Veerendra Heggade
Dr Veerendra heggade
Dr Veerandra Heggade on 3 Feb 2008, overseeing the annual masthakaabhisheka-day in Dharmasthala
Religion
Jain
Other Names:
Born as Veerendra Heggade
Senior posting
Based in
Dharmastala, India
Title
Dharmaadhikaari
Period in office
1948 - ]
Predecessor
Ratnavarma Heggade
Successor
None to date
Religious career
Post
Dharmaadhikaari of Dharmastala
Personal
Date of birth
November 25, 1948
Place of birth
- , Karnataka, India
D. Veerendra Heggade (Kannada/Tulu:ವೀರೇಂದ್ರ ಹೆಗ್ಗಡೆ )(born November 25, 1948) is the eldest son of Ratnavarma Heggade and Rathnamma Heggade. The mantle of Heggadeship fell on the shoulders of Veerendra Heggade at the age of 20, on October 24, 1968 when he became the 21st Dharmadhikari of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala.
Veerendra Heggade’s first major act since he became Dharmadhikari was to realise his father’s dream by completing the carving and installation of the 39 ft., 170 ton Bahubali statue at Dharmastala.
In 1982, on the anvil of his taking over of “Dharmadhikara”, Sri Heggade initiated “grameenaabhivruddhi yojane” within the Belthangadi Taluk. Funding poor-farmers with agricultural-credit, technical training for youth under Rudset program, Pursuing drunkards to quit drinking and developing money-savings habits within Rural women are the few salient features of this program.
Mr. Veerendra Heggade was awarded honorary doctorates from Mangalore University, Gulbarga University and Karnataka University, for his social welfare activities.
In 1993, during silver jubilee celebrations of his Patthabhisheka, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, the then President of India, called Veerendra Heggade Rajarshi. He was conferred the prestigious “Padma Bhushan” award instituted by the Government of India from President K R Narayanan in the year 2000 for his social service. The award has been for his services in the fields of education, religion and social welfare.He established SDM group of educational institutions.
From his student days, Sri Heggade was enthusiastic about photography and cars. His collection of cars are on display in Dharmastala.
Family
He is married to Smt Hemavathi Heggade and has a daughter by name Shraddha. He has 3 brothers which includes Harshendra Kumar, Surendra Kumar. His mother Rathnamma Heggade, 80, died on the spot when a van collided with the car in which she was travelling at Janthigoli on Sulkeri-Naravi Road in Venoor police limits on January 2006.
Mahanadavali
Under the leadership of Dr. Heggade, Dharmasthala witnessed the first Mahanadavali of this millennium during February 2005.
References
Bantwal Dharmasthala website
Sri Manjunatheshwara Temple
Jain World
Mangalore.com
Deekay Pages
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veerendra_Heggade”
Categories: 1948 births | Living people | Indian people | Padma Bhushan recipients | Indian Jains | People from Karnataka