UDUPI : A day after Shiroor Mutt seer Lakshmivara Theertha died under suspicious circumstances, Pejawar Mutt pontiff Vishwesha Theertha has said that he is all for a thorough investigation into the matter. He also raised doubts over the involvement of people within Shiroor Mutt in the case.‘’I do not suspect the pontiffs of the other mutts in Udupi of having committed any crime, let alone going to the extent of killing a fellow seer. However, the involvement of those within Shiroor Mutt cannot be ruled out,’’ Vishwesha Theertha told a press conference on Friday. However, he was quick to add that like many others, he too thought it could be a case of unnatural death, while referring to the failing health of the Shiroor Mutt seer over the recent months.
Breaking his silence on what has so far been hush-hush talk that the Shiroor Seer was an alcoholic, Vishwesha Theertha said, ‘’Many devotees used to complain that they had noticed the Shiroor seer smelling of alcohol. I too had warned him against such behaviour, but he did not desist and his health started deteriorating. His kidneys and liver were affected’’ the Pejawar seer said.
Elaborating on why he and the other seers of the Ashta Mutts had declined to consider him a pontiff, Vishwesha Theertha said that the Shiroor seer kept company of a woman, which is unacceptable for a pontiff. Hence, the idol of the presiding deity of Shiroor Mutt was not returned to him. ‘’I had all the love for him, but Lakshmivara Theertha did not follow the norms and went against collective conscience,’’ he said. Vishwesha Theertha added that the Shiroor seer was upset with him for not allowing him to perform pooja during the Pejawar Mutt’s previous Paryaya term. Regarding the successor to Shiroor Mutt, he said that the Sode Mutt, the pairing mutt of Shiroor Mutt, will select the right person.
Regarding allegations of the other Ashta Mutt seers having family lives, the Pejawar seer said, ‘’If anybody comes up with proof that any of the pontiffs in Udupi have relationships with women, strict action will be taken against the religious heads.’’ He recalled that during his younger days, he too had received a phone call from an unknown person asking him to admit to have fathered a child. The man even threatened to distribute 10,000 handbills to make it public, but so far nobody has done anything like that, he said while rubbishing such allegations against him and against the other seers.
It may be recalled that Lakshmivara Theertha had reportedly made allegations that the Ashta Mutt pontiffs have children and it had gone viral on social media. The Shiroor seer had clarified that it was a morphed video that was aired by a Kannada TV channel.
“I admire the Shiroor seer because he never differentiated among people on the basis of caste. His love for art and culture too is acceptable,” Vishwesha Theertha said. “We always respected him. We just wanted him to change his behaviour and make himself worthy of offering pujas to Lord Krishna,’’ he said.
When reporters sought to know why he could not attend the funeral of Lakshmivara Theertha, Vishwesha Theertha said, ‘’When I heard about his death, I was in Hubballi. There was no way I could reach Udupi on Thursday as it would have taken me at least seven hours of travel. I had other programme scheduled in Sirsi that evening which I attended and then proceeded to Udupi. There is no other reason,’’ he added.