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Bangalore’s Famous ‘Old Airport Road’ is now ‘Madivala Machideva Road’

•    Road renamed in honor of the 12th Century Sharana Machideva
•    The Renamed road covers a stretch of 5 Kms linking Domlur and HAL

Bangalore, 18Sept, 2016: The famous ‘Old Airport Road’ that connects Domlur and The Bangalore old airport has been renamed as ‘Madivala Machideva Road’ in honor of the legendary Indian sharana and warrior of the 12th Century who fought against King Bijjala to protect the manuscripts of vachanas.  A programme was held at the Domlur BMTC Bus Stop that was presided by Mr. N A Haris, The MLA of the Shantinagar constituency. Mr. Ramalinga Reddy, Minister for Transport, Government of Karnataka was the Chief Guest for the program. New signage indicating the new name was unveiled by the Minister and other dignitaries present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Rev Sri Dr. Shivamurthy Muruga Sharana  of the Murugha Matt in Chitradurga said “ This is a commendable initiative by the leaders under the leadership of our beloved MLA. We have brought honor to one of the greatest vachanakara our country has ever seen. Machideva was a brave and courageous coeval Sharana of the guru Basaveshwara . I hope that he continues to be an inspiration to all of us living here. We should come together, solve our problems in a peaceful manner and live a happy and fulfilling life doing our best to help others” He said.

Presiding over the event MLA of Shantinagar, Mr. N A Haris said “Today is a day that brings us a lot of joy and happiness. We are honoring Madivala Machideva, by doing this we are upholding our history and tradition. Madivala stands for a ‘Kayaka’ or ‘washerman’ , a common man just like you and me. Machideva though a common man was the protector of the sharana literature. The Sharana Literature was asked to be burnt by the Bijjala King, But Machideva fought bravely to snatch it from them. Though he is credited to have written a lot of Vachanas, 354 of them have been found with the signature of Kalidevaraya. The message in his Vachanas implies to all of us today, - unite and live as one. There is nothing called upper class and lower class, we all belong to one class called Humanity and mankind. I hope he serves as an inspiration for our people”.

In his address, Mr. Ramalinga Reddy, Minister of Transport, Government of Karnataka said “ Machideva should serve as a role model to all of us.  His contribution to Kannada literature is huge. Though he has written over Three Crore, Three Hundred Vachanas, this day unfortunately we have access to only a few. He was reffered as ‘Machi Thande’ or ‘Machi Father’ by the Sharana saints. The Old Airport road could not have got a better name than ‘Madivala Machideva Road’ He added.

A colorful and entertaining performance by artists performing various folk performances was demonstrated. Dollu Kintha and Vachana Recitation programs were held. The event saw an attendance of over 350 people.