Vishwesha Thirtha becomes Udupi mutt's peetadhipathi for 5th time

UDUPI (Anandatheertha Mantapa): Pejawar Adhokshaja mutt seer Sri Vishwesha Thirtha became the peetadhipathi of Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt for a record fifth time on Monday .
The 85-year-old pontiff ascended the Paryaya Peeta, also known as Sarvajna Peeta, in a ritual during Dhanurlagna Muhurtha at 5.45am on Monday. He was taken to the mutt in a procession from Jodukatte to Sri Krishna Mutt.After darshan at Kanakana Kindi, he entered Sri Krishna Mutt shrine. The ritual of handing over Akshaya Pathre marked the beginning of the two-year Paryaya term of the Pejawar seer. Kaniyoor Mutt seer Sri Vidyavallabha Thirtha, who was the peetadhipathi , handed over the Akshaya Pathre, `soutu' and keys of the mutt to Vishwesha Thirtha .
The seer, who has already been peetadhipathi four times earlier in 1952, 1968, 1984 and 2000, will be offering poojas in the mutt for the next two years. Vishwesha Thirtha was born on April 27, 1931 as the second child of Narayanacharya and Kamalamma couple of Ramakunja in Puttur. The parents named him Venkataramana.
He is the only seer of the Ashta mutts of Udupi to ascend the Paryaya Peetha more than four times since the biennial Paryaya system began in 1522. Under the Paryaya system, each mutt gets two years on a rotational basis to manage the Sri Krishna Mutt and the rights to offer poojas to Lord Krishna in the 800-year-old Sri Krishna Mutt. It means a mutt gets Paryaya tenure only once in 16 years.
Union and state ministers, people's representatives and other dignitaries attended the Paryaya Darbar, one of the major traditions. Former deputy prime minister and BJP leader LK Advani, Union ministers Uma Bharti, HN Ananth Kumar and DV Sadananda Gowda, Andhra Pradesh CM Chan drababu Naidu, Karnataka ministers H Anjaneya, Vinaykumar Sorake, UT Khader, RV Deshpande and K Abhaychandra Jain, Sri Kshetra Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade, seers of Ashta Mutts and other dignitaries witnessed the Darbar ceremony .
Madhvacharya (1238AD ­ 1317AD), founder of the Dvaita School of Philosophy , established the Sri Krishna Mutt at Udupi and anointed eight young Sanyasis to take care of the worship.
Bharti: Ganga will be rejuvenated in 2 yrs
Union minister for water resources Uma Bharti said it was her spiritual guru Shri Vishwesha Thirtha, who taught her that sainthood is nothing but taking minimum from the world and giving it back the maximum. “India is a truly secular country, where secularism is a part of Hindu religion,“ she said, declaring that the river Ganga would be rejuvenated within two years.