The venerated Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, the 2,500-plus-years-old mutt established by Adi Sankara, is buzzing with festivities. The anointment of the 71st Sankaracharya of the peetam is a significant moment in the spiritual, cultural and social journey of the mutt. A disciple of Sri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal, the 70th Sankaracharya, will be the mutt’s 71st Sankaracharya in this unbroken lineage that is a continuum non pareil.
With this anointment, the devotees shall once again be doubly-blessed, as they were during the time of the 69th Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal, between 1994 and 2017. Triply-blessed were those during the 1983-1994 period that saw the 68th Sankaracharya, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Swamigal, reverentially known as the Mahaswamigal, making the trinity of the mutt’s Acharyas a rare spectacle.
The mutt’s three-pronged approach towards propagating Sanatan Dharma—protecting civilisational assets, enabling intellectual assets, and enriching human life and livelihood—has been phenomenal. Its Veda, Vidya and Vaidya sevas have transformed various dimensions of Bharat’s growth over the last century.
Mahaswamigal’s predominant focus on protecting Vedic and other holy assets of Bharat and the 69th Sankaracharya’s social outreach through education and healthcare have made the 70th Acharya’s continuing odyssey stronger while anointing the 71st. Without compromising on rigorous religiosity despite having a punishing schedule, the Acharyas have blended spiritual and social causes in a seamless unison, cementing its headquarters in the holy town of Kanchi while spreading good deeds all over the country.
With the Adi Sankara temple in Srinagar and many other temples across the country, eye hospitals in many places including Assam and Varanasi, Veda pathshalas and schools across locations, and a university for higher education and research, the Kanchi Mutt is a marvellous miscellany, true to Kalidasa’s poetic words, ‘nagereshu Kanchi (the greatest of cities being Kanchi)’.
Just as Kanchi Mutt’s founder Adi Sankara travelled across Bharat on foot, the 68th and 69th Acharyas have undertaken padayatras across the nation with a kaleidoscopic sweep of initiatives that have touched millions across generations. The 70th Acharya’s care towards rural development, coupled with traditional practices, has attracted strategic minds to blend modern facilities with ancient wisdom in achieving a nurtured and nutritive balance.
Some of his schemes to promote agriculture, cow farming and socioeconomic projects based on the Indian knowledge system have characterised the mutt’s tri-dimensional foray with sustainable reach. His contributions, guided by his revered guru in absentia, to the reconstruction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya will be etched in the memories of many.
The trinocular vision with which he steers the mutt’s three-dimensional objectives stretching beyond conventional boundaries will be inspirational for his successor. It is this continuum of lineage—not only through physical presence and knowledge, but also through spiritual-social munificence and action—that has made Kanchi Mutt a revered place of unifying sanctity. With the anointment today and Sankara Jayanthi (birthday of Adi Sankara) on May 2 to follow, the temple town of Kanchi is dazzling with divinity, sprouting with spirituality and towering with bhakti.
Devotees have already been thronging the town in huge numbers ever since the formal announcement was made a few days ago. Traditional rituals are beginning as Kanchipuram is gearing up for the historic occasion. The new Sankaracharya’s pious and radiant looks have already taken social media by storm. With this, millions of devotees are getting another Acharya—another coming of the mutt’s first principles.
As today’s edition hits the stands, the newly-named ‘—endra Saraswathi’ Acharya Swamigal, as per the mutt’s tradition, shall adorn the saffron robes and hold the sanctified danda to guide Bharat along with the 70th Acharya. With ‘Hara Hara Sankara, Jaya Jaya Sankara’ blowing through the skies of Kanchi and magnifying the works of the mutt, a new day dawns at the holy temple town. (Views are personal)
S Vaidhyasubramaniam
Vice-Chancellor & Tata Sons Chair Professor of Management, SASTRA (Deemed) University