Nirmalanandanatha Swami took over as the 72nd Mathadhipathi of the Adichunchanagiri Mahasamsthana Math on Monday, as willed by his predecessor Balagangadharanatha Swami.
Balagangadharanatha Swami passed away at a private hospital on Sunday after a brief illness and was laid to rest on Monday.
The new Mathadhipathi is a native of Chirnahalli in Gubbi taluk, Tumkur district.
Born as Nagaraja on July 20, 1969 to Narasegowda and Nanjamma, Nirmalanandanatha Swami had a humble upbringing.
His parents had six children and the family sustained itself by cultivating its two acres.
After finishing his graduation in engineering from Mysore, he went on to earn an M.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
Today, his mother, Nanjamma, said she was happy that her son had become the Mathadhipathi. But she recalled the day, back in 1996, when she got a call from Balagangadharanatha Swami saying her son wanted to become a sanyasi. “I struggled a lot to bring up my children,” she said. She wanted her son to find a job that paid well and help the family financially, so it was a shock went the declaration came.
