Kesavananda Bharati

Shri Kesavananda Bharati was an Indian Hindu monk who served as the Shankaracharya (head) of Edneer Mutt, a Hindu monastery in Kasaragod district, Kerala, India from 1961 until his death. He was the petitioner in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, a landmark case that helped establish the basic structure doctrine of the Indian Constitution which guarantees that the fundamental or 'basic structure' of the Indian Constitution can not be altered by parliamentary amendment. He was a follower of Smartha Bhagawatha tradition and the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy.