Lingayat seer Mathe Mahadevi passes away

Head of Basava Dharma Peetha at Kudalasangama and a prominent Lingayat leader Mathe Mahadevi, 74, passed away at a private hospital here on Thursday following cardiac arrest.

A staunch advocate of Basava Tatwa (Basava philosophy), Mahadevi was one of the most vocal leaders of the movement demanding separate religion status for the Lingayat faith. The widely travelled seer with wide-ranging interests was known for her forthright views which, occasionally, landed her in controversy.

Doctors attending on Mahadevi at Manipal Hospitals on Old Airport Road, where she had been admitted on March 8 in a critical state, said she had a prolonged renal illness and was on advanced life support system.