Krishna visits Mantralayam

MANTRALAYAM: Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna on Saturday sought the blessings of the Peetadhipati of Mantralayam in his government’s efforts to catch forest brigand Veerappan and also sort out the Cauvery water dispute, according to mutt sources.
Krishna spent three hours with the mutt Peethadhipati Sri Susamendra Teertha Swamy. The mutt has become famous as Sri Raghavendra Swamy went to ‘Sajiva Samadhi’ about 550 years ago.The Karnataka devotees feel that Mantralayam was their sacred place as Sri Raghavendra Swamy was born in Karnataka. It may be recalled that Kannada thespian Rajkumar’s wife Parvatamma also visited the temple town, when her husband was abducted by Veerappan.
The Karnataka CM reportedly gave details about the abduction of former minister Nagappa by the forest brigand to the Peethadhipathi. The Cauvery River Authority’s CRA) decision too had become a controversy causing problems for the chief minister. Krishna also visi t e d Brindavan.
According to sources, the mutt officials requested the CM to speak to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu about the controversy over the appointment of mutt’s successor.
The Peethadhipathi has recently announced that the Mutt Uttaradhikari, (his successor) would be Sri Suvidyendra Teertha Swamy. But, the announcement created a controversy in the Mutt itself as Sri Suvidyendra Teertha is not from the Mantralayam Mutt.
Krishna was received by Raichur MP Venkatesh Naik, Raichur MLA Syed Yaseen, Raichur collector Venkatesh Naik, Mandvi MLA Bosa Raju, Raichur town Congress president Niranjan Reddy, Bellary former MP Kondaiah (all from Karnataka), Kurnool former MP Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy, Kodumuru MLA M Sikhamani, Kurnool collector G Sai Prasad and several others.