'Yediyurappa is not a Lingayat'

Taralabalu Shakha Mutt-Sanehalli Pontiff Panditharadhya Shivacharya Swami has questioned the credibility in Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa’s assertion of being a Lingayat.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of Matte Kalyana programme, the seer said that Lingayat tag was attached to Yediyurappa by some people who had poor knowledge about the decorum followed by the Lingayats.

The seer said that a Lingayat was one who follows the religion in his daily life. Yediyurappa is not a Lingayat, because he doesn’t follow the path identified as the Lingayat, he added. The seer said that he would not go into the details as everyone knows about Yediyurappa.

He said if Yediyurappa offered money to the mutt, then he would not accept it. “If the state government led by Yediyurappa envisions any project for the mutt and releases the grant, then it is acceptable,” he said. He also criticised former chief ministers Siddaramaiah and H D Kumaraswamy for donating money directly to the mutts.

Condemning the Pejawar Mutt Pontiff Vishwesha Teertha Swami, Swami said that Pejawar seer sees Lord Shiva as a firm entity serving his devotees, while in Lingayat religion, Lord Shiva is not any distantly located power but it is the epitome of true conscience within.

He invited Pejawar seer for a debate on Lingayat and Veerashaiva sects being part of Hinduism in Chidradurga but after the month of August as he was busy in organising ‘Matte Kalyana’ programme.