President

He is the 35th seer in the lineage, or guruparampara, of Pejawar Mutt. He was born on March 3, 1964 at Haleyangady-Pakshikere in Dakshina Kannada district to Krishna Bhat and Yamunamma. His purvashrama or pre-sannyasa name was Devidas Bhat, and he was initiated into the monastic order in 1988.

He did Vedic studies at Admar Gurukula and also studied Vedanta Vidwat at SMSP Sanskrit College. He knows all four Vedas and did his B.A. at Poorna Prajna Evening College in Udupi. He speaks a number of languages, including Kannada, Tulu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English.

He is a good swimmer and a yoga practitioner. He has taught shastas to Kaniyooru Seer Vidyavallabha. He received sanyasa Deeksha in 1988, when he was 24. He also publishes a monthly magazine ‘Achara Vichara’. Nearly 2,000 cows are being cared for at the Neelavara goshale and Kodavoor goshale under his supervision.

He runs a special school at Neelavara. He has an interest in agriculture and cultivates coloured capsicum at the Kodavoor goshale. He also runs a higher primary school at Ambagilu and Yellur, and the Prahlada Gurukula behind Pejawar Mutt, which teaches Indian system of education as well as general education.