Mantralayam: The Sri Suyatheendra Teertha Swamiji of Sri Raghavendraswamy Mutt, in Kurnool district, passed away late on Thursday on the S.R.S. Mutt premises, in Mantralayam. He was 80 years old.
The Swamiji had not been keeping well since some months and was suffering from lung infection, multi-organ problems and was being treated at the Mutt by a team of doctors.
He worked hard to rebuild Mantralayam, after it was struck by the heavy floods of the Tungabhadra River in 2009.
Lakhs of devotees were saddened by the news of his death, not only in Mantralyam, but across the globe. Born in Gadag district in Karnataka, his original name was Susheelendra Char.
He completed his B.Sc, B.Ed. and became an expert in Sanskrit before taking sanyasam. He worked as a teacher at Bharateeya Sanskrit Vidyapeetham, in Bangalore, for about 30 years.
He was initially appointed as Uttaradhikari as Sri Suyatheendra Theertha Swamiji, for Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt in 2006, by the then Swamiji, Sri Sushameendra Theertha.
Later, he was appointed as Peetadipathi in 2009 and served till he passed away on Thursday night. Sri Suyatheendra Theertha Swamiji initiated a large number of developmental activities at Mantralayam during his tenure.
He took on big projects and gave a face lift to the mukhadwaram, the dining hall and pooja mandapa. He also worked for the progress of schools, drinking water projects and welfare schemes in and around Mantralayam.
Thousands of devotees from various parts of the country thronged Mantralyam to pay their last respects on Friday. The Mutt authorities took out the mortal remains from the Mutt premises to the Sri Raghavendra Swamiji moola brindavanam, on Friday morning, according to madhwa tradition.
He was buried near his predecessor. The grave will be reopened after three months to conduct kalakarshana. A brindavanam will be fixed along with the covering area at the spot.
