Shivakumar Swami has been in and out of hospitals recently because of illnesses related to his age.
Karnataka's 111-year-old revered pontiff Shivakumar Swami of the Siddaganga Mutt at Tumakuru returned to the mutt from a Chennai hospital where he recently underwent a liver operation, an official said on Wednesday.
"The pontiff has recovered from the surgery and is in good health," the mutt's administrative officer S Vishwanath told news agency IANS.
The pontiff was flown to Chennai from Bengaluru on December 7 in an air ambulance for the operation to treat his liver and bile duct infection. He was flown back after his recovery to Bengaluru on Wednesday.
"The swami was able to travel by road to Tumakuru after he was airlifted to Bengaluru from Chennai," the official said.
Known among his followers as a walking god and an incarnation of the 12th century renowned social reformer, Basava, the Lingayat seer is also the head of the Sree Siddaganga Education Society that runs about 125 educational institutions in Karnataka.
The seer has been in and out of hospitals recently because of illnesses related to his age.