JAYENDRA Saraswati Laid To Rest

JAYENDRA Saraswati, the 69th pontiff of the Kanchi Mutt located in Tamil Nadu claimed to have been established by Sri Adi Shankaracharya, was on Thursday buried in the Brindhavanam annexe in the premises of the religious establishment amidst chanting of Vedic honours. The mortal remains of the departed 82-year-old pontiff were lowered into a large bamboo basket placed inside the 7 ft x 7 ft burial pit in the annexe. The pit was filled with herbs like “Vasambu”, salt, sandalwood and sand. The ceremony that lasted over three hours beginning 7.45 am, a grand “aarti” was performed with Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit also in attendance. The ceremony began with the performance of “abishekam” on the body of Jayendra Saraswathi that was seated with folded hands in a chair. The mutt hall reverberated with hymns with emotional devotees bidding farewell to the revered seer. The body was earlier brought from the main hall on a chair to the Brindhavanam annexe housing the mausoleum of Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi, his predecessor. The mortal remains of the seer had been kept for public homage in the Mutt premises. Devotees were teary-eyed during the burial ceremony when the “Kailaya Vadhyam” was played, a form of Tamil music involving use of traditional drums and trumpets, The Kanchi Mutt, the erstwhile Kumbakonam Mutt, it was established by Adi Shankaracharya .Adi Sankara’s historically accepted period is 8th century AD. There is also dispute among scholars who are of the view that the Kanchi mutt was reportedly not one of the four mutts established by Adi Sankara  ,who was born in modern day Kerala’s Cochin in 788 and passed away at the age of 32 in famed Himalayan shrine  Kedarnath located in Uttarakhand. The philosopher and theologian are credited for consolidating the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta and unifying and establishing the main currents of thought in Hinduism.

Some scholars have opined that Jayendra Saraswati e was an unconventional and contentious seer unlike his predecessors. However, he was not a copybook pontiff. Despite being head of one of the oldest and influential religious institutions, he had been devoted to social consciousness and promoted social activities. RSS has expressed deep condolences on demise of Pujya #JayendraSaraswathi Swamiji of Kanchi. ‘A great loss to the Spiritual World. He was one of the greatest Spiritual Leader of our times. Condolences’: V Nagaraj, RSS Dakshin Madhya Kshetreeya Sanghachalak.(image : indian express)