Lingayat row: Pejawar seer, Jamdar set for debate

Pejawar Mutt seer Vishwesha Tirtha Swami and retired IAS officer S M Jamdar will face-off in a debate on whether or not the Lingayat faith is different from the Hindu religion, scheduled to be held in the last week of January next year in Bengaluru.

Jamdar, who is spearheading the campaign for a separate Lingayat religion, had challenged the Pejawar Mutt seer for a debate after the latter remarked that Lingayats were also Hindus as they worshipped Lord Shiva. The seer accepted Jamdar’s challenge.

“As the Swami himself suggested, we happily agree for a debate in the last week of January and a suitable venue will be identified in Bengaluru. My team will answer all his questions,” Jamdar said in a statement on Monday.

In January 2012, the pontiff went head-on against Nidumamidi Mutt seer Veerabhadra Chennamalla Swami and others in a public discussion where his stand on the controversial Made Snana was put to test.