Former head of math in Gundlupet village had inappropriate videos, photos on phone; Community angry

CHAMARAJANAGAR: Days after Nijalinga Swami a.k.a Mohammed Nisar (22) ‘abdicated’ as head of the Gurumalleshwara Virakta Math at Chowdahalli in Gundlupet taluk after his previous Muslim identity was revealed, a video of him indulging in an alleged homosexual act with another youth has shocked the villagers.

Curiously, the video, along with another where Mohammed Nisar can be seen completely drunk, were found on his phone along with photos of him and the other youth consuming beer. A recent delivery of a type of cap usually worn by Muslims, which was ordered online, has also angered the Lingayat community.

Nijalinga Swami a.k.a Mohammed Nisar hails from Shahpur in Yadgir district. He had claimed that he was deeply influenced by Basava philosophy and had taken Jangama deeksha from a religious leader in Basavakalyan in 2021. The religious leader had given him the name Nijalinga Swami, and he was involved in spreading Basava philosophy.

After the videos came to light, the district president of the Veerashaiv Mahasabha, Moodlupura Nandeesh said he will write to the state Mahasabha and that they will taken up a legal battle. “We have have great religious leaders like the Walking God Shivakumara Swami of Siddaganga Math and Shivaratri Rajendra Swami of JSS Math who have contributed immensely”, he said.

“The man who had come to the Chowdahalli Math as its head is a homosexual and was also consuming alcohol. He would encourage small children who visited the math, to consume meat and beer saying that they needed to put on weight. He has insulted Lingayat dharma and hence legal action should be taken”, Nandeesh added.

Mahadev Prasad, who hails from Chowdahalli and is currently living abroad, had constructed the Gurumalleshwara Virakta Math and had brought Nijalinga Swami to run the math. However, some youths of the village came across his SSLC marks card which revealed that he was earlier Mohammed Nisar.

After the villagers raised objection, Mohammed Nisar left the village and headed back to Yadgir saying that if the villagers do not want him, he was ready to abdicate as the math head.