Ashta Mathas of Udupi

The Tulu Ashta Mathas of Udupi are a group of eight mathas or Hindu monasteries established by Madhvacharya, the preceptor of the Dvaita school of Hindu thought. For each of the eight mathas, Madhvacharya also appointed one of his direct disciples to be the first Swami, head of the matha.

Matha	First swami	Presiding Deity	Reigning Swami	Successor
Pejavara	Adhokshaja Tirtha	Vitthala with consorts Sri and Bhudevi	Vishwesha Teertha	Sri Vishvaprasanna Tirtha Swamiji
Palimaru	Hrishikesha Tirtha	Kodanda Rama with consort Sita and brother Lakshmana	Vidhyadeesha Tirtha
Adamaru	Narasimha Tirtha	Kaliyamardana Krishna	Sri Vishvapriya Tirtha Swamiji	Eeshapriya Tirtha
Puttige	Upendra Tirtha	Vitthala with consorts Rukmini and Satyabhama	Sugunendra Tirtha
Sodhe	Vishnu Tirtha	Bhuvaraha	Vishvavallabha Tirtha
Kaniyooru	Rama Tirtha	Yoga-Narasimha	Vidyavallabha Tirtha
Shirur	Vamana Tirtha	Vitthala (called "Vamana Vitthala" to differentiate from Pejavara icon) with consorts Sri and Bhudevi	Lakshmivara Tirtha
Krishnapura	Janardhana Tirtha	Kaliyamardana Krishna with four arms	Vidyasagara Tirtha

The ashta mathas are named after the villages in which they were originally located. Today, the mathas are situated in the temple town of Udupi. The