Gowda & grandson visit temples ahead of filing nominations

Former Prime Minister and JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda, trying his luck in Tumakuru for the Lok Sabha polls and and one of his grandsons Nikhil Kumaraswamy, a political debutant, visited a number of temples Sunday ahead of filing their nominations on March 25.

While the JD(S) patriarch is contesting from Tumakuru, his grandsons Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Prajwal Revanna are testing political waters for the first time from Mandya and Hassan Lok Sabha seats respectively.

Accompanied by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his wife Anitha Kumaraswamy, the Ramanagara MLA, the first visited Adi Chunchanagiri Math in Mandya district, the religious head of the dominant Vokkaliga (agrarian) community, which Gowda hails from.

Amid chanting of Vedic hymns, the family conducted special prayers to the presiding deity Lord Shiva.

The family then went to Siddaganga Math in Tumakuru to pay their respects to Shivakumara Swamiji, who passed away a few months ago at the age of 111.

They conducted special prayers at the Samadhi where the seer has been interred.

Gowda and his family members are known for their deep religious sentiments.

Earlier, they paid their obeisance at the Sharada Devi temple in Sringeri, one of the four seats established by Adiguru Shankaracharya.

They had some time back visited Tirupati to seek the blessings of Lord Venkateshwara.