraju among others were present.