When spiritual guru Siddheshwar Swamiji politely turned down Padma Shri Award in 2018

Jnana Yogashrama seer Sri Siddheshwara Swamiji, a prominent spiritual guru from Karnataka, breathed his last late evening on Monday, 2 January. He had been suffering from age-related health issues for the past couple of weeks. He was a powerful orator who held month-long discourses in cities and villages. He was not only loved by his devotees in Karnataka but also from Maharashtra, and other States as well.

Sri Siddheshwara Swamiji's final rites were performed with full state honours at Jnana Yogashrama in Vijayapura. Karnataka CM Basavraj Bommai was also present. Thousands of devotees from neighbouring districts and Maharashtra started flocking to the ashram to get a last glimpse of the seer.

 

 

In 2018, Siddheshwar Swamiji was conferred the Padma Shri — the fourth-highest civilian award of India — by the Central government for his spiritualism. However, he refused the award. Expressing his unwillingness to accept the prestigious award, Siddheshwar Swamiji, wrote Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he is ascetic and has little interest in awards.

 

In a letter dated January 26, the Jnana Yogashrama seer said he was grateful to the Government of India for bestowing him with the honour, but politely refused to accept it.

 

He wrote, "I am very grateful to the Government of India for awarding me the prestigious ‘Padmasri’ award. But with all respect to yourself and to the government I want to convey my unwillingness to accept the great award. Being a sanyasin I am little interested in awards. I hope, you appreciate my decision of not accepting this highly valued Padmasri award."

 

 

In an exclusive interview with The Hindu at that time, Siddheshwar Swami Ji reiterated that he does not want titles while adding, "there are many people, let them by honoured with such awards".

 

He has written books on spiritual guidance and is highly revered. It is for his spiritualism that he has been conferred with the Padma Shri award that year.

 

It should be noted that the 81-year-old seer never accepted any award from either governments or private institutions. In 2019, the BS Yediyurappa-led Karnataka government had announced grants to various mutts and religious institutions, including Jnana Yogashrama.

 

When the government geared up to give Rs 25 lakh for the ashram, Swamiji courteously turned it down. He refused to accept the funds on the grounds that the ashram had neither schools nor hospitals to utilise the money.

 

 

Born on 24 October, 1941, he was a son to an agricultural family of the Bijjaragi village in the Vijayapura district (erstwhile Bijapur), which was under the Bombay presidency in pre-Independence India. He completed his schooling and college in Vijayapura. He was a postgraduate in philosophy from Shivaji University in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.

 

Since the age of 14, Siddheshwar Swamiji was attracted towards spiritual life. He was inspired by the pravachan (discourses) of Mallikarjun Swamiji, who was a popular spiritual leader in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Goa, and took his discipleship.

 

Mallikarjun Swamiji had once said that Siddheshwar Swamiji would grow to the heights of philosopher Swami Vivekananda.