I had already written the position of Sringeri Mutt in part 1 ; however
even after that, the copy pasted from Wikipedia details about the similar
facts should have been well researched and written; he had simply omitted a
few lines and without verification and application of the mind tried
something without a purpose. Who is sastri? Whether Vidyaranya was 2nd or
12th should have been assessed better. As a matter of fact ANANTHA
KRISJNA SASTRI @ a k sASTRI WROTE A pHd PAPER WHERE evidences show that
only from 14th century cloth documents are available; appendix produced
there show that there are no evidences for 11 pontiffs as from 720AD had no
proof. Koodali, though claimed as a branch of Sringeri very late, had no
basis. Few extracts from sastri below:
Anantha Krishna Shastri (1999), History of Sringeri, 2nd Edition, Karnataka
University Press Ph D Paper
*Sri Sankara^ successors upto Sri Vidyaranya*
*The immediate successor of Sri Sankara on the Sringeri*
*Pita was Sri Suresvaracharya. His successors on the*
*disciples in the hermitages in Sringeri, Simhapura,*
*Yasisthasrama and Kigga which are in the neighbourhood oi^*
*Sringeri,*
*It was during the 14th century that Sringeri again*
*gained prominence, when great pontiffs like Yidyasahkara*
*Tirtha (Yidya Tirtha), Bharatl Krisna Tirtha (BharatI*
*Tirtha) and Yidyaranya, ascended the Sarada Pitha. It was*
*during the pontificate of Yidyaranya that Sringeri, besides*
*being a Matha became a Samsthana owing to the acquisition*
*of lands. In the beginning, the lands were granted to the*
*Matha by the Yijayanagara rulers and subsequently the rulers*
*of different dynasties also granted lands. As a result,*
*the Samsthana was born and in due course it was developed*
*and consolidated. Its relations with the various secular*
*heads and the general administrative, religious, economic*
*and social conditions prevailing in the Samsthana in the*
*past centuries, will be dealt with in the subsequent*
*chapters of this thesis, after a consideration of the*
*sources of its history.*
*Kadatas*
*Meaning*
*As the present work is mainly baaed on the kadatas.*
*it is essential on onr part to know all about them. It is*
*to the good fortune of the world of scholars that the*
*Sringeri Matha is preserving a large collection of kadatas.*
*A few kadatas of the Srmgiri Matha are kept in the Madras*
*Oriental Manuscript library. The kadatas are of great*
*historical Importance throwing light on the history of*
*J Sringeri from the 14th to the 19th century.** They are also*
*/*
*of great value in understanding the Sringeri Matha*s*
*relations with the ruling states during the same period.*
*Though m general the kadatas appear to be more or*
*less of the same size, when actually measured, they vary.*
*Most of them come within the range of 74” by 9". There*
*are a few having the measurement of 5" by 7" and 64" by*
*84". There are also some kadatas of a slightly bigger*
*size measuring 9" by 10f” and 9" by 11”. Similarly the*
*pages of the kadatas vary.*
*Classification*
*The kadatas of the Sringlri Matha may be broadly*
*classified under two heads: (1) ffirunas and Binnavattales,*
*and (2) Account Books (Kd.Accts.). After a careful*
*scrutiny, it is found that there are 205 and 548 volumes*
*belonging to the former and the latter category* respectively. The nirupas
(orders) and blnnavattales (letters of respect) are more important from the
point of our present study though the Account Bookes can hardly he
neglected.
The kadatas containing nirupas and binnavattales throw light on some
aspects of the political, administrative, religious, economic and social
conditions prevailing not only in Sringeri but also in the whole of
Karnataka from the *14*th to the *19*th century. A study of the nirupas and
blnnavattales brings out the relation between the Sringeri Matha and the
various secular powers like Yijayanagara, Keladi, Marathas, the Wodeyars of
Ifysore, Hyder, Tipu, the Nizam, Chiefs of the various principalities and
the British. There are several documents dealing with the correspondence
between the Sringeri Matha and the various religious institutions and the
government officials. A number of grants of land and other presents made to
the Sringeri Matha from various secular heads from time to time are
recorded in these volumes.
The Sringeri Matha has 41 branches spread all over India. Sri Sankara Matha
at Bangalore, Abhinava Sankaralaya at Mysore and Sri Sankara mathas at
Nanjangud, Kalady Ramesvaram, Ramnad, Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem,
Madras,Con^eevaram, Tirupathi, Hyderabad, Gokarna, Msik, Gaya, Hardwar and
Varanasi are some of the important branches. Managers are appointed to
administer these mathas, and they render monthly accounts of income and
expenditure to the Head office at Sringeri. Several immovable properties n
many places in South India have been gifted to the Matha for the worship of
Sri Saradamba and Sri Chandramaulisvara and these are being managed
directly by the Matha.
