Siddaganga Mutt — a place netas go before polls

TUMAKURU:  From Indira Gandhi to Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Sonia Gandhi — political leaders never miss out on the opportunity to visit the influential Siddaganga Mutt. The strength lies in the 111-year-old Sri Shivakumara Swami — who is regarded as nadedaduva devaru (a walking God). He took charge of the mutt 75 years ago.

From a gurukula of 40 students then, the mutt now provides free food, shelter and education to over 10,000 students. As many as 124 educational institutes have been established by the mutt.  It is said that thousands of families -- Tumakuru and even in nearby districts of Ramanagaram, Mandya, Bengaluru, and Hassan -- look to the mutt for advice. People invite the seer for ‘padapooja’ for domestic functions such as house warming and naming ceremonies. Also, politicians, especially during the election season, pay a visit to the mutt to send out the message that they have the blessings of the centenarian seer. But the seer blesses leaders across party lines.

During the 1980s, the then Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde was in good terms with the mutt. When junior pontiff late Sri Gowrishankara Swami was ousted and there was a crisis, Hegde helped resolve it. Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and his family members too are in good terms with the mutt. Gowda had reportedly introduced north Karnataka leader Veerendra Patil to the mutt before the latter became the CM.  

The relationship was strained when Gowda’s son and former CM H D Kumaraswamy did not handover power to BJP’s B S Yeddyurappa in 2008. It was then that Yeddyurappa launched  a “dharmayuddha” along with BJP leaders with the seer’s blessings. In 2012,  Yeddyurappa severed ties with the BJP and launched his own party — Karnataka Janata Party. The Congress made use of the opportunity and  Sonia Gandhi visited the mutt on the occasion of the seer’s 105th birthday. In October 2017, Deve Gowda launched his party’s campaign — “mane manege Kumaranna” — from the mutt’s premises.Recently, BJP national president Amit Shah visited the mutt, followed by Congress president Rahul Gandhi.