Lingayat seer forced to quit Karnataka mutt over past Muslim identity

A young seer, a Muslim-born individual, stepped down from his position at a Karnataka mutt after villagers objected to his past. The 22-year-old, who now goes by Nijalinga Swamy, was asked to leave the Gurumalleshwara Shakha mutt in Chamarajanagar’s Gundlupet taluka, ending a brief six-week tenure amid a controversy sparked by the revelation of his Muslim background, The Indian Express reported.

The dispute erupted last week when an employee at the mutt discovered Swamy’s Aadhaar card in an old mobile phone he had handed over. The identity card, along with older photographs, revealed that Swamy was born Mohammed Nisar. This came as a surprise to some devotees, who voiced concern that they were unaware of his original faith at the time of his appointment.

Swamy, originally from Yadgir district, was cited by The Indian Express as telling the publication that his spiritual journey began early in life. “At a very young age, I was attracted towards Basavanna and his ideas. I used to perform puja just like any Lingayat. My parents were frightened and they sent me to a madrassa to study. It gave me another dimension and at the age of 17, I took deeksha (initiation) to become a Lingayat,” he explained, tracing his adoption of Lingayatism back to his teens.

The foundation of the Gurumalleshwara Shakha mutt was made possible by a land donation from Mahadev Prasad, a philanthropist based in Australia. Swamy had been recommended for the position by his guru due to his strict adherence to Lingayat rituals, having previously served at another mutt in Basavakalyan, Bidar district. According to The Indian Express, he accepted the headship on the assurance from well-wishers that his past would remain private and that his focus should be on serving the community.

However, after the discovery, Swamy openly acknowledged to devotees that he was born into a Muslim family before embracing the teachings of Basavanna, the revered 12th-century Lingayat reformer. He clarified, in his remarks to The Indian Express, that since his conversion he has observed his vows diligently and denied participating in any “unholy” activities, responding specifically to concerns raised by photos from before his initiation.