Basava Dharma Peetha to discontinue the use of ‘Linga Deva’ in its publications

Peetha to go back to Kudalasangama Deva

Mate Gangadevi, head of the Basava Dharma Peetha in Kudal Sangama has announced that the institution will revert to the use of Kudalasangama Deva as the signature of Sri Basaveshwara’s Vachanas in all its future publications.

She made the announcement in Bagalkot on December 28. Long ago, the late Sri Mate Mahadevi, former head of the Peetha, used `Linga Deva’ as the signature of Sri Basaveshwara in the book Vachana Deepti. The State government stopped its publication and seized the copies that were already printed. Since then, the Peetha stopped the re printing and publication of that book. In the light of these developments, we have decided to use Kudalasangama Deva and not Linga Deva in all our future publications, she said. Mate Mahadevi had confirmed this stand in a statement in 2017, she said. Mate Gangadevi who succeeded Mate Mahadevi is the present seer of the Peetha.

She told journalists that the institution would dissociate itself from some persons who were still using the word `Linga Deva’ to denote the nom de plume or signature of Sri Basaveshwara. “Some people still do it. I know. But we have nothing to do with it,” she said. We will try to convince them to drop Linga Deva. We will issue a circular to all the religious institutions associated with us.