Seer gets ‘paada puja’ done with feet placed on Shivalinga in Chittapur village, stokes row

KALABURAGI: A Lingayat seer has courted controversy by getting ‘paada puja’ (washing of feet) done by devotees with his feet placed on a Shivalinga at Mahagaon village in Chittapur taluk.

Siddaveera Shivacharya Swami, the head of the Panchagraha Hiremath of Diggaon, got his feet washed in milk and devotees later applied vermillion and showered flower petals and Bilva leaves at his feet.

After the video went viral on social media, there have been comments both criticising the action and defending it. The math authorities, meanwhile, said that it was per the math traditions and was equivalent to ‘prana prathishtapana’ of a Shivalinga.