Vijayendra Saraswati Swamigal
Vijayendra Saraswathi is the 70th Pontiff of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Kanchipuram.
Biography
Early life
Sri Shankara Vijayendra Saraswathi (born March 13, 1969 as Sankaran in a village called Thandalam, Tiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu) is the 70th Shankaracharya (guru and head or pontiff, Peetadhipathi) of the Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, a Hindu religious institution. He was nominated by his predecessor, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, as his successor and was given the title Sri Shankara Vijayendra Saraswathi on May 29, 1983 at the early age of 14 years.
He first attended a village school in his native village of Thandalam. After school hours, he learnt Sanskrit. His father Sri Krishnamurthy Sastri, a Vedic scholar of high repute, taught Rig Veda in the Sri Sankara Kainkarya Sabha Patashala in Polur. After studying in the regular system up to the sixth standard, Sankaranarayanan (the boy) joined the Patashala as an ardent student of his own father and became very proficient in the Vedas.[citation needed]. He also studied and mastered various shastra-s. [citation needed].
Religious Education
He had his first darshana of (i.e. saw) the 69th Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi when he was about eight years old. Thereafter He visited Kanchipuram from time to time and would go wherever the Navaratri pujas were performed by Jayendra Sarasvati. When He was eleven years old, he had his first darshana of Chandrashekarendra Saraswati at Satara for the first time. When He met the Mahaswami once more a year later, the Mahaswami conversed with Him for a long time.
Jayendra Sarasvati initiated Shankaranarayanan (the boy) to the holy order of sannyasa on May 29, 1983. His sannyasa name is Shankara Vijayendra Sarasvati. In Tamil Nadu, His followers call Him "Bala Periyavaal", which means "Young Holy One" in Tamil language.
Controversies
He was arrested along with Jayendrar on charges of murder of Sankararaman.
References
External links
- The Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham
- The Sacred and the Profane-
- Kanchi Forum - an online forum