He went on to praise the ‘Sanathana Dharma’ and said that the philosophy of Hinduism is ‘joy for everybody’. He was speaking at an award function organised by Kanchi Mutt as part of his 75th birthday celebrations in the City on Wednesday.

‘Rashtrakavi’ G S Shivarudrappa and violin maestro L Subramaniam received the Kanchi mutt awards. Shivarudrappa was also given the title ‘Likhita Mani’ while Subramaniam was given the title ‘Sangeetha mani’.

Philanthropist and activist, Balachandra Shastri will be presented a similar award in Dharwad next week by the Sankaracharya.