Jayendra Saraswati: Halo dimmed

Chennai, Jan. 14: The Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt has sent an SOS to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, amid speculation that the Tamil Nadu government is contemplating issuing an ordinance to take it over and seal its headquarters at Kancheepuram.

The mutt has sought the Prime Minister?s ?immediate intervention? to ensure that there is ?no disruption? in the worship of Chandramouliswara, the presiding deity for ?over 2,500 years?.

The mutt disputed chief minister Jayalalithaa?s statement, made in her letter to the Prime Minister, that there was no disruption in the performance of the pujas after the arrest of the junior pontiff, Vijayendra Saraswati, on January 10.

There ?has unfortunately been a disruption in the powerful worship offered to Lord Chandramouliswar? (for one day until Jayendra Saraswati resumed the puja at Kalavai), the mutt said in its letter to Singh after the Kanchi acharya was released on bail.

The Kanchi acharya is staying at the mutt?s premises at Kalavai, 45 km from Kancheepuram.

?The reply addressed to you by the chief minister of Tamil Nadu is not based on facts,? the mutt said in its letter.

The pujas to Vinayakar or Adi Shankara ? the founder of the peetam ? done by some of the appointed priests in the mutt, are entirely different from those done by the acharya, it said.

The pujas to Chandramouliswara and his consort Maha Tripurasundari (believed to have been bequeathed by Adi Shankara) could be performed only by the anointed acharya, said the mutt.

?Whenever the acharyas travel, the Vigraham of Lord Chandramouliswara (which includes the Spatika Lingam and the Maha Meru) is taken by the acharyas with them and the pujas performed thrice every day,? the mutt said in its letter.

The mutt said the idol of Chandramouliswara was originally brought from Mount Kailash and the pujas had been performed only by the ?anointed? acharyas.

Hence, if both the acharyas were in prison ? as was the case when Vijayendra Saraswati was arrested ? ?there has been and would definitely be a serious, unfortunate disruption? to the pujas offered to the presiding deity, it said.

This would cause ?anguish and spiritual pain to tens of thousands of devotees?, the letter said, adding ?we shall be deeply beholden to you for your immediate intervention in this matter?.