Restore Anbhuava Mantapa, say Lingayats, Veerashaivas

The Swamijis of Lingayats and Veerashaiva communities have jointly called for the restoration of 'Anubhava Mantapa' to them. "The Anubhava Mantapa belongs to their community. It was established by Lord Basaveshwara, the reformer king of 12th century. We know the exact location of the Anubhava Mantapa and the features of the structure. We urge the government and the Archaeological Survey of India to help us reclaim it," was the call given by them at the massive rally and public meeting held today in Basavakalyana in Bidar district on Sunday.

Earlier at Basavakalyan, the VHP contended that Peer Pasha Darga was built around the 'Anubhava Mantap' which is stated to be the first democratic parliament of the world. The Mantap is where the Lord Basaveshwara used to listen to the views of the citizens of his kingdom. He allowed them to debate on various issues of the society and based on the public perception, not necessarily majoritarian views, he used to take executive decisions.

VHP leaders also feel that Anubhava Mantapa was not just a Shivaite centre but also a world heritage centre and has to be liberated from the walls of a mosque built around it. It was a great centre of learning that Islamic invaders have hidden behind the walls of a Darga. Basava Tatwa and the erudite teachings of Lord Basava is no less to the world of philosophy than King Solomon or Plato. His learnings and teachings are relevant to modern society even today. A strong bastion of Veerashaiva and Lingayats- Bidar, Koppal, Raichur and many other north Karnataka districts and some in the central and Southern parts even today recite Lord Basaveshwara's wise sayings. In lakhs of families in this region, people keep the photo or even idols of Lord Basaveshwara in their home temples and offer poojas every day as they do to Shiva.

In another development, the Government of Karnataka had cleared a new structure to build a replica of Anubhava Mantap at a cost of Rs 532 crore for which the identification of a place is now on. But the Shiva Sharanas told the government that they now know that the original Anubhava Mantap was hidden inside the Peer Pasha Darga at Basavakalyan and the government should order a survey of the Darga and restore the original to the society. "We have consulted the historians, archaeological experts and even the oral historians who indicate that the original Anubhava Mantap was inside the Peer Pasha Darga. We have also ascertained the age of Darga which is recent origin than the Anubhava Mantap. Since Anubhava Mantap had the potential of being a world heritage centre due to its importance to the modern world of Democracy we want it to be open to all who believe in democracy, the students, teachers, researchers and an entire range of people will be benefited by the original Anubhava Mantap" said Mr Sharanappa an expert on local history of Basavakalyan.