Basavanna taught us to worship one god; opposed Hindu practices: Lingayat seer

coastaldigest.com news network

July 27, 2017

Belagavi, Jul 27: Endorsing the idea of independent religious status for Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami of Panchamasali Peetha, Kudalasangama, has said that the 12th century reformer Basavanna had strongly opposed Vedic (Hindu) religion and its practices.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the seer said Basavanna fought against caste system in the Vedic religion and for gender equality. He gave a philosophy of one god worship, inventing the ‘Ishta Linga’ concept, and founded Lingayatism religion. People who had opposed separate religious status to Jains and Sikhs were creating confusion. They were now opposing independent religion status to Lingayat religion, which flourished in Kannada land, the Swami said.

After a long delay, the community has become aware and the time is ripe for them to get their due. The term Veerashaiva is a new one and is not equivalent to Lingayat. All those who followed Basavanna were Lingayats, he said.

The leaders of BJP and Congress should pay tributes to Basavanna by ensuring separate religious status. With the government sending its recommendations in support of the demand to the Centre, BJP leaders under the leadership of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa should prevail upon the Narendra Modi government to accord the status. Lingayats had all the potential to become a separate religion, encompassing all sects, he said.

The seer said, Yeddyurappa, who had opposed the separate religious status, had changed his view and clarified he would be bound by the decision of the Veerashaiva/Lingayat Mahasabha. He said a convention of the Lingayat community to demand separate religion status would be held at Kudalasangama on August 20.

Comments

The move is much impressive and a great step towards Logic, but still lacking towards perfection.

We should know well the God has a already decreed us the religion which is for all to obey. That religion is perfectly preaching 1ness and much perfect.

We dont want to worry to invent it, as the God has already introduced it for all of us.

We need to just identify it amontst the so called religions. You be whoever with your name.

You have Islam religion is there which God has created for all. Read and understand it, nothing can be found parallel to it.

Because it is the devine set of God's command in its entirety forms one and only true religion.

Please know it well, it is the latest revised version of its predecessing religions Judaism and Christianity.

In otherwords it is the latest version by the God for all of us. Follow it well it is Lingaitism in its purest form.

This is like is you are searching true gold among the imitated fake products.

It is everybody's duty and right to seach for your rights.

Its shame that courts are respecting terrorists and releasing them on bail whereas innocents are denied of bail and rotting in jails. This is ache din for trouble makers and hate mongers.

Death Israel terrorists and their supporters. May Allah destroy Israeli army and let them go to hell. Its shame that Muslim countries and UNO is doing nothing for the force being used by Jews terrorists on unarmed palestinians.

Basavanna was a thinker beyond his times. He questioned the prevalent religious systems of his time and promoted social and gender equality. We have a lot to learn from him- to not stick to old religious dogmas and democratically rethink about religious teachings.
Unfortunately, we have forgotten him.

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Pilgrims converge on Mount Arafat for peak of hajj

Agencies

July 31,2020

Mount Arafat, July 30: Muslim pilgrims converged Thursday on Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat for the climax of this year's hajj, the smallest in modern times and a sharp contrast to the massive crowds of previous years.

A tight security cordon has been erected all around the foot of the rocky hill outside Mecca, also known as Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy.

Pilgrims, donning masks and observing social distancing, were brought in buses from neighbouring Mina, state television showed, as Saudi authorities impose measures to prevent a coronavirus outbreak.

They were subject to temperature checks and attended a sermon -- which state media said was translated into 10 languages -- before they set off on the climb to the summit for hours of Koran recitals and prayers to atone for their sins.

The scene was strikingly different to last year's ritual when a sea of pilgrims ascended Mount Arafat, marshalled by tens of thousands of stewards in a bid to prevent any crushes.

After sunset prayers, pilgrims will make their way down Mount Arafat to Muzdalifah, another holy site where they will sleep under the stars to prepare for the final stage of hajj, the symbolic "stoning of the devil".

It takes place on Friday and also marks the beginning of Eid al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice.

The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime, is usually one of the world's largest religious gatherings.

But only up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom will participate in this year's ritual, compared with 2019's gathering of some 2.5 million from around the world.

"You are not our guests but those of God, the custodian of the two holy mosques (Saudi Arabia's King Salman) and the nation," Hajj Minister Mohammad Benten said in a video released by the media ministry on Wednesday.

Security cordon

A security cordon has been thrown around the holy sites to prevent any security breaches, an interior ministry spokesman said.

Riyadh faced strong criticism in 2015 when some 2,300 worshippers were killed in the deadliest stampede in the gathering's history.

But this year, those risks are greatly reduced by the much smaller crowd.

The pilgrims have all been tested for the virus, and foreign journalists were barred from this year's hajj, usually a huge global media event.

As part of the rites completed over five days in the holy city of Mecca and its surroundings, the pilgrims converged on Mount Arafat after spending the night in Mina.

A district of Mecca, Mina sits in a narrow valley surrounded by rocky mountains, and is transformed each year into a vast encampment for pilgrims.

They began the hajj on Wednesday with their first "tawaf", the circumambulation of the Kaaba, a large structure in Mecca’s Grand Mosque towards which Muslims around the world pray.

The Kaaba is draped in a black cloth embroidered in gold with Koranic verses and known as the kiswa, which is changed each year during the pilgrimage.

Pilgrims were brought inside the mosque in small batches, walking along paths marked on the floor, in sharp contrast to the normal sea of humanity that swirls around the Kaaba during hajj.

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