It is great Privilege for us to say a few words about our illustrious and revered chairman Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala. Having had a glorious and a memorable past, Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala is now a hub of multifarious educational, religious and cultural activities that have been presided over, inspired and guided by Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade ever since he assumed office of the Dharmadhikari of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, when he was just 20 years old.

As the president of Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Educational Trust, Ujire, he oversees more than forty educational institutions, which include arts, commerce, law colleges, a college of business management, an engineering college, a dental college, a Physiotherapy college and above all, a medical college at Dharwad. Besides these, he runs a women’s college and an MBA College at Mysore, Ayurveda Colleges at Udupi and Hassan and numerous high schools and elementary schools. Dr. Heggadeji has organised and performed many mass marriages at Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala. In addition to these, he runs a mobile dispensary for the benefit of the poor. He has adopted several villages surrounding Shri Kshetra for the eradication of poverty and to make the villagers self-reliant.

A title “Abhinava Chavundaraya” was conferred on him when he installed the statue of Bhagwan Bahubali at Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala by Dr. Heggade in the year 1982. In the Silver Jubilee year of his pattabhisheka during 1992-93, the title “Rajarshree” was conferred on him. In recognition of his village development programmes and philanthropic activities the title “Padma Bhushana” was also conferred by the Govt. of India in March-2000, besides these “Padma Vibhushan” in 2015, the FICCI awards were also bestowed upon him for his enormous contribution in social works, his humanitarian tasks and rural development activities.