The seer of Siddaganga Mutt, Dr. Shivakumara Swami, turns 110 on April 1. People who have sought his guidance and studied under him say he is the champion of the downtrodden who emphasises the importance of education.
“The seer used to teach us English,” said 85-year-old M.N. Channabasappa, the seer’s student and director of Siddaganga Institute of Technology.
A teacher
“The seer used to coach many students of rural areas from class 10 and PU from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. in English. He insisted that we all learnt our spellings well,” said Mr. Channabasappa. The seer taught English for over 50 years to students at the mutt, he added.
At Siddaganga Mutt in Tumakuru city, students irrespective of religion and caste and live under one roof. It has a history of providing education and teaching Sanskrit to all students since 1917, at a time when the language was restricted to the ‘upper’ caste.
It was started by Uddana Shivayogi Swami and now continued by Dr. Shivakumara Swami.
