Sri Vishwaprasanna Theertha Swamiji of Sri Pejavar Matha, Udupi, received the prestigious Padma Vibhushan award, announced for his senior Sri Vishwesha Theertha Swamiji, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Sri Vishwesha Theertha Swamiji attained Mahasamadhi on December 29, 2019. The 88-year-old was conferred the Padma Vibhushan award posthumously for his service in the field of spirituality. The seer was born on April 27, 1931, the second child of Sri Narayanacharya and Srimati Kamalamma, in a Madhwa Shivalli Brahmin family.
He was ordained with sainthood at the age of eight and transformed himself into a knowledgeable and erudite scholar of Vedanta and the Shastras. The seer ran many schools and colleges in Udupi and across the state of Karnataka. Sri Vishwesha Theertha was against the practice of untouchability. He had taken a lead role in organizing ‘Dharma Sansad’ in Udupi in 2017. He was also among the religious heads to be in the forefront of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and was a vocal proponent for the construction of Shri Ram temple at Ayodhya.