Rocked by sex scandals at mathas, Lingayats seek to rein in their seers

A spate of sex scandals involving their swamis has rocked the Lingayat community in Karnataka and triggered a debate on how to tackle them.

Senior Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa recently asked Lingayat women to be careful when they go to meet the swamis. “The situation has come to a point where no women should go to meet a swami,” he said while addressing a religious meet in Sanehalli earlier this month.

Shivashankarappa’s words carry weight as he is also the president of the powerful All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha (AIVM), a body of Lingayats, the largest social group in Karnataka.

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The most influential Lingayat leader, BS Yeddiyurappa, who had earlier backed the scandal-hit Muruga Matha swami, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharana, also reversed his stance. “What the Swami has done is unpardonable. He should be severely punished,” he said after the police chargesheeted the high-profile swami, accusing him of raping minor girls.

Back-to-back scandals

Lingayats have usually looked the other way when these scandals surfaced in the past. But three explosive back-to-back controversies have forced the community to take note of the elephant in the room in mathas.

The Muruga matha scandal particularly gutted the community. The centuries-old wealthy matha is highly revered and immensely influential. Till he was arrested in September under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharana was the foremost progressive and secular voice in the community.

A few days after the arrest of Shivamurthy Murugha Sharana, a monk of a smaller matha in Belagavi district, Basava Siddhalinga Swami, took his own life. The pontiff figured in a conversation between two women, the recording of which went viral. The two women discussed the alleged extra-spiritual affairs of several Lingayat swamis, naming a few of them, in the audio clip.

Also read: Yediyurappa remark shows Lingayats are disowning POCSO case-tainted seer

In late October, another monk, Basavalinga Swami, head of a wealthy matha in Ramanagara district, hanged himself, leaving behind two death notes. He disclosed that he was being blackmailed; soon, a few video recordings of his late-night talks with a woman also surfaced on social media. Police arrested the woman, who had allegedly honey-trapped him, and another Lingayat swami for allegedly masterminding the ploy.

A widely known affair

“These scandals are not new and people have always known them. But social media is bringing them out now,” said Vishwaradhya Satyampet, a Lingayat activist and editor of Basava Marga, a community publication.

Lingayats widely acknowledge that their swamis do not live up to the celibacy vows and frequently get involved in illicit affairs. Many say over 50% of the swamis have gone rogue and a few put the number much higher. As most mathas are provincial in nature, these scandals play out mostly locally.

Lingayat doctrines urge the community to hold their swamis in high regard and treat them as divine. Yet, the men in saffron, who play a key role in the affairs of the community, enjoy a high degree of tolerance for their wayward behaviour.

The rise of swamis and mathas

The clue to this irony perhaps lies in the way Lingayats evolved as a sect or religion since the 12th century, when social reformer Basavanna founded their movement.

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The community defined itself against the Vedic religion and evolved alternate egalitarian beliefs and practices, which were open to all castes, including Dalits. The task of preserving and evangelising their philosophy was entrusted with jangamas or holy men.

Many Lingayat beliefs elevate Jangamas to a status higher than Lord Shiva himself, who is worshipped by the community. They urge Lingayats to support the Jangamas, who work full time to spread the word, with their daily earnings.

Over time, the Lingayat mathas also sprung up to do religious work, and proliferated, with many gaining royal patronage. They now dot the landscape where Lingayats are present: large parts of Karnataka and adjoining regions of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Due to their decentralised nature, not much is known about the Lingayat mathas. There are some 3,000 of them, according to a count. They can vary from a village matha with a few acres of donated land to institutions, spanning across districts and running education and real estate businesses worth thousands of crores.

Mathas also follow diverse traditions. The larger well-known mathas have set up branches while there are many independent mathas as well. Lower monks of ‘Gurusthalada mathas’ can marry while swamis of ‘Virakta’ tradition are expected to remain celibates.

Worldly responsibilities

Historically speaking, the Lingayat swamis and mathas are a success story.

The 12th-century movement that started in Kalyana in the Bidar district lasted for less than three decades. The fledgling Lingayats fled from the backlash to their radical beliefs and lied low for a long time. A few centuries later, they emerged as one of the largest social groups in South India, thanks to the tireless work of their swamis and the mathas.

Lingayats shun Brahmin priests and rely on their own swamis to officiate during their life’s ceremonies such as marriage and death. The swamis wield enormous spiritual clout though their work that was never confined to religious duties alone.

They were evangelists, who initiated new groups to their sect and expanded to new geographies. To administer their flock, they travelled extensively, settling disputes, fixing marriages, mobilising resources, lobbying with the rulers and addressing community issues.

Also read: Lingayat mathas: Agents of change or alternative power centres?

They also expanded mathas, set up hostels and educational institutions, acquired property and grew wealthy. The Lingayat model of managing community and garnering influence was so successful that many other castes emulated them and set up their own mathas.

