New Delhi:

Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj, also known as Jagadguru, visited AAP MP Raghav Chadha and actor Parineeti Chopra’s residence in Delhi.

Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati is the 46th Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand. The Shankaracharya usually does not visit anyone at their homes.

The Shankaracharya, who was accompanied by other seers, was welcomed by Ms Chopra and Mr Chadha at their home. 

Mr Chadha welcomed the Shankaracharya at their residence. He touched his feet and Ms Chopra and other family members performed an aarti to welcome him. The couple tied the knot last year at the Leela Palace Hotel in Udaipur, Rajasthan, which was attended by close friends and family, and several well-known faces from the entertainment industry and politics.

They also performed a puja at their residence and sought blessings. The couple also interacted with Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati.

The title “Shankaracharya” is held by the heads of four cardinal monasteries established by the 8th-century Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara. These monasteries are located in Odisha, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Gujarat.

Having faced opposition in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati Maharaj, popularly known as Jagadguru, will not be allowed to land in Meghalaya after protests over his cow protection yatra, sources have told NDTV. 

The Shankaracharya was expected to reach Meghalaya as part of the ‘Gau Dhwaj Sthapana Bharat Yatra’  – which advocates banning cow slaughter – on Saturday but sources said the state government has decided to inform the Airport Authority of India not to allow his chartered plane to land. Members of several groups had already reached the Shillong airport on Friday after getting news that the Shankaracharya would land that day. 

Speaking to the media, members of the groups said consuming beef is part of the staple diet for all of the northeast, barring Assam, and they would not tolerate anyone trying to tell them what to eat and what not to. 

On Thursday, the chartered plane of Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who is the Shankaracharya of the Jyotir Math Peeth in Uttarakhand, was allowed to land in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland but did not get out of the airport after requests from authorities, who told him that doing so could lead to a law-and-order situation. 

After arriving at the Donyi Polo Airport in Hollongi, the Shankaracharya faced opposition from members of the All-Arunachal Pradesh Students Union (AAPSU). He then went to Dimapur and was supposed to address a cow protection event in Kohima on Saturday, but had to turn back from there as well.  

“We want to tell the government on behalf of 100 crore Hindus that cow slaughter should be stopped and a law should be made on this,” the Shankaracharya had said earlier this month while pledging to go to 35 states on a cow protection mission.