of the cities of Garhwal, Varanasi and Darbhanga also endorsed Brahmānanda, and their recognition helped overcome opposition from previous claimants to the title. Brahmānanda was also seen as the embodiment of the qualifications mentioned in Vedic texts, and this assisted in his unhindered ascension to the position at the age of 70. He gave more than thirteen years of service. Śaṅkarācārya Svāmi Brahmānanda Sarasvati was charged with reconstructing the temple and institution at Jyotir Math. Through the assistance of the local Deputy Commissioner and parties responsible for his nomination, he reclaimed the surrounding land that had been encroached upon by local farmers. Under his leadership, a two-story, 30-room building was constructed to serve as the "Peeth Bhawan" of Jyotir Math. He also supervised the final construction of the Shrine of Purnagiri Devi about 100 yards in front of the new monastery, which "the Darbhanga ruler" had begun just prior to his death. Saraswati's leadership was instrumental in re-establishing the Jyotir Math as "an important centre of traditional advaita teaching in northern India". He spent most of his time as Śaṅkarācārya traveling around northern India giving lectures in an effort to re-establish the correct understanding of Shankara's teachings. According to Brahmānanda's disciple, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Brahmananda's "devotees felt that the expression 'His Holiness' did not adequately describe this personified Divine Effulgence; and so the new expression 'His Divinity' was used. With such unique adoration of newer and fuller grandeur, transcending the glories of the expression of antiquity, was worshiped the holy name of Guru Deva, the living expression of Upanishadic Reality, the embodiment of the transcendent Divinity, and Brahmānanda was visited by Rajendra Prasad, the President of India, and the philosopher Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, who succeeded Prasad as President of India. In 1950, President Radhakrishnan is reported to have addressed His Holiness as "Vedanta Incarnate, the embodiment of truth". Śaṅkarācārya Svāmi Brahmānanda Saraswati's disciples included Swami Shantānand Saraswati, TM founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Swāmī Swarūpānanda Saraswatī and Swami Karpatri. Five months before his death in 1953, Brahmananda Saraswati made a will naming his disciple Swami Shantānand Saraswati as his successor as Shankaracharya of the Jyotir Math monastery. Legacy The swami is said to have been one of those "rare siddhas (accomplished ones) who had the knowledge of Sri Vidya," and who was "modeled" after the great philosopher Adi Shankara. Within a decade of becoming Shankaracharya, he accumulated many thousands of disciples and