CHENNAI: The Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, one of Hinduism’s revered monastic institutions, is set to welcome its 71st spiritual leader, a 20-year-old Vedic scholar named Ganesha Sharma Dravid, from Hyderabad, Telangana. The formal installation ceremony will take place on April 30 at 7 am at the mutt’s headquarters in Kanchipuram.

Over its 2,500-year history, the mutt has been a cornerstone of Advaita Vedanta philosophy. Notably, it gained prominence as the only mutt to have three successive pontiffs in the 20th century: Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi (68th pontiff, appointed at age 13 in 1907), Jayendra Saraswathi (69th pontiff, appointed in 1954), and Vijayendra Saraswathi (70th pontiff, appointed in 1983). The 69th pontiff, Jayendra Saraswathi, passed away in February 2018 due to age-related ailments, after which Vijayendra Saraswathi assumed leadership.

The incoming 71st Sankaracharya, has been rigorously trained in the Rig Veda and Yajur Veda.