Dakshinamnaya · The southern seat
Sringeri Sharada Peetham
On the northern bank of the Tunga, in the forested Malnad hills of Karnataka, stands the first of the monasteries that tradition credits to Adi Shankaracharya — a centre of worship and learning for more than twelve centuries.
The place
Why Sringeri?
The name Sringeri is traditionally derived from the sage Rishyashringa, said to have lived and performed penance in these hills. The Peetham’s own account of its founding preserves a story about the choice of the site. Walking along the Tunga, Adi Shankaracharya saw a cobra spreading its hood to shelter a frog in labour from the heat of the sun. A place where natural enemies lived in such harmony, he judged, was fit for a seat of learning and spiritual practice. A small shrine on the riverbank, Sri Kappe Shankara, commemorates the spot.
Here, according to the tradition, Shankaracharya consecrated an image of Goddess Sharada — the Goddess of learning — and appointed his disciple Sureshwaracharya as the first Acharya. Sringeri thus became the first of the four Amnaya Peethams, the southern seat, associated with the Yajur Veda. The Guru Parampara that began with Sureshwaracharya continues today in Jagadguru Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji, the thirty-sixth Acharya.
The founding narrative is the traditional account preserved by the Peetham. Historians differ on the dating of Adi Shankaracharya and of the early history of the monastery.
Sacred geography
Two banks of one river
The Peetham’s complex lies on the northern bank of the Tunga: the temple of Sri Sharadamba, the stone temple of Sri Vidyashankara, and the Math where the daily worship of the Jagadguru takes place. Across the river, on the southern bank, is Narasimhavanam, a quiet grove that holds the Guru Nivas — the Jagadguru’s residence — and the Adhishtanams, the shrines built over the resting places of earlier Acharyas.
Since 1990 the two banks have been joined by a bridge, which Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji inaugurated on 21 May that year and named Vidyatirtha Sethu in memory of his Guru.
The presiding deity
Sri Sharadamba
Goddess Sharada, a form of Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge, is the presiding deity of the Peetham — which takes its name, Sharada Peetham, from her. The temple is the heart of Sringeri’s ritual year, above all during the Sharannavaratri, when the Goddess is worshipped for eleven days in different forms and the Jagadguru holds the traditional Durbar.
Under Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji the temple has received several offerings. In 1999 he dedicated a golden chariot to the Goddess, and golden doors bearing panels of the Ashta Lakshmis were installed at the time of his fiftieth Vardhanti. Other festivals of the Goddess include Chaitra Poornima, the Karthika Poornima Deepotsava, Lalitha Panchami in Magha, and the Sharadamba Rathotsava.
Architecture
The Vidyashankara Temple
The most celebrated monument at Sringeri is the temple of Sri Vidyashankara, built in 1338 CE entirely of stone. The Peetham describes it as combining Hoysala (Chalukya) and Dravidian architectural styles, with apsidal ends and a mandapa of twelve pillars marked with the twelve signs of the zodiac in their regular order. It is protected today by the Archaeological Survey of India.
The temple rises over the sacred chamber of Sri Vidya Tirtha, the tenth Acharya. The Peetham’s biography of Sri Vidyaranya records that construction was begun by his Guru, Sri Bharati Tirtha — the eleventh Acharya, whose name the present Jagadguru bears. Popular accounts often credit Sri Vidyaranya himself; he was closely associated with this period of the Peetham’s history.
Each year in the bright half of Kartika, from Tritiya to Navami, the seven-day Vidyatirtha Rathotsava is celebrated here.
History
Moments in the Peetham’s history
- FoundingAdi Shankaracharya establishes the Peetham, consecrates Sri Sharada, and appoints Sureshwaracharya as the first Acharya.
- 1336Sri Vidyaranya, later the twelfth Acharya, guides Harihara and Bukka in founding the Vijayanagara empire.
- 1338The Vidyashankara temple is built in stone over the sacred chamber of Sri Vidya Tirtha.
- 1895The 33rd Acharya founds the Sadvidya Sanjeevini Pathashala for traditional Shastric learning.
- 1910The 33rd Acharya consecrates shrines at Kalady, birthplace of Adi Shankaracharya, on 21 February.
- 1979Under the 35th Acharya, the heads of all four Amnaya Peethams meet at Sringeri in May.
- 1990The Vidyatirtha Sethu is opened across the Tunga by the 36th Acharya.
- 2023A 32-foot granite image of Adi Shankaracharya is unveiled on Shankara Giri on 10 November.
Daily worship
Sri Chandramouleeshwara
At the centre of the Jagadguru’s own worship is Sri Chandramouleeshwara, a crystal (sphatika) linga. By tradition, Adi Shankaracharya received four such lingas from Lord Shiva and entrusted them to his four principal disciples. At Sringeri the linga is worshipped three times daily, and the night puja is performed by the Jagadguru; a Sri Chakra puja follows on Fridays. Sri Ratnagarbha Ganapati is among the deities kept with it.
Learning and service
A living institution
The Peetham is not only a place of pilgrimage. It maintains the Sadvidya Sanjeevini Pathashala, where Advaita Vedanta, Nyaya, Vyakarana, Mimamsa and Jyotisha are taught in the traditional way; the Sri Shankara Advaita Research Centre at Narasimhavanam; and a charitable hospital. The Sanskrit university campus at Sringeri was established in 1992. These are described in Education & Seva.
The Jagadguru is the spiritual head of the Peetham and guides its work; its many activities are carried out by the institution and its devotees under his blessings. Beyond India, the Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, the Peetham’s first overseas affiliate, maintains a temple of Goddess Sharada.