DAVANGERE: The internal strife at Panchamasali Gurupeet in Hanagawadi, Harihar taluk, shows no signs of resolution. Chief trustee BC Umapati has now filed a complaint with the Harihar Rural police in Davangere, alleging that the seer of the mutt, Vachanananda Swamy, misappropriated lakhs of rupees received from devotees during the Hara Jatre.
In his complaint, Umapati alleged that Vachanananda Swamy was appointed as the head of Panchamasali Gurupeeth in April 2018. At that time, he was informed that he should leave the Shwasa Peetha in Bengaluru.
Shwasa Kendra is an organisation the seer personally runs in Bengaluru. Despite being selected as the seer of the mutt and having been directed to free himself from all tie-ups with Shwasa Kendra, he had been spending most of his time at the organisation and showing little interest in the religious and social programmes of the Panchamasali Gurupeeta, a development that has annoyed devotees and trustees alike, Umapati said in the complaint.
When the 2026 Hara Jatra was organised in Harihar, Vachanananda Swamiji allegedly received lakhs of rupees from devotees and several other organisations in the name of the festival, but this was not brought to the notice of the trust or the management board.
The complaint states, “The seer used the money for personal work without issuing any receipts. When devotees later asked for receipts, he allegedly failed to give a proper answer and scolded them verbally. Therefore, after a long discussion, we have removed Vachanananda Swamiji from the position of Jagadguru,” Umapati stated.
The trust has alleged that the seer cheated and betrayed the trust and the mutt by transferring money received from devotees to his personal accounts, and demanded criminal action against him.