Genealogy and the reign periods of the Sringen Jagadgurus
A.D. A.D.
1. Sri A- di- S/ ahkaracharya 788 - 820
(life)
2. 11 Suresvaracharya ) from
820 to
) the commence-
3. ft Nityahodhaghanaeharya ) ment of
Vidya
4. II Jnanaghanacharya ) Sankara
Tirtha1s
5. W Jnanottamacliarya ) accession,
dates
cannot
be fixed.
6. II Jnanagiri Acharya )
7. II Simhagiri Acharya )
8. II Isvara Tirtha )
9. II IFarasimha Tirtha )
10. II V, idya S/ ankara T_irtha - 1356
11. II Bharati Krisna Tirtha 1356 - 1380
12. II Vidyaranya 1380 - 1386
13. H Chandrasekhara Bharatl I 1386 - 1389
14. M Naraiimha Bharatl I 1389 - 1408
K Rajaram IRS 6 10 25
On Mon, 6 Oct 2025 at 10:01, 'gopala krishnan' via Thatha_Patty <
[email protected]> wrote:
> SRINGERI SARADAMBAL TEMPLE -CHICKKAMAGALUR DISTRICT- KARNATAKA - PART 2
>
> History in detail
>
> A pivotal figure in the history of the math is Vidyaranya (sometimes
> referred to as Madhava Vidyaranya or *Madhavacharya *who was an
> ideological support and the intellectual inspiration for the founders of
> the Vijayanagara Empire. He helped Harihara I and his brother Bukka to
> build a Hindu army to overthrow the Muslim rule in the Deccan region, and
> re-establish a powerful Hindu kingdom from Hampi.
>
> In his counsel, the Vijayanagara founders lead an expansive conquest of
> much of the southern Indian peninsula, taking over lands from the
> Sultanates that had formed after several invasions by the Delhi Sultanate.
> *According
> to tradition, the monk's efforts were supported by the 10th and 11th
> pontiff of Sringeri peetham*. Vidyaranya later became the 12th acharya of
> the Sringeri peetham in 1375 CE. Shortly after the start of the
> Vijayanagara empire in 1336 CE, *the rulers began building the
> Vidyashankara temple at the Sringeri peetham site. This temple was
> completed in 1338.*
>
> The Vijayanagara rulers repaired and built numerous more Hindu and Jain
> temples in and around the Sringeri math and elsewhere in their empire. This
> is a period where numerous inscriptions help establish the existence of the
> *Sringeri
> peetham from the 14th century onwards.*
>
> The Vijayanagara rulers Harihara and Bukka gave a sarvamanya (tax-exempt)
> gift of land in and around Sringeri in 1346 CE to the Sringeri math guru
> Bharati Tirtha, in a manner common in the Indian tradition for centuries,
> to help defray the costs of operating the monastery and temples.
>
> This grant became a six-century tradition that ended in the 1960s and
> 1970s when the Indian central government introduced and enforced a
> land-reform law that redistributed the land...
>
>
>
> In the late 15th century, the patronage of the Vijayanagara kings shifted
> to Vaisnavism. Following this loss of patronage, Sringeri math had to
> find other means to propagate its former status, and the story of
> Shankara establishing the four cardinal matha may have originated in the
> 16th century.
>
> According to Shastri, following the traditional accounts, the Vijayanagara
> kings visited the Sringeri monastery many times over some 200 years and
> left inscriptions praising the monks, revering their knowledge of the Vedas
> and their scholarship. The monastery also provided the Vijayanagara empire
> administration with guidance on governance. The descendant rulers of the
> Vijayanagara empire regularly visited the monastery and made a series of
> endowments to the Sringeri math as evidenced by various inscriptions. *They
> also established the agrahara of Vidyaranyapuram with a land grant for the
> Brahmins, and in the 15th century established the earliest version of the
> Saradamba temple found at the Sringeri peetham site*. The tradition of
> establishing satellite institutions under the supervision of the Sringeri
> peetham started in the Vijayanagara empire period. For example,
> Vidyaranya organized a math in Hampi.
>
>
>
> Keladi era
>
> After the defeat of the Vijayanagara empire and the destruction of Hampi
> by a coalition of Deccan sultanates, the Vijayanagara empire territories
> faced a political turmoil. The Deccan region was largely divided among five
> Islamic sultanates. The coastal regions of Karnataka that included the
> Sringeri math ultimately came under the control of the Nayakas of Keladi
> from the Lingayatism tradition, who has previously served as governors for
> the Vijayanagara emperors.
>
> The Keladi dynasty supported the Sringeri peetham for nearly 250 years,
> from 1499 to 1763, when the Keladi Nayakas rule was ended by Hyder Ali
> seeking to create a sultanate from Mysore….
>
> The lands held by the monastery and the goods meant for its operation were
> treated by the Nayakas as tax-exempt and not subject to any tariffs.
> Additionally, the 17th-century records show that the math received special
> gifts from the Lingayat rulers on festive occasions such as acharavicharas
> and Diwali. Some of the Nayaka princes studied at a school run by the
> monastery.
>
> Maratha era
>
> The Sringeri math was supported by the Maratha rulers when they came to
> power in the post-Aurangzeb Mughal era. The monastery provided the
> Marathas with counsel in return as evidenced by over two dozen letters,
> mostly in the Marathi language and some in Sanskrit using Kannada script.
> These have been preserved by the monastery.
>
> The religio-political significance of the Sringeri monastery was such that
> both
> the Marathas and the Muslim ruler Hyder Ali sought "cordial relations" with
> it. According to Leela Prasad, after the Maratha ruler Raghunatha Rao
> invited the Sringeri matha's Jagadguru to visit him and the pontiff
> accepted the invitation, when Hyder Ali – whose hostility to the Marathas
> had been legendary – heard about the trip, Hyder Ali sent the Jagadguru
> gifts and an escort consisting of a palanquin, five horses, an elephant and
> cash for the travel expenses.
>
> Peshwa Maratha sacking of the temple in 1791
>
> After the third Anglo-Mysore war in 1791 between the armies of the British
> and Maratha coalition and those of Tipu Sultan, a part of the defeated
> contingent of the Marathas, that is, the irregular Pindaris returned
> through Sringeri and looted the monastery temples of its gold and copper,
> statues, killed some Brahmin priests, and destroyed property.
>
> The news reached Tipu Sultan, who sent funds to restore the damage. Tipu
> Sultan, a Muslim, also sent a letter requesting the Jagadguru to perform
> penance and Hindu worship for "good showers and crops".
>
> Scholars have interpreted this event both as an evidence of Tipu
> Sultan's religious tolerance and the predatory habits of some contingents
> in the Maratha army, or alternatively as a strategic political move by Tipu
> Sultan to request the monastery to perform "superstitious rites" to
> "conciliate with his Hindu subjects and to discomfort his Maratha enemies",
> quotes Leela Prasad…
>
>
>
> *My note- My interest in providing 2nd part was about Tipu sultan while
> invading most Kerala temples favoured the Sarada temple at Sringeri.*
>
> British rule
>
> The Sringeri monastery has been a historic politico-religious centre at
> least from the 14th century. Along with the Vijayanagara emperors and the
> Mysore Muslim rulers such as Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, the colonial
> British authorities and their Nayak and Wodeyar dynasty appointees
> considered the monastery to be a strategically important hub for regional
> politics.
>
> Its operations were a target of surveillance, its collection of Hindu
> texts on Dharma and its counsel given its regional significance were sought
> by the British authorities.
>
>
>
> Temples
>
> *The Sringeri math includes **two **major temples*. One is dedicated to
> Shiva and is called the Vidya Shankara temple, the other to Saraswati and
> is called the Sharada Amba temple. *The earliest version of the Shiva
> temple was built in the 14th century, of goddess Saraswati in the 15th
> century.*
>
>
>
> Architecture of Siva temple
>
> The Vidyashankara temple is a fusion of pre-Vijayanagara Hindu temple
> architecture traditions with Hoysalas and Vijayanagara styles, giving it an
> unusual appearance. The temple has an apsidal shape with its interior
> chambers and sanctum set on the square principle while the spire and outer
> walls use an almost circular plan.
>
> The temple is set on a high plinth like the Hoysala temples, with the
> basement adorned with sculpted animals and balustrades with yalis flanking
> the steps.
>
> The outer walls of the Shiva temple have large sculptured panels at
> right angles to each other and these show the major gods and goddess of
> Vedic tradition and post-Vedic Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Saurism
> (Surya) and Ganapatya (Ganesha) traditions of Hinduism.
>
> The base of the temple have relief friezes depicting a large variety of
> stories from Hindu epics and Puranas.
>
> *The temple can be entered from four directions*. Inside the temple is a
> large mandapa with intricately carved pillars, several antechambers with
> artwork, a sanctum with linga and a circumambulation passageway around it.
> The passageway opens to smaller shrines dedicated to Hindu gods and
> goddesses from various Hindu traditions. According to George Michell, the
> current Vidyashankara temple reflects the 16th-century additions.
>
> Deities in Siva temple.
>
> The sanctum has a linga, the southern side of the sanctum features
> Brahma-Sarawati, the western side Vishnu-Lakshmi, and the northern side
> Shiva-Parvati.
>
> Additions about Sarada temple
>
> Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and arts in the Hindu tradition, is
> the *presiding deity of the monastery.* The monastery tradition states
> that Adi Shankara installed a sandalwood image of Saraswati as Sharadamba
> in a simple shrine, one that was replaced with its current copy in gold by
> the 11th acharya of Sringeri sharada peetham, Sri Barathi Thirtha in the
> Vijayanagara era.
>
> The shrine was rebuilt in the 15th century and expanded in the early 20th
> century.
>
> Deities in Sarada temple
>
> The temple has a maha-mandapa (main hall) with images of *saptamatrikas
> (seven mothers) sculpted*. The goddess sits in a golden chariot.
>
> The golden chariot was dedicated to goddess in 1999 by the present acharya
> of Sringeri sharada peetham.
>
> Sub deities in Sarada temple
>
> Along with Saraswati in the sanctum, the temple has small shrines for Ganesha
> and for Bhuvaneshvari.
>
> Idols etc.
>
> The Sharadamba temple and nearby structures additionally house a library,
> a Vedic school, *a shrine for Adi Shankara*, and other facilities of the
> monastery.
>
> General
>
> It has been the historic epic enter of Sringeri's annual *Navaratri
> festival celebrations*, as well as the chariot festival held in February
> or March every year. The temple also gives the site its name, with *"Sarada
> peetha" meaning "seat of learning"*.
>
> *The temple 's small gopuram was built in Chettinad structures by 33rd
> acharya of Sringeri sharada peetham Sachitananda Shivabinava Narasimha
> Barathi* in 1916.
>
> Library
>
> Sringeri matha has preserved and been a source of ancient Sanskrit
> manuscripts to scholars. In the contemporary monastery, a library is
> located on the first floor of the Saradamba temple. It has about 500
> palm-leaf manuscripts and a large collection of paper manuscripts, most of
> which are in Sanskrit. *These manuscripts are not only related to Advaita
> philosophy,* but to classical subjects such as Sanskrit grammar,
> Dharmasutras, ethics, and arts.
>
> Organization
>
> The Sringeri Sharada Peetham, over its centuries of operations has evolved
> a structure to manage the monastery, its succession and its branches. Some
> of the key positions and features include:
>
> Jagadguru (lit. "teacher of mankind") is the pontiff, both in spiritual
> and secular sense. A celibate ascetic by tradition, he leads the learning
> institutions within the monastery and worship festivals. In case of
> differing views on the operation of monastery, his decision is considered
> by the monks as binding.
>
> He is also responsible for screening, studying and selecting the
> candidate monk who will succeed him as the next pontiff.
>
> Administration
>
> *Samsthana is the administrative organization that has historically
> managed the monastery resources,* properties and endowments in accordance
> with historic policies and guidelines. This includes the temples, the Vedic
> schools, the library, the kitchen and free feeding houses for the monks and
> visiting pilgrims at Sringeri and other branches of the Sringeri Sharada
> Peetham. Prior to the 1970s change in Indian law, the Samsthana
> responsibilities included managing the extensive lands and its tenants.
>
> The monastery has a number of officials with various duties…
>
> *The Sringeri Sharada Peetham has a network of branches in India*. Some
> of the major branches include those in Varanasi, Haridwar, Nasik, Gaya,
> Mysore, Hyderabad, Madurai, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Tirupati, Coimbatore,
> Ramesvaram, Kalady, Ramnad and Bengaluru. The monastery also supervises a
> number of Vedic studies and Sanskrit schools in various parts of India. The
> monastery owns some agriculture land and this is farmed by the monks and
> monastery workers.
>
> *My note- I have stayed in their pilgrimage stay at Rameswaram, while
> perform preliminaries at Rameswaram for Gaya srardha.*
>
> Modern era Jagadgurus
>
> Jagadguru Vidhushekhara Bharati was appointed as Uttaradhikari of the
> Sringeri Sharada Peetham by Jagadguru Bharathi Teertha Mahaswami on 23
> January 2015. The last five Jagadgurus were:
>
> Name Years as Jagadguru Place of birth Purvashrama name
>
> Sri Sachchidananda Shivabhinava Narasimha Bharati Mahaswami 1872–1912
> Mysore Shivaswami
>
> Sri Chandrashekhara Bharati III Mahaswami 1912–1954 Kunigal
> Narasimha
> Shastri
>
> Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswami 1954–1989 Bangalore
> Srinivasa
> Shastri
>
> Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswami 1989 – present Machilipatnam
> Tangirala
> Sitarama Anjaneyulu
>
> Sri Vidhushekhara Bharati Mahaswami
>
> (Successor-designate)
> 2015–present Tirupati Kuppa Venkateshwara Prasad Sharma
>
> Compiled and posted by R. Gopalakrishnan 06-10-2025
>
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