Kesavananda Bharati, the artiste who blended Carnatic music to render Yakshagana song

KASARAGOD: Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru, the seer of Edneer Math who died on Sunday, is hailed as the man who saved the Basic Structure of the Constitution.

His writ petition questioning the constitutional validity of the Kerala government's Land Reforms Act in 1970 led to the Supreme Court ruling that the Parliament cannot alter the basic structure of the Constitution.

Much has been written about his contribution to the constitutional jurisprudence of the country. But there are several facets to Kesavananda Bharati, who took over as the seer of the Edneer Math in the remote eponymous village of Kasaragod district.

Born on December 9, 1940, Kesavananda Bharati took over the reins of the Math at the age of 19 years in 1968. By then, he was a trained Carnatic classical singer, Yakshagana vocalist and an educationalist, said BJP district president K Shreekanth. "The math lost more than 300 acres because of the land reforms act, yet he recently gave 28 cents to the government to build a school at Edneer," he said.

Classes 1 to 5 of the Edneer's government school is run from a building owned by the math. "This when he ran his own higher secondary school," he said.

If chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan remembered his contribution to the education sector in his condolence message, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu recalled his "patronage of Yakshagana", that helped revive the traditional dance theatre form in Karnataka.

Kesavananda Bharati was not just a patron with his own troupe, he was the main singer-director of Yakshagana. Being a trained classical singer, he used Carnatic music to render Yakshagana songs in his deep voice, said D Veerendra Heggde, Yakshagana patron and administrator of the 800-year-old Sri Manjunatha Swamy Temple at Dharmasthala. "His unique style of rendition won him a lot of admirers and followers," he said.

As late as on September 1, the seer sang during a performance of Tala-Maddale, the Yakshagana's debate-only form, said his legal advisor Bhat. "Till 2009, Swamiji used to give Carnatic concerts every year during the Rama Navami celebration in Bengaluru," he said.

A week ago Kesavananda Bharati was admitted to a hospital in Mangaluru with a heart ailment. "He had a condition in his heart valve and the doctors advised surgery. But he returned to his math saying he cannot stay away from the daily rituals," said Bhat. 

He died at 12:40 am on Sunday at the age of 79.  The last rites were performed by his successor and nephew Jayarama Manjathaya.

The last seer from Manjathaya family

KASARAGOD: Jayarama Swami, who succeeded Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru as the pontiff of Edneer Math, will be the last seer from the Manjathaya family. The Math - said to be 800 years old - belongs to the lineage of Sri Thotakacharya, one of the first four disciples of Adi Shankaracharya, and was first set up in Thrissur.

For generations, it was controlled by the Manjathaya family. Around 400 years ago, the Math was shifted to Trichambaram near Taliparamba in Kannur district, said IV Bhat, who was Kesavananda Bharati's long-time legal advisor and manager of the Math. "They still have a property at Trichambaram," he said.

But the seers keep travelling and pauses only for two months during the rainy season. "During a rainy season, 400 years ago, a seer from the Math reached Edneer and set up camp here," he said.

He said that after the rains, when the seer was about to set out for Kashi, the residents and the King of Mayipady in Kasaragod offered land to him and asked him to settle down at Edneer. Before Kesavananda Bharati, his father's elder brother Sri Ishwarananda Bharati Swami was the head of the Math. All were from the Manjathaya family.

After he died in 1968, Kesavananda Bharati became the pontiff of the Math at the age of 19 years. His sister Savithri married Narayana Kedilaya, and to them was born Jayarama Kedilaya.

Since the Manjathaya family did not have an heir, Kesavananda Bharati's mother adopted Jayarama in 1982 and made him a member of the family. Now, he is officially known as Jayarama Manjathaya. "But he is the last in the line. So the next seer will be from outside the Manjathaya family," said Bhat.