The temple city of Kanchipuram and thousands of his devotees bade a tearful farewell to late Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, the 69th pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham on Thursday. The mortal remains of the ‘revolutionary’ Seer who breathed his last on Wednesday morning was laid to rest amidst chanting of vedic hymns and playing of Kailya Vadhyam (a musical offering with traditional drums and trumpets).
Vijayendra Saraswathi, the deputy to the late Seer, led the rituals. After an hour long poojas which began at 07.45, the body of Jayendra Saraswthi in sitting posture, was lowered into a bamboo basket that had been placed inside a 7ftX7ft burial pit at Vrindavan annexe near the Kamakoti Peetham ashram. The pit was filled with herbs, salt, sandalwood and sand. The final resting place of Jayendra Saraswathi is adjacent to the spot where his predecessor and mentor Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi has been interned.
Thousands of devotees paid their last respect to the Seer. Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Union Ministers Sadanand Gowda, Pon Radhakrishnan, BJP national secretary H Raja led the devotes in paying last respect to the Seer who enjoyed a cult like status I the temple town because of the number of social development measures initiated by him and his uncompromising stance against untouchability and discrimination based on religion and caste.
Mutt authorities said that the process for selecting the successor to Vijayendra Saraswathi would begin after the customary three days’ ceremonies. The trustees of the Peetham and Vijayendra Saraswathi would hold discussions about the candidate to b appointed as the next junior pontiff. The horoscopes of the potential candidates (students of the Veda Patassala run by the Peetham) are analysed threadbare and the name would be announced immediately by Vijayendra Saraswathi.