The rat race for power

Lingayat swamis took their worldly engagements rather seriously and were soon sweating it out in a rat race with other swamis — both within and outside the community — to acquire wealth, influence and status.

Generations of mathas litigated and lobbied with the British and Mysore Maharaja for the exclusive use of honours that would accord them higher relative status. They fought fiercely for the right to ride the palanquin in a cross-sitting posture, a privilege bestowed by the government only on a select few.

Many Lingayats believe that the excessive earthly engagement of their swamis came at the cost of the spiritual quest. The pursuit of worldly affairs was to soon extend to an indulgence in worldly pleasures.

“The swamis started going bad after they started accumulating wealth,” said Shiva Shankarappa, a Lingayat farmer and activist in HD Kote Taluk.

Extra-spiritual affairs

Devotees would soon notice that their godmen were getting into ventures not recommended by the scriptures. The dalliances of the swamis in smaller mathas were easily visible. Even in larger mathas, where the swamis had a chance to be more discreet, devotees knew and gossiped about.

“Many swamis did not even try to conceal their illicit affairs. A popular Swami in North Karnataka lived with a woman employee of one of his colleges openly. People knew about the scandalous swamis and noted Kannada writer Basavarāja Kaṭṭīmani (1919-1989) wrote a book, Jaratāri Jagadguru, on the subject in 1953,” said Vishwaradhya.

But living in awe of their swamis, Lingayats seem to have opted to overlook their romantic trysts.

Historian Janaki Nair notes that a North Indian swami, Audityanath of Adi Chunchanagiri matha, a dominant Vokkaliga institution now, grew very scandalous in the early 20th century.

He was accused of adultery, misappropriating jewellery, visiting liquor shops, and even shooting at a sacred bull of the temple in drunken stupor. Thousands of the matha’s devotees petitioned the government, which stepped in and took over the matha for some time, she writes in a journal.

The growing problem

But, among Lingayats, there is no record of the community stepping in to check their wayward swamis.

“It is hard to speak up as we grow up learning to respect the swamis instinctively. Swamis are also powerful and have loyal followers, who stand by them, come what may. So, people tend to ignore their antics,” said Shivappa, a farmer in Kudligi taluk.

The tolerance of the community seemed to have made the swamis more brazen, and in recent years, incidents of holy men dipping into the sensual realm have escalated. Many put the blame on the growing prosperity of the mathas, the growth of materialism in the society, and the advent of mobiles and Internet for the worsening situation.

Mathas have become richer with appreciation in property and swamis, who also charge for their religious work, have more money than before.

The times when swamis walked on foot, carrying religious books on their backs and subsisting on simple food is gone. They are now seen zipping around in bikes and cars, carrying the latest mobiles and in general appreciating a good lifestyle. “Many do not eat bland food anymore. If you invite them to your home, they will give you a menu of what to serve them,” said HM Renuka Prasanna, secretary of the AIVM.

The power struggle in mathas

The fallout of these changes is the intensifying power struggle within the mathas. It was the factional fight to control the huge wealth and influence in the mathas that made many of these scandals public.

Shivamurthy Murugha Sharana was locked in a fierce battle with the Muruga matha’s powerful administrator, SK Basavarajan, when the devastating allegations surfaced.

The various charges and arrests in Muruga matha unfolded like a Game of Thrones plot. In a recent twist to the scandal, police have arrested Basavarajan and an associate for instigating one of the POCSO cases against the swami and also for stealing 47 photos from the matha.

Also read: Lingayat seer Shivamurthy arrested in alleged sexual abuse case

Basavalinga Swami was allegedly trapped not just for money. He was the close confidant of a recently anointed head monk of a large matha, who was acting against a corrupt clique in the institution. The individuals, who felt threatened in the new regime, allegedly hit back at the head monk by targeting the confidant.

Debating reform

Annoyed by the rampant transgressions, ordinary Lingayats seem to be growing critical of their swamis. Many say they try to stay away from the mathas put off by the scandalous behaviour of the swamis.

Only a handful of austere Swamis, who embody the original ideals of the movement, seem to have any moral influence left in the community. “We are calling a meeting to discuss ways to tackle this. But it is a challenge as we have no control on these swamis and can only voice the concern of the community,” said Renuka Prasanna of AIVM.

Reforming the mathas is indeed a challenge as they function like independent republics with little administrative supervision.

In the princely Mysore, Janaki Nair said, the Muzrai department kept a close watch on the mathas. “Since the 1990s, the oversight has been weakened as the government wants to set the religious institutions free,” she noted.

In the past, local notables also kept a watch on how the mathas functioned, she added. But the community supervision over Lingayat mathas, weak to start with, seems to have further declined over the years.

Vishwaradhya said the only solution is to get the swamis married. “Many of our 12th century leaders, including Basavanna, were married. The tradition of celibate swamis started only after the 15th century. Celibacy is against nature and not prescribed in the Lingayat religion,” he said.