Mangalore, January 2: It is official now. Seer of Pejawar mutt Vishvesha Tirtha and seer of Nidumamidi mutt Veerabhadra Channamalla are all set for an open debate on 'made-snana', a ritual which involves rolling on plantain leaves containing leftovers of a meal served to Brahmins.
The much-anticipated debate will not take place at Shikshakara Sadana in Bangalore on January 7 as was being projected earlier. Instead the programme will take place the following day (January 8) at Gandhi Bhavan near Kumara Krupa Road in Bangalore between 3pm and 6pm.
Speaking to the website over the phone Nidumamidi swamiji said, the function on January 7 will go ahead as scheduled. As many as 25 seers from across the State including Sri Thontadarya Swamiji and Sri Chandrashekar Swamiji of Okkaliga mutt will attend the function. The meeting, being organised on behalf of Nidumamidi mutt, is expected to urge the Government to ban the ritual.
Pejawar seer and Nidumamidi Swamiji have been at loggerheads on the issue of made-snana with the former maintaining a 'neutral' stand and the latter steadfastly seeking a ban on the ritual.
Nidumamidi had in fact criticised Pejawar for his double standard over the issue and the two had issued reactions and counter-reactions through the media. Reacting to the allegations, Pejawar seer had offered to discuss the issue on a public platform. Readily accepting the challenge Nidumamidi seer had invited Pejawar seer to attend the January 7 function in Bangalore, which had already been scheduled, and put forth his views.
The next day Pejawar seer told presspersons in Mukka that he would be in Chennai on the forenoon on January 7. He, however, offered to participate in the debate in the afternoon on January 7 in Bangalore, provided the discussion was peaceful and involved no sloganeering.
However, uncertainty over Pejawar's participation in the function had continued in the absence of an official confirmation from either side.
On Monday, Nidumamidi seer put the speculation to rest by saying that a separate meeting had been organised on January 8, where Pejwar seer will express his views about made-snana and engage in a debate with scholars, progressive thinkers and intellectuals. "Pejawar swamiji has confirmed his participation. Our volunteers have booked the hall only after the confirmation. I have spoken to him three times. So the debate is very much on. There will be just eight to nine Swamijis besides the invited participants," he told Coastaldigest.com.
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