Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed a large gathering, including 10,000 youths dressed as Swami Vivekananda, about the teachings of Vivekananda and Basaveshwara during the annual jatra of Sri Siddharameshwar Mutt at Mugalkhod village in Belagavi district, via video conference.
Though he began by speaking about the teachings of Vivekananda, he drew heavily on the philosophy of the 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara. He recalled that he had unveiled a bust of Basaveshwara in London in 2015. “The British Prime Minister was talking about Magna Carta, and I realised that Bhagawan Basaveshwara had spoken of these things 800 years ago,” he said.
He introduced us to the parliamentary system of debate and discussion in the 12th century. This proves that Indian saints and leaders had implemented democratic principles long before western intellectuals were redefining democracy in the modern era, he said.
He quoted a Basaveshwara vachana that upholds free thought. He said Basaveshwara founded the Anubhava Mantapa which was a place where people from all strata of society could freely exchange their ideas.
It was the dream of Sri Siddharameshwar Swami to build such an Anubhava Mantapa. And his devotee, the present seer, Sri Murugha Rajendra Swami, has realised it, he said. “I congratulate and thank the seer for this valuable task,” he added. He praised the mutt for its charitable activities. Its devotees belong to all castes, so are the beneficiaries of its various welfare programmes, he said.
These social reformers
Mr. Modi credited seers such as Madhvacharya and Varkari saints from Maharashtra along with saints like Kabir Das and Sur Das for bringing longlasting changes in society.
The Siddharameshwar Mutt, which has its main branches at Mugalkhod in Belagavi district and Jidga in Kalaburagi district, has a large following in Bombay Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka regions.
