On March 16, five Vaishnavite seers (who worship Lord Vishnu) condemned Jayendra Saraswati for his 'interference.'

Their contention was that the Kanchi shankaracharya is a Shaivaite (a worshipper of Lord Shiva) and had no right to interfere with the affairs of the Lord Venkateswara temple, a Vaishnavite shrine. The rituals at the temple, they said, were being conducted as per the tradition laid down by the saint Ramanuja over 900 years ago.

Jayendra Saraswati with a group of Iraqi children and their parents at the International Centre for Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Diseases in Chennai on March 13, 2004. Twenty Iraqi children, all of whom have been suffering from various cardiac problems, have been treated at the centre.

Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

Also see: An arrest in bad taste