Chandrasekarendra Saraswati

Sri Shankaracharya Chandrasekharendra Saraswati VIII Mahaswamigal
A 1933 photograph of Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigalu
Personal
Nationality	Indian
Born	Swaminatha (1894-05-20)20 May 1894 Villupuram
Resting place	Kanchi Mutt
Senior posting
Title	Jagadguru
Period in office	9 May 1907 – 8 January 1994
Consecration	13 February 1907
Predecessor	Sri Sri Mahadevendra Saraswathi VI
Successor	Jayendra Saraswathi
Religious career
Ordination	9 May 1907

Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Mahaswamiji (20 May 1894 – 8 January 1994), or the Sage of Kanchi, was the 68th Jagadguru of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. He is usually referred to as Paramacharya, Mahaswami or Maha Periyavar. He is widely considered as one of the greatest Indian sages of recent times. He was renowned for his saintly life, strict adherence to the sanyasa (asceticism) and unparalleled knowledge in a wide array of subjects. His foremost vision was the protection of Vedas, tradition, and dharma.

Chandrashekarendra Saraswati was born on 20 May 1894, under Anuradha nakshatra according to the Hindu calendar, into a Smartha Brahmin family in Viluppuram, South Arcot District, Tamil Nadu as Swaminatha. He was the second son of Shri Subramanya Sastrigal, a District Education Officer and his devout wife, Smt Mahalakshmi. The child was named Swaminatha, after the family deity, Lord Swaminatha of Swamimalai, near Kumbakonam. Swaminatha began his early education at the Walter Scudder Higher Secondary School at Tindivanam, where his father was working. He was an exceptional student and excelled in several subjects. In 1905, his parents performed his Upanayanam, a Vedic ceremony which qualifies a Brahmin boy to begin his Vedic studies under an accomplished teacher.He attained siddhi at Kancheepuram on 8 January 1994 (Dhanur, Krishna Dwadasi) in his Centenary year.

His brother was Sadasiva Sastrigal, popularly known as Sivan Sir. Sadasiva Sastri was born on 3 October 1903 in Viluppuram, South Arcot District, Tamil Nadu. He has written a magnum opus based on Hindu philosophy in a Tamil book titled "Yenippadigalil Maanthargal".

During the childhood of the Acharya, his father consulted an astrologer who, upon studying the boy's horoscope, is said to have been so stunned that he prostrated himself before the boy exclaiming that "One day the whole world will fall at his feet". In 1906, the 66th Acharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham performed the annual Chaturmasyam (a four-month annual ritual performed by Hindu ascetics while remaining in one place), in a village near Tindivanam in Tamil Nadu. This was Swaminatha's first exposure to the Math and its Acharya. Later, Swaminatha accompanied his father whenever he visited the Math where the Acharya was deeply impressed by the young boy.