CM promises five-acre land to Kerala’s Sivagiri Mutt in Karnataka

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said here on Wednesday that the government will sanction five acres of land to Sivagiri Mutt of Varkala in Kerala to open its branch either in Dakshina Kannada or Udupi district.

Speaking at a function at Mangalore University, the Chief Minister said that head of Sivagiri Mutt Swami Satchidananda, who is also president of Sree Narayana Dharma Sanghom Trust, had requested for the land.

The Chief Minister said that MLC and Congress leader B. K. Hariprasad and others could search and identify government land suitable to open the branch of the mutt.

The function was jointly organised by Brahmashree Narayana Guru Study Chair at Mangalore University and Sivagiri Mutt to celebrate the centenary of the meeting and conversation between social reformer Narayana Guru and Mahatma Gandhi at Sivagiri Mutt on March 12, 1925.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said Swami Vivekananda, who was distressed by the caste system and untouchability in Kerala, had called it a madman’s market. In such a madman’s market, Narayana Guru created awareness against the caste system and untouchability and provided a dignified life to the people who were below in the caste system.

Narayana Guru proclaimed to the world that “all humans are of one caste, one religion and have one God”. He also practically established social, religious dignity and equality for the oppressed sections of society.

The Chief Minister said that Narayana Guru fought against the caste system, and superstition in society. He fought to eradicate the superstition and blind traditions of the lower castes. He made marriages simple by avoiding extravagance and spending. He encouraged all community mass meals.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said that social, cultural, religious and educational movements spearheaded by Narayana Guru changed the social definition of centuries. “It seemed to show a new path to life to lakhs of people who had lost their freedom due to the caste system for centuries,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that equality was the foundation of Narayana Guru’s philosophy. He asserted that there is no superiority or inferiority among humans in all matters, from worldly to spiritual.

He said that Narayan Guru was a firm believer in the principle of ‘liberation through education, empowerment through organisation’. The guru’s position was that education is the most powerful weapon to eliminate social inequality.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the dialogue of Mahatma Gandhi with Narayan Guru in 1925 and with Babasaheb Ambedkar around 1931 were very important.

Speaker U. T. Khader, Member of Parliament K. C. Venugopal, Home Minister G. Parameshwara, State Ministers Laxmi Hebbalkar, B. Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan, Satish Jarkiholi, Congress leader B. Janardhana Poojary, MLAs Harish Poonja, D. Vedavyasa Kamath, U. Rajesh Naik, Y. Bharat Shetty, Bhagirathi Murulya, Ashok Kumar Rai were among those present.