Vijayendra Saraswathi has reportedly been appointed as the 70th pontiff of the Kanchi Mutt following the death of Jayendra Saraswathi on Wednesday. The 49-year-old, whose birth name is Sankara Narayanan, is from Thandalam village in Tiruvallur district. Jayendra Saraswathi, the 69th head of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, died after suffering a difficulty in breathing at a hospital in Kanchipuram.