Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru is an Indian seer (a person who can see the future) and a pontiff (chief priest) of Sri Jagadguru Murugharajendra Bruhanmutt, Chitradurga. He belongs to the Lingayat community (a community founded to disrupt Hinduism’s Brahminical order) mainly based in Karnataka. He was arrested under the charges of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and was released after 14 months in 2023.
Wiki/Biography
Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru was born on Friday, 11 April 1958 (age 65 years; as of 2023) in the village Godabanahal in Chitradurga District of Karnataka. He completed his primary education in his village and completed his graduation from the University of Mysore. He was appointed as a pontiff and the successor of Sri Mallikarjuna Murugharajendra Swamiji of Sri Jagadguru Murugharajendra Bruhanmutt on 31 January 1991.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 6″
Weight (approx.): 65 kg
Family
There is no information about his parents and siblings
Religion/Religious Views
Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru follows Lingayatism (a Hindu sect that only worships Shiva). He is the pontiff (chief priest) of Sri Jagadguru Murugharajendra Bruhanmutt, Chitradurga.
Address
Sri jagadguru Murugharajendra Bruhanmatha, Basava kendra, Chitradurga District, Karnataka India, 577502.
Career
Seer
After he was appointed as the president of Bruhanmatha in 1991, he revoked all the religious blind practices held in the mutt, which were against the Sharanas culture and Basava philosophy that Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru believes in. He and his disciples work to eliminate the evils of the caste system, inequality and poverty, put an end to the practice of blind faith, avoid pollution in the implementation of development projects, help workers and peasants, ensure the protection of orphans, and provide shelter to the elderly. The community also focuses on bad habits and drug addiction, anti-dowry programmes, widowhood, and caste marriages.
ಶ್ರೀ ಜಗದ್ಗುರು ಮುರುಘರಾಜೇಂದ್ರ ಬೃಹನ್ಮಠದಲ್ಲಿ ಡಾ. ಶಿವಮೂರ್ತಿ ಮುರುಘಾ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷತೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ಸಭೆಯಲ್ಲಿ 2022ನೇ ಸಾಲಿನ ಶರಣಸಂಸ್ಕøತಿ ಉತ್ಸವದ ಗೌರವಾಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರನ್ನಾಗಿ ಡಾ. ಶ್ರೀ ಬಸವಕುಮಾರ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಗಳು, ವನಶ್ರೀ ಮಠ, ವಿಜಯಪುರ ಮತ್ತು ಕಾರ್ಯಾಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರನ್ನಾಗಿ ಎಸ್.ಲಿಂಗಮೂರ್ತಿ, ಇವರನ್ನು ಆಯ್ಕೆ ಮಾಡಲಾಯಿತು. pic.twitter.com/movPDnY1fu
— Dr.Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru (@murughamatha) October 20, 2021
Controversies
Arrested for sexual exploitation
In September 2022, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru was arrested because of the accusations made against him for sexual assault, charged with rape and sexual harassment. The FIR was lodged by minor girls aged 15 and 16, who were staying in a mutt-run hostel, and the girls accused Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru of ‘sexually abusing’ them for a couple of years. A case was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and the seer was house-arrested from Bankhapura town in Karnataka. The accused was granted bail on 8 November 2023 and was released from prison on 16 November 2023. However, on 20 November 2023, Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru was arrested again and was remanded in judicial custody till 2 December 2023, for the second POCSO case on a non-bailable warrant issued because of not appearing in court and “failure to attend the court hearing.” Later, the seer moved the High Court of Karnataka and an order was passed demanding his immediate release from prison. The High Court asked the special court to pause framing charges against him under the provisions of Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, and section 201 of Indian Penal Code (destruction of evidence). In October 2022, a woman lodged an FIR against Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru for allegedly sexually harassing her daughter who is a minor.
#WATCH | Karnataka | Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, the pontiff of Murugharajendra Bruhanmutt, Chitradurga, was released today after bail was granted to him in a POCSO case against him pic.twitter.com/Z4xrWLVLGO
— ANI (@ANI) November 16, 2023
Facts/Trivia
- Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru was the 20th pontiff of Sri Jagadguru Murugharajendra Bruhanmutt, Chitradurga.
- Sharana Sangama, Sharana Sanskriti Utsava, Sahaja Shivayoga, Maneyalli Mahamane, Janajagruthi Padayatra, and Maha Dasoha are some of the events organized by Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru at Sri Jagadguru Murugharajendra Bruhanmutt.