Vijayendra Saraswathi, 48, had become the 70th acharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam on May 29, 1983.
Sri Satya Chandrashekarendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya, a 25-year-old Rig Vedic scholar from Andhra Pradesh, was anointed as the junior pontiff of the ancient Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam at a grand religious ceremony. The historic event took place on the auspicious Akshya Thritiya, attended by seers from across the country. The new acharya, known as Ganesha Sharma Dravid before his initiation into sanyasa, is the successor to the present Seer Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya. The event coincided with the 2534th Jayanti Mahotsavam (May 2, 2025) of Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya, who established Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam in 482 BCE.
A Chengalpattu court, which was to have framed charges in the Sankararaman murder case on Tuesday, adjourned proceedings to July 25 in view of the boycott by advocates in Tamil Nadu.
Three more prosecution witnesses, including a woman, in the Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi are the main accused, turned hostile during the trial in a local court on Thursday.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other leaders condoled the death of the seer.
Four more witnesses turned hostile on Thursady during their examination in a Puducherry court in the trial of Sankararaman murder case in which Kanchi Sankaracharyas Jayendra Saraswathi and his deputy Vijayendra Saraswathi are the prime accused.
Mutt manager Sundaresa Iyer and Kaladi Vishwanatha Iyer had sought and been granted anticipatory bail in this case.
An application in this regard will be moved before Kanchipuram First Class Judicial Magistrate G Uttamarjan when the senior pontiff is produced before the court, mutt officials said.
. Jayendra also offered 'arthi' to the idol of Adi Sankara, Mutt sources said.
They have been booked under Section 20(1) of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act for "contravention in relation to canabis plant and canabis."
The bail petitions of Appu, Kadiravan, Anil and Bhasker have been dismissed. They will also be present on Thursday at the Chengalpattu court.
The Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced Tamil Thaai Vaazhthu, an invocation sung in praise of mother Tamil, as the state anthem and directed that all present during its rendition should remain standing.
The 'Tamil Thai Vaazhthu', an invocation, is only a prayer song and not a National Anthem and hence, there is no need for every one to remain in standing posture when it is rendered, the Madras High Court bench here has ruled.
'We shall not see the like of Kalaignar again, and our nation is poorer without his wise statesmanship, and his dedication to our country and our people,' she said.
The burial ceremony was performed in the presence of Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi, the junior pontiff of the Mutt and some close family relatives of the late seer.
In a huge relief to the pontiffs of Kanchi Sankara Mutt, Jayendra Saraswathi and Vijayendra Saraswathi, a local court on Wednesday acquitted them in the murder case of a temple official in Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu.
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