About 1,200 years ago, Adi Shankaracharya came to Sringeri in Karnataka from Kerala and founded a great religious centre to preach Indian thought and culture with special reference to Advaita (Non - dualism). This centre has blossomed into a celebrated institution with the help of a chain of Jagadgurus since then. Perhaps this is a record for any Mutt in our country.
Attracted by the guidance of the pontiffs of this Mutt, kings of Vijayanagar, Mysore Wadiyars, Palegars, Nizam Shahi, Asafjahi, Hyder, Tipu, Marathas and Britishers became devotees of the Mutt. After independence, almost all the leaders including Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Rajendra Prasad, Radhakrishnan, Zakir Hussain and Jayachamaraja Wadiyar were great admirers of this spiritual institution. This Mutt has been guiding lakhs of people of this country and abroad.
The present pontiff Sri Bharathi Tirtha Swamiji is 36th in the illustrious lineage of this Mutt. This venerable pontiff has just completed 60 years of his illustrious life on April 9 and devotees from all over the world are congregating at Sringeri to celebrate this great event. About two lakh devotees are expected to pay homage and respect to the pontiff on these days at Sringeri. Perhaps Sringeri had not witnessed a func tion of this magnitude for the past 12 centuries.
Sixty years ago, in an ancient agrahara (Alugumallapadu), a baby boy was born to Venkateshwara and Ananthalakshamma. The boy was named Sitaramanjaneya and he progressed well in the local school. The 35th Sringeri pontiff Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Swamiji noticed this boy during his tour in that area and brought him to Sringeri. That was a turning point in the career of this personality. The boy became a great scholar in traditional subjects and impressed the Swamiji and his teachers. The Swamiji anointed him as monk in 1974 under the pontifical name Sri Bharathi Tirtha Swamiji and he became a junior Swamiji in the popular parlance. He was trained by senior Swamiji in pontifical duties, rituals, administration and tours. The senior Swamiji was extremely happy at the progress of the junior pontiff and was slowly renouncing outward duties in favour of his junior. The senior Swamiji passed away suddenly when the junior Swamiji was camping at Puna. Soon, the junior pontiff returned to Sringeri and became the 36th Jagadguru of Sharadapeetha in 1989. Since then, Sri Bharathi Tirtha Swamiji has been adorning the peetha with great distinction.
The religious, spiritual, educational and socio - religious activities of this Swamiji are so varied, it would be impossible to narrate them briefly. The Swamiji continued his religious tours throughout the country, going to the doorsteps of devotees and educating them and inaugurating hundreds of temples, Shankara Mutts, schools and colleges. At the invitation of Prince Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, he visited Mysore often and blessed the devotees of the city. The catholicity of this Swamiji can be understood by his Kerala visit. At Kasaragod, Chief Minister A. K. Antony and Minister C. Abdulla received him and paid respects on behalf of the people of Kerala. The Swamiji accepted them with great pleasure.
Education has been a major field of activity of this Swamiji. The new Gurukula which has come up in Sringeri is an excellent example. The Swamiji's initiative in establishing Sanskrit University at Kalady (birthplace of Adi Shankara) cannot be under estimated. Shankara College of Information Technology, Shankara College of Engineering, Sharada Institute of Management Science at Delhi and Institutions for mentally challenged children at Noida & Tiruppur are his contributions. Hundreds of conferences and seminars have been held of which the summit of four Shankaracharyas of Dwaraka, Badari, Puri and Sringeri requires a special mention.
Hundreds of buildings like temples, schools and colleges were built during this period. The evening worship of Chandramoulishwara by the Swamiji is a great attraction for the devotees. The Swamiji built a huge building called Guru - bhavan, which has a hall of 10,000 sq. ft. without pillars which can accommodate about thousand devotees. It was inaugurated in 2003 by the then CM S. M. Krishna. He declared Shankara's birthday as Philosopher's Day and made it a restricted holiday. For the present occasion, a new Shankara temple will be inaugurated.
The Swamiji's concern for social activities is well known. Senior citizen complexes, hospitals, blood banks, hemodialysis unit, photogama isotope centre and Ayurveda college have come up at different places. At the request of devotees, he opened Shankara Centres at Strasburg (USA), Sydney, Canada and other cities. The Swamiji's speech was read at New York in a four day millennium World Peace Summit (2000). The Swamiji is not only a great scholar but a good speaker in many languages. He is also a Sanskrit music composer.
Thus, an agrahara boy attained status of an international celebrity by hard work, dedication and social service. It is befitting that a grateful nation planned to pay homage to Swamiji on April 9. I would like to end this write up with a personal note.
I have been blessed by this Swamiji many times including during the release for my book on Sringeri. Years ago, he visited my residence and showed keen interest in the books I wrote and finally said, "You are shaping like your grandfather Ardikoppam Subramanya Shastri." That is perhaps the best testimonial I have received so far. I join lakhs of people in paying tribute to Sri Bharathi Tirtha Swamiji.
