After months of illness, Jayendrar Saraswathi, the senior pontiff of Kanchi Sankara Mutt at Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu, passed away on Wednesday. He was 83.
Sources in he Mutt say the seer was rushed to the ABC Hospital in Kanchipuram after he suffered respiratory difficulties early in the morning. Later he suffered a cardiac arrest. Sources also say that he had been under continuous medical care for months.
Appointed as the 69th pontiff of the most popular Kanchi Kamakoti Peedam Sankara Mutt in 1994, Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal, as he is known, was the one who brought lots of changes in the Mutt and reached out to sections of the society, unlike his predecessors.
But he was also the most controversial figure from the conservative Mutt. The infamous Kanchi Sankararaman murder case and his arrest there after, his involvement in the government and the animosity that former chief minister Jayalalithaa developed against him had made headlines in 2003-2005.
Compared to his predecessors, Jayendrar was leading a much high profile life. His immediate predecessor Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi was the most respected and non-controversial personality. But Jayendrar was even looked at as a powerful person not just among the seers but also in the political circles. It was during Jayalalithaa's second term as chief minister in 2001-2006, when his involvements in advising the government for changing the existing rules in government controlled temples were reported.
Later he fell out with Jayalalithaa and in 2004, the famous Sankararaman murder case came up. After his midnight arrest at the Chennai airport, he fought a long legal trial in the case to finally come out clean. He was acquitted in in 2013.
He was also an accused in the auditor assault case that came up in 2002. However in 2016, he was acquitted in that case also.
Jayendrar joined the Mutt as the 69th pontiff in 1954 when he 29. He became the head of the Mutt or the senior pontiff in 1994, after the death of Chandrasekara Swamigal.
It may be recalled that in 1987, he suddenly went missing from the Mutt. It was reported that he had already planned to leave the Mutt for various reasons. After three days of continuous search, he was was found at Talacauvery in Karnataka and brought back to the Mutt. The reports of him fleeing the Mutt eventually died down after he took over in 1994 as the senior pontiff of the Mutt.
When Jayendrar had gone missing, Vijayendra Saraswati, his successor, was chosen and anointed as the 70th head of the mutt for the smooth conduct of daily rituals at the Mutt.
Vijayendrar was recently pulled into controversy for not raising up and respect Thamil anthem at an event in Chennai.