Funeral of Shivakumara Swami of Siddaganga Mutt today
The funeral of 111-year-old head pontiff of Siddaganga mutt will be held on Tuesday after he passed away on Monday following prolonged illness. The seer was suffering from lung infection for the past few weeks and was put on life support on January 11. He had been in and out of hospitals in recent years due to various health issues.
Known as 'Walking God' among his countless followers, Shivakumara Swami of Siddaganga Mutt in Karnataka was the most influential leader of the Lingayat community.
Union ministers DV Sadananda Gowda and Nirmala Sitharaman will attend the funeral and lay wreath on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two ministers would fly down to Karnataka to attend the last rites of the Lingayat seer Shivakumar Swamy, official sources said.
Thousands of grieving followers gathered at his hermitage where he was shifted to on January 16 on his own request, though he had not fully recovered in the hospital where he was admitted. He miraculously recovered but breathed his last on Monday morning.
Many men and women broke down outside his ashram as news of his death spread.
His demise was mourned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, BJP President Amit Shah and scores of political leaders in Karnataka, including Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.
"His holiness passed away at 11.44 a.m. at the Mutt during treatment for lung infection," Kumaraswamy told the media in Tumakuru.
The last rites will be held with state honours on Tuesday, Kumaraswamy said. "Swami did great service to the poor by providing hundreds of children education and food."
The Karnataka government has declared a holiday in the state on Tuesday.
The seer also headed the Sree Siddaganga Education Society, which runs about 125 educational institutions in the state - from engineering colleges to business schools.
Many of the institutions offer free education and boarding facilities to poor students.
Fluent in English, Kannada and Sanskrit, the seer was widely respected for his secular outlook and the charitable activities he presided over.
Karnataka leaders urged the Union government to confer the highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, on the seer for his philanthropic work.
Born on April 1, 1907 in Veerapura village of Ramanagara district in Karnataka, the Swami was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2015.
