What made the disappearance even more dismaying to the Mutt's devotees -- which included then President Ramaswamy Venkataraman -- was that it was the period of chaturmasya, when a sanyasi is not supposed to travel.

The shankaracharya was finally traced to Talacauvery, the source of the Cauvery river, in Coorg, Karnataka.

The reasons for his disappearance have never been fully explained, though some reports suggested it was provoked by differences with the much revered senior shankaracharya, Chandrasekharendra Saraswati.

Jayendra Saraswati returns to Kanchipuram on September 8, 1987, after mysteriously leaving the Kanchi Mutt a fortnight earlier.

Photograph: Rediff.com

Also see: Murder in a temple