THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sri Bharati Tirtha, the 36th Jagadguru Sankaracharya of the Dakshinamnaya Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri, arrived in the capital city on Sunday as part of the Sri Sringeri Vijaya Yathra 2017 organised to celebrate the birth centenary of Abhinava Vidyatirtha.
The senior pontiff was accompanied by junior pontiff Sri Vidhushekhara Bharati and will lead special poojas in the city this week before leaving for Kalady, the birthplace of Adi Shankara, via Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, and Aluva.
The pontiffs attended a public function at the Pattom Thanupillai Memorial Priyadarshini Hall in East Fort where MLAs V S Sivakumar and O Rajagopal, Thiruvananthapuram Mayor V K Prasanth and BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan were present.
Sri Bharati Tirtha will halt at Kalady from June 18 to 24 before reaching Sringeri on June 30 with stops at Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kanjangad, Kasargod, and Moodabidri in Karnataka. The pontiff had started his tour from Nagercoil on Saturday.
MLA Sivakumar said there has been a connection between the erstwhile Travancore and Sringeri and it is important that exchange should continue. “I pray this yathra will be useful to improve the morality of society,” said Rajagopal.