Sri Jayendra Saraswathi – the 69th Shankaracharya of the Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam – passed away on Wednesday following a cardiac arrest.
The 82-year old seer was rushed to a private hospital this morning after he complained of uneasiness, hospital sources said.
The rites of the seer, described as 'Brindavana Pravesha Karyakramam' in vedic parlance, will commence from tomorrow, according to the mutt.
"Brindavana Pravesha Karyakramam of HH Pujyashri Jayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya Swamigal will be performed tomorrow from 8 am," the mutt's official twitter handle said.
The seer's body has been kept at the Kamakoti peetam here for the public to pay final respects. Many of the devotees who visited the mutt were in tears and described him as a 'jagathguru.'
Here's all you need to know about Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi
1. Located about 75km southwest of Chennai, Kancheepuram is considered one of the seven "mokshapuras" (a place for attaining salvation) where the Adi Shankaracharya established a mutt and founded a line of successors after him.
2. Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam was established by Sri Adi Shankaracharya in 482 BC and has the "distinction of an unbroken line of 70 acharyas".
3. Jayendra Saraswathi was born on July 18, 1935, in Irulneeki village of Tamil Nadu's Thiruvarur district.
4. At the age of 19, he was chosen as the successor to Parmacharya Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi.
5. He received the titled Sri Jayendra Saraswathi from Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi when he was appointed Peedathipathi in March 1954.
6. He had mastered the Rig Veda, the Dharma Shastras, the Upanishads, Vyakarana, Vedanta, Nyaya, Tarka Shastras and all Hindu scriptures.
7. Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi was arrested in the sensational Sankaraman murder case in 2004 during the Jayalalithaa regime in Tamil Nadu and was cleared by a sessions court in 2013.
A.Sankararaman, manager of the Sri Varadarajaperumal temple here, was brutally murdered in his office room in the temple on September 3, 2004, by a sharp-edged weapons.
In November 2013, the Puducherry Sessions Court acquitted Sankaracharya Sri Jayendra Saraswathi and his Deputy Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi of charges.
8. Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi, already chosen by Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, will succeed as 70th head of the Mutt
