Kesavananda Bharati

Kesavananda Bharati (9 December 19406 September 2020) was an Indian Hindu monk who served as the Shankaracharya (head) of Edneer Mutt, a Hindu monastery in Kasaragod district, Kerala, India from 1961 until his death. He was the petitioner in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, a landmark case that helped establish the basic structure doctrine of the Indian Constitution which guarantees that the fundamental or 'basic structure' of the Indian Constitution can not be altered by parliamentary amendment. He was a follower of Smartha Bhagawatha tradition and the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy.

Early life and career Kesavananda Bharati was born to Manchthaya Sreedhara Bhatt and Padmavathi Amma in 1940. and belonged to the Parampara of Thotakacharya, one of the first four disciples of Adi Shankara. He was a follower of the Smartha Bhagawatha tradition of Advaitha Pantha.

Kesavananda Bharati was a Carnatic and Hindusthani vocalist, and master of Yakshagana, an Indian art and theater form. Kesavananda was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India that established the basic structure doctrine of the constitution. The doctrine provides safeguards for the basic structure of the Indian Constitution from parliamentary amendments.

In 1970, Kesavananda Bharati filed a case challenging the Kerala Government's attempts to acquire the Mutt's property, through the Kerala Land Reforms Act of 1963 as amended in 1969. This decision formed the basis for the basic structure doctrine that has since guaranteed the fundamental structure of the Indian Constitution. and thanked Shri Kesavananda Bharati and jurist Nanabhoy Palkhivala for the same.

The case was heard by the largest Constitution bench and holds the record for the longest hearing with all 13 judges hearing the case for 68 days.

Opinion He was the only Shankaracharya to have publicly issued a statement saying that it was a mistake for the government to open the vaults of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. He stated that all the assets found in the temple's vault were indeed the assets of the temple and the responsibility of managing assets should be handed over to the temple's trust.

Kesavananda Bharti was awarded the Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer Award, in 2018 by the Governor of Kerala.

Death Kesavananda Bharati died in Kasaragod, Kerala on 6 September 2020 at the age of 79. He died due to Cardiac arrest.