The nation woke up to the news about the arrest of Shankracharaya Jayandra Saraswati in connection with the murder of a former employee of the Kanchi Mutt on November 12. The devotees who were not able to come out of the shock about the arrest of the senior pontiff of Kanchi Kamakoti Peeth, the seat of Adi Shankara and one of the most revered and sacred religious institutions in India, learnt with disbelief allegations of sleaze, sex and debauchery involving the mutt.
Jayendra Saraswati was the most powerful and vocal voice of Hindus who hogged media limelight during his failed attempt to broker peace between Hindus and Muslims on the Ayodhya dispute in 2003. Only time and court will prove whether the seer was innocent or guilty. But his arrest has kicked off a controversy over the functioning of religious institutions in the country.
- Prakash Pillai