Veerendra Heggade

Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade^[1] (born 25 November 1948) is an Indian philanthropist and the hereditary administrator of the Dharmasthala Temple in the Indian state of Karnataka. He succeeded to the post at the age of 19, on 24 October 1968, the 21st in his line.^[2] He administers the temple and its properties, which are held in trust. He is a nominated Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha since July 2022.

Veerendra Heggade
Heggade at SDM College of Engineering and Technology, Dharwad
Personal life
Born	(1948-11-25) 25 November 1948 (age 76) Bantwal, Mysore State, Dominion of India (present–day Karnataka, India)
Other names	Heggade/Pergade,Kavandaru, Dharmarathna, Dharmabhushana
Religious life
Religion	Jainism
Religious career
Based in	Dharmastala, Karnataka, India
Post	(Hereditary administrator) of Dharmasthala Temple
Period in office	1968 - present
Predecessor	Ratnavarma Heggade
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (Karnataka)
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 July 2022
Nominated by	Ramnath Kovind
Constituency	Nominated (Social work)
Website	www.veerendraheggade.in

He was awarded the Karnataka Ratna award for the year 2009, the highest civilian award in Karnataka.^[3]

Due to his family's position with Dharmasthala Temple, Heggade has faced significant public scrutiny during the Dharmasthala mass burial legal cases.^[4]

Personal life

Heggade is the eldest son of Dharmadhikari Ratnavarma Heggade and Rathnamma Heggade (née Shetty). He belongs to the Pergade dynasty of Tulu Jain Bunt^[5] lineage, the hereditary trustees of the Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatha Swamy temple in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. The family are trustees of a Hindu temple, although the family belong to the Digambara Jain community.^[6]

Work

He runs the Annapoorna kitchen at Dharmasthala, which is one of the largest and oldest family-run kitchens in India. The kitchen feeds around 50,000 persons every day. It was featured on the National Geographic TV show, "Mega Kitchens".^[7]

He is the President of SDM Educational Society, Ujire, which manages educational institutions from primary to engineering, medical, ayurvedic and management institutes as well as hospitals.^[8]

Awards and honours

Indian president Mukherjee gives Heggade the Padma Vibhushan Award, 2015

• Padma Bhushan Award (2000) for social work and Communal Harmony (India's third-highest civilian award)^[9][10]
• Rajarshi title from President of India, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, in 1993^[11]
• The State Government selected Heggade for Karnataka Ratna title for 2009.^[12]
• P. V. Narasimha Rao, former Prime Minister of India presented Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry award for Rural Development activities in Belthangady Taluk by Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) on 12 May 1995^{[citation needed]}.
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of India presented Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry award for Rural Development & Self Employment activities by RUDSET Institute on 20 November 1999^{[citation needed]}.
• "Vatika Varshada Kannadiga – 2004" by ETV Kannada at Hassan on 20 November 2004^[13]
• Padma Vibhushan (2015) by the Government of India for social work^[14]
• Sri Bhagavan Mahaveera Peace Award by Government of Karnataka^{[citation needed]}