Shankara Vijayendra Saraswathi (born 13 March 1969) is the 70th Jagadguru of

Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, also called the Sri Kanchi Matham or the Sri Kanchi Monastery or the Sarvagna Peetha, is a Hindu institution, located in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. It is located near a temple dedicated to Goddess Sri Kamakshi (Durga, ...

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

. He became the senior Pontiff of the Kanchi Mutt following the attainment of Vidhehamukthi of

Jayendra Saraswati Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya (born Subramanyam Mahadeva; 18 July 1935 – 28 February 2018) was the 69th Shankaracharya Guru and head or pontiff (Pïțhādhipati) of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. Subramanyam Mahadeva Iyer ...

, the 69th Pontiff, on 28 February 2018.

Biography

Sri Shankara Vijayendra Saraswathi was born in 1969 as Sankara Narayanan in Periyapalayam village near Arani in

Tiruvallur Tiruvallur is a Grade I municipality and a fast developing city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of Coovum river about from downtown Chennai (Madras) and just 5 km from megacity border, in the western pa ...

. He attended a village school in Periyapalayam and studied the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

with his father, Sri Krishnamurthy Sastri, a Vedic scholar and teacher. He joined the

Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, also called the Sri Kanchi Matham or the Sri Kanchi Monastery or the Sarvagna Peetha, is a Hindu institution, located in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. It is located near a temple dedicated to Goddess Sri Kamakshi (Durg ...

when he was 13 and was named 70th Peetadipati in 1983. Shri Shankara Vijayendra Sarasvati Swami has toured many parts of the country. He has visited places like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Orissa, West Bengal, and all other parts of southern India. He also visited Nepal in the year 1998 with His Guru Shri Jayendra Saraswati Swami.

Arrest and Acquittal

In 2004, the junior Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi Mahaswamigal was arrested in connection with the

Sankararaman murder case Sankararaman murder case was a case on the staged murder of Sankararaman, the manager of Varadharaja Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram, a town in state of Tamil Nadu. He was murdered in the premises of the temple on 3 September 2004. The blame was ...

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

day along with the senior

Jayendra Saraswathi Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya (born Subramanyam Mahadeva; 18 July 1935 – 28 February 2018) was the 69th Shankaracharya Guru and head or pontiff (Pïțhādhipati) of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. Subramanyam Mahadeva Iyer w ...

pontiff. The court said that the complainant failed to support the prosecution and he was given bail. The trial went on till 2013 when he was acquitted by the court.

Controversy

Vijayendra Saraswati chose to sit through the Tamil Thai Vazhthu even as he reportedly stood for the national anthem at during the release of a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

dictionary compiled by late father of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

leader H Raja in January 2018.Tamils from across the world criticized him for insulting the Tamil anthem. In a clarification, the Kanchi Mutt has said that Vijayendra Saraswati was meditating when the anthem was playing. Hundreds of activists belonging to

Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK) is a social movement in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is a splinter group of Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam. Its policy is to bring out social reform along the lines envisaged by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Erode Ve ...

and

Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (; VCK) formerly known as the Dalit Panthers of India or the Dalit Panthers Iyyakkam (; DPI) is an Indian social movement and political party that seeks to combat caste based discrimination, active in the state o ...

were arrested by the police when they tried to besiege the Mutt fortified with heavy police security. Several Tamil organisations filed complaints against him. The Madras high court on March directed the police to register an FIR after a complaint filed by Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam. Justice G.R. Swaminathan quashed an FIR in December 2021 filed by

Naam Tamilar Katchi Naam Tamilar Katchi (We Tamils Party; NTK) is a Tamil nationalist party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. The party is known to revere Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam founder Velupillai Prabhakaran, whos ...

saying the ‘Tamil Thai Vazhthu’ 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.

References

External links

Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham
21st-century Hindu religious leaders 1969 births Indian Hindu monks Living people Shankaracharyas {{Hindu-bio-stub