Sringeri Sharada Peetham

Sringeri is the foremost of Shankaracharya's four mathas and a living fountainhead of Advaita philosophy and Vedic learning, headed by an unbroken lineage of Jagadgurus. The worship of Sharada as the goddess of knowledge unites devotion with the pursuit of wisdom. It is one of the most important spiritual and scholarly institutions of Sanatan Dharma in the south.

Sringeri, set amid the forested Western Ghats on the banks of the serene Tunga river, is home to the Sringeri Sharada Peetham, the first of the four cardinal mathas founded by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century to preserve the Advaita Vedanta tradition. Its principal shrine, the Sharadamba temple, enshrines the goddess Sharada (Saraswati) in a golden-hued image, seat of wisdom and the arts. Nearby stands the magnificent Vidyashankara temple, an architectural marvel whose twelve zodiac pillars catch the sun in monthly succession. The peaceful precincts, the sacred river teeming with fish, and the living tradition of Vedic scholarship make Sringeri a profound centre of learning and devotion.