Rahul Gandhi gives 111 roses to Siddaganga mutt seer

TUMAKURU: After his grandmother Indira and mother Sonia, it was the turn of Congress president Rahul Gandhi to seek the blessings of 111-year-old Shivakumara Swamiji of Siddaganga Mutt. On Wednesday, the Gandhi family scion paid his maiden visit to the powerful Lingayat mutt which welcomed the Siddaramaiah government’s move to accord religious minority status to Lingayats.

The Congress president arrived at the mutt around 4 pm and spent over 30 minutes there during which presented a bouquet consisting 111 red and white roses to the swamiji, conveying his greetings on the seer turning 111 on April 1.

The swamiji welcomed Gandhi with a shawl, dry fruits, a garland and framed photographs of the swamiji with Indira and Sonia during their visits to the mutt. “You have blessed my grandma and mother and I will always need your blessings,” Gandhi told the seer.

Lunch at the mutt was not in Gandhi’s itinerary, but his choice of pure vegetarian meal was conspicuous.
Junior swamiji of the mutt Siddalinga swamiji showered ‘akshate’ (rice soaked with turmeric powder, believed to be auspicious) on him. Siddalinga Swamiji made Gandhi bend his neck while showering ‘akshate’ on him.  

Meanwhile, cutting across their political inclinations, people got glimpses of the Congress president in Tumakuru and many followed him through his roadshow held as part of his party’s ‘Janashirvada yatre.’
As soon as the helicopter landed on the Tumkur University campus, the varsity’s staff ran out of their offices to watch Gandhi arrive.Enroute to the city’s famous Siddaganga mutt, people came out of their houses to see him and some of them showered flower petals on him from terraces.