Udupi Shiroor mutt successor chosen, 16-year-old Aniruddha to be anointed on May 14

UDUPI: A 16-year-old boy from Nidle village of Dharmasthala, who has studied lessons on the Vedas, will be anointed as the 31st successor of Sri Shiroor Mutt, one of the (Ashta) eight Madhwa mutts of Udupi.

The formal annointment rituals will be held in Sri Sode Mutt in Sirsi of Uttara Kannada district on May 14 during the auspicious time (between 12.35 pm- 12.50 pm). The day before the annointment, Aniruddha, who has formal education till Class 10, will be initiated into the sainthood between 7.35 am- 8 am, regarded auspicious as per the Hindu calendar.

Aniruddha Saralatthaya, son of Dr Uday Kumar Saralatthaya and Srividya, a couple from Nidle village in Dharmasthala, has studied various school of thoughts such as the Veda, Thathparya Nirnaya and Yuktamallika, A magnum opus of Sri Vadiraja Theertha of Sri Sode Mutt, he is said to be able to take up the responsibility. He will be seated on the throne that had lied vacant for more than two years after the untimely death of Sri Laxmivara Theertha.

Sri Vishwavallabha Theertha, the pontiff of Sri Sode Mutt, upon whose shoulder the responsibility of selecting a suitable person had squarely fallen, told reporters on Wednesday that appointing a teenager as an heir to the mutts in Udupi is a tradition followed as per the recommendations of the 'shastras.

Once initiated into the sainthood formally on May 13, Aniruddha will be made to study Vedanta, a school of Hindu philosophy, and may continue his formal education too, but without going to the school.

Aniruddha, present on the occasion, said that he felt that performing the worship of Lord Krishna would give him the ultimate contentment, and therefore, he chose to walk the path of renunciation.

Aniruddha's ancestors were serving as the priests at Sri Durga Parameshwari temple at Kadya near Subrahmanya in DK district. His father Dr. Udaya Kumar Saralatthaya came to Udupi in 1988 for higher studies. He then pursued B.Ed and Ph.D. at National Sanskrit University, Tirupati.

Regarding the objection by some followers of Sri Laxmivara Theertha on appointing a new heir to Shiroor Mutt who has not studied Vedas for a minimum of 10 years, Sri Vishwavallabha Theertha said that those objections came from people who were not related to the affairs of the Dwandwa mutts- Shiroor and Sode Mutts, so he would not comment on them.