BAGALKOT: Maate Mahadevi, head of Basava Dharma Peeta, was laid to rest with full state honours on the premises of the mutt where she carried out her philanthropic activities for over five decades, at Kudalasangama in Hungund taluk of Bagalkot on Saturday. The 73-year-old woman seer passed away due to cardiac arrest around 4.45 pm at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Her body was brought to Kudalasangama on Friday night. Maate Mahadevi was laid to rest in ‘Siddhasana’ position through ‘Kriya Samadhi’ followed by rituals of Basava Dharma (Lingayat community) in the afternoon.
Before the state honours were accorded to her, her body was brought in a procession to the place of burial. Home Minister M B Patil represented the state government and paid his last respects to the departed soul.
Later, ‘Kriya Samadhi’ was done with various religious heads, including Siddarameshwara Swamiji of Tontadarya Mutt and Guru Mahantha Swamiji of Ilkal Mutt, guiding the rituals.
Inside the artificially made underground Ishta Linga, which was oval-shaped, the 73-year-old spiritual leader was placed and covered with more than 1,000 cakes of ‘Vibhuti’, (holy ash). Nearly 25,000 devotees of Basava Dharma Peeta from North Karnataka, Maharashtra and Telangana gathered at Kudalasangama to bid adieu to the woman saint who preached and lived for Basava and Sharana principles.