Nirmalananda Swamiji has been anointed as the successor of Sri Balagangadharanatha Swamiji. He will be the 72nd pontiff of Adichunchanagiri Mutt which runs more than 450 educational institutions.
Mandya Deputy Commissioner Krishnaiah read Balagangadharanatha Swamiji’s will, which was brought from Mandya Treasury.
Nirmalananda Swamiji performed the rituals connected with Sri Balagangadharanatha Swamiji’s Mahasamadhi.
Nirmalananda Swamiji was born on July 20, 1969 at Cheranahalli in Gubbi taluk in Tumkur district.
His parents Narasaiah and Nanjamma named him as Nagaraju. He has two sisters - Hanumakka and Kempamma - and three brothers, Anjineya, Krishnamurthy and Chandrashekaraiah.
Nagaraju finished his lower primary education in the government school in Cheranahalli, higher primary in nearby Nattekere and high school education in Mavinahalli Government High School.
He joined Tumkur Government Polytechnic immediately after his schooling and secured seventh rank in Diploma in Civil Engineering. Nagaraju completed BE from NIE College, Mysore, and joined IIT-Madras for MTech.
Nagaraju later worked as a scientist in Indian Research Centre, Pune. As he was not interested in the worldly affairs, Nagaraju joined Adichunchangiri Mahasamsthana Mutt, accepted the renounced order of life from his guru Balagangadharantha Swamiji and came to be called Nirmalananda Swamiji. He studied Sanskrit and Vedas and secured MA in Advaita Philosophy from Samskrutha Vedagama Mahavidyalaya run by the Mutt.
He was deputed to the Mutt’s Chickballapur branch He was also in charge of the administration of Adichunchanagiri Mutt even since Balagangadharanatha Swamiji fell sick four years ago.