Udupi (DHNS): Pejawar Mutt seer Vishweshateertha Swami said on Thursday that he had extended an invitation to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to visit the Krishna Mutt along with President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday. However, it was left to the chief minister to come or not.

Speaking to reporters here, the seer said he had invited chief minister several times earlier too. But he was reluctant to visit the temple for reasons unknown. Siddaramaiah had never rejected the invitation, but his secretary said the chief minister would not accompany the President.

The seer said the chief minister himself should offer a clarification on his reluctance to visit the temple, the pontiff said. The chief minister, during his early political career, had visited him in Mysuru. Siddaramaiah had also sought his blessings before joining the Congress. However after becoming chief minister, he has not visited the temple or the seer.

The seer said the chief minister had no reason to be disappointed over the issue of Kanaka Gopura as Kanakadasa was offered a very sacred position in all activities of the temple. The Adamaru seer recently got a Kanaka Gopura built and dedicated it to Kanakadasa. Kanaka Jayanti is celebrated religiously in the temple, the pontiff said.

He said the chief minister’s wife had sent offerings to the temple through a representative and had conveyed that the couple would visit the temple soon. Siddaramaiah has only been saying he will visit the temple some day, but has not done so, the seer added.