Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi passes away at 82

The senior seer of Kancheepuram Sankara Mutt, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, passed away on Wednesday following a prolonged period of illness. The revered personality of Kanchi, who was 82 years old, was admitted to a local hospital due to breathing problems.

Kanchi Mutt tweeted to confirm the sad demise.

Sri Jayendra Saraswathi was born on 18 July 1935 and was appointed as the head of Kanchi Peetham on March 22, 1954. Born Sri Subramaniyam, he was given the name Jayendra Saraswathi before being given the title. He succeeded in 1994 as the 69th Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam after Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Swamy.

Jayendra Saraswathi had a successful tenure as the Kanchi Peethadhipathi when the place managed to attract devotees from different corners of the world. The Mutt even established several hospitals and schools during this period.

His junior, Sri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi, is expected to take over the Mutt from him.

Several politicians and leaders, including the likes of Venkaiah Naidu, Suresh Prabhu, Arun Jaitley and Mamata Banerjee among others, took to Twitter to pay their tribute to Sri Jayendra Saraswathi.

National Party Indian National Congress also tweetedto pay its condolences to the loss.