Bharati Tirtha Swami of Sringeri Sharada Peetha has nominated Kuppa Venkateswara Prasada Sharma as his successor-designate. The seer announced this at a function in Sringeri recently.

The Shishya Sweekara ceremony will be held in Sringeri on January 22 and 23. Sharma will be initiated to ‘sanyasa’ on the second day.

Sharma was born in Tirupati in 1993 to Kuppa Shivasubrahmanya Avadhani and Seetha Nagalakshmi. At present, Sharma is the principal of TTD Veda Pathashala in Tirumala and project officer in Dharma Prachara Parishad of TTD. During his visit to Sringeri mutt in 2009, he had expressed his desire to study ‘shastras’ directly under Bharati Tirtha Swami.

Under his tutelage, he mastered Sanskrit and studied Tarka Shastra, said a release.