The Lingayat Mirage

Guru Basavanna was a philosopher and a social reformer. He fought against the caste system and rituals in Hinduism. He advocated a new way of life wherein the divine experience was the center of life giving equal opportunity to all aspirants regardless of the gender, caste, and social status.

Basavanna educated the mass through his Vachanas.  Vachanas are like Upanishads in poetic fervor and profundity of meaning. They are short sentences, simple telling, soul-stirring, and very effective in delivering their messages.

The followers of Basavanna’s teachings are called Lingayats. Our beloved CM, Yeddy is a Lingayat.

As per Basava teachings, initially Yeddyurappa believed, visited and worshipped only his family deities at select temples. But in recent years, Yeddyurappa started visiting temples of various deities and temples. This habit seems to have intensified with his growth in the BJP. 

 

In the last few months, in addition to the usual temples he and his family members have visited innumerable temples within and outside of Karnataka. To name a few

1.      Muduktore Mallikarjun temple in T Narsipur taluk of Mysore district

2.      Srikanteshwara temple at Nanjangud

3.      Baby Mutt in Mandya district 

4.      Kollur Mookambika

5.      Raja Rajeshwari temple at Taliparambur near Konnur in Kerala

6.      Vaishnodevi Shrine in Jammu & Kashmir

7.      Almost all major temples in Bangalore

This list goes on. There are many more temples which are not mentioned here. In addition to his personal visits, one Kashi Vishwanath Shetty from Mysore visits various temples and brings prasadam to Yeddy.  

On the day of the trust vote, he visited Gaali Anjeneya temple before arriving to Vidhana Soudha. Special poojas were done to ward off evil. This being a working day, his detour caused inconvenience to hundreds of Bangaloreans. But all is well as long as he is well.

Yeddy is a believer to the core. All his well-wishing astrological/vaasthu advisors had advised him necessary step to ensure victory and ofcourse bring defeat to the opposition.

Three days prior to the first trust vote, all gates of Vidhana Soudha were closed except the west gate. All MLAs, MPs and MLCs were asked to enter through that gate. This arrangement continued in the assembly hall, as the opposition was asked to enter through the eastern door. When they tried entering through the north door, entry was blocked by the City Police commissioner himself. Yeddy is the master of political wizardry. If only JK Rowling had written Harry Potter series in current times, Yeddy would surely have featured in it.

When Yeddy is doing so much, you can’t count out his trusted lieutenant Shobha Karandlaje. Madam went on a fast to appease Gods to help Yeddy win the trust vote.

In the recent crisis, the entire state demanded his resignation. The people of Karnataka failed to understand that he hasn’t done anything wrong. All he did was tread the same path as the previous Chief Ministers. He failed to understand the reason for the outrage. He went temple hopping seeking divine guidance and help of the gurus of various mutts.

Sri Trinetha Swamiji of Baby mutt advised him that the starry constellations were against him and his time was not good for another 48 hours. If he manages to stay afloat for 48 hours then his chair would be safe for a couple of months more.

Yeddy was on his way to the airport when the seer advised him. This started the ‘hide and seek’ game with the media, party leaders and the whole country. The ‘Tees maar khan’ that he is, Yeddy managed to disappear every now and then. He would resurface occasionally only to keep everyone in the chase.  

“Catch me if you can” is what he seemed to tell the entire country. He disappeared while on his way to Bangalore airport, only to resurface in Puttaparthi. Even when in Delhi, he would disappear frequently only to reappear a few hours later. It is surprising that the man in the position of Chief Minister managed to stay out of media glaze. He spent most of these 48 hours in hiding.

Kodi Mutt seer, whose predictions are based on centuries-old Hottige (manuscript) at the mutt, is also said to have predicted Yeddyurappa's continuation in this post for a couple of years if he survives this crisis. A source close to the seer said manuscripts disclosed if Yeddyurappa completes three years in office, he'll remain in the post for another five-year term. All the predictions from Seer’s and blessings from almighty Gods may have saved Yeddy’s chair. But the people of Karnataka do not know who will save them now.  

One of Basanna’s vachanas exhorts people to shun superstitions, beliefs and rituals. Ironically, Yeddy, who is a Lingayat goes temple-hopping every time a crisis surfaces, believes in astrological/vaasthu predictions. The Champion of Lingayats, who managed to hold on to his chair on Lingayat card is not a practicing Lingayat after all.