Karnataka's popular Lingayat seer Siddalinga Swami passed away at Gadag in the state's northwest region, a member of his Thontadarya Mutt said on Saturday. He was 69.
"Doctors at a private hospital declared Swamiji dead today (Saturday) morning after a massive cardiac arrest," the member told reporters at Gadag, about 390 km from Bengaluru. State Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, however, told reporters here that when the pontiff did not come out of his room till 9 a.m., he was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead due to cardiac arrest.
"Siddalinga was one of the most revered Lingayat seers in Karnataka and known for his oratory. He had slammed the Veerashaiva-Lingayat seers for opposing the Siddaramaiah-led government's decision to grant minority status to the community," said Kumaraswamy in a statement here. Recalling that the seer was a great writer and a patron of education and literature, the Chief Minister said the pontiff had thousands of devotees for his progressive and straight approach to various social and religious issues.
