Dwarka Sharda Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, a religious leader, passed away at the age of 99 in Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur on Sunday.
Recently on September 3, his 99th birthday was celebrated.
He died of a minor heart attack and breathed his last in afternoon hours of Sunday in the Jhoteshwar Dham near Gotegaon located in Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh.
The funeral of Shankaracharya ji will take place on Monday.
Brief Tributes are pouring over the demise of religious leader.
Brief history:
Shankaracharya has fought many legal battles including that of Ram temple. He also participated in the freedom movement. Swaroopanand Saraswati was considered the greatest religious leader of the Hindus.
Born on September 2nd 1924 as Pothiram Upadhyay, in the Jabalpur area of Madhya Pradesh, he left home at nine years of age to visit the holy places of India, including Varanasi where he eventually studied with Swami Karpatri (aka Hariharananda Saraswati), a disciple of Guru Dev Swami Brahmananda Saraswati.
He became a freedom fighter in the 'Quit India' movement (1942) aged 19 and was known as 'Revolutionary Sadhu' (serving two prison sentences for the same of 9 months & 6 months).
In 1950 Guru Dev made him a dandi sannyasi and after Guru Dev's passing in 1953, from a disciple, Swami Shantanand was enthroned Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math on 12 June 1953.
In 1982, he became the Shankaracharya of Dwarka Sharada Peetham in Dwaraka, Gujarat and the Jyotir Math in Badrinath.
His name has been linked with the politics of the Congress Party and is perceived to have been an ally of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and a friend to Sonia Gandhi.
(with sources inputs)
