KANCHEEPURAM, TN: Face in repose, eyes closed and hands folded, the body of Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi was brought in a chair to a hall in the southern Indian mutt as grieving devotees began to pay their last respects to the revered Hindu seer.
Followers wept as the body of the Shankaracharya, who died today of a cardiac arrest at the age of 82, was placed at a vantage spot in the Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam so that his legion of followers could bid him goodbye.
“He was the ‘jagatguru’ (guru of the world),” a distraught woman devotee said.
The Shankaracharya’s forehead was smeared with vibuthi (holy ash) and dotted with red kumkum and strings of garlands were wreathed around his neck.
Many of his followers were seen taking photographs of the seer, as the mutt’s managers appealed to them for calm and restraint.
Police personnel were regulating the crowds which started swelling by the minute, as followers gathered for a last glimpse of the 69th Acharya of the mutt.
Law enforcers, gearing up for the likely arrival of several VIPs as well devotees from the country and elsewhere, were making arrangements for a regulated entry into the mutt.
The last rites of the seer, described as ‘Brindavana Pravesha Karyakramam’ in Vedic parlance, will start from tomorrow, according to the mutt.
“The Brindavana Pravesha Karyakramam of HH Pujyashri Jayendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya Swamigal will be performed tomorrow from 8 am,” the mutt’s official Twitter handle said.
The religious rituals are expected to last through the day, mutt officials said.
Queries about the last ceremony had come from various quarters, including the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), they said, but could not confirm VIP visits.
The District Collector would coordinate the visits, they said.
According to the mutt website, the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam was established by Sri Adi Shankaracharya in 482 BC and has the “distinction of an unbroken line of 70 acharyas”.
Located about 75km southwest of Chennai, Kancheepuram is considered one of the seven “mokshapuras” (a place for attaining salvation) where the Adi Shankaracharya established a mutt and founded a line of successors after him.
Decades ago, junior pontiff Vijayendra Saraswathi was initiated into ‘sanyasa’ and nominated as the successor to Jayendra Saraswathi.
Subsequent to a wide range of rituals, he will succeed Jayendra Saraswathi after the latter is laid to rest.-PTI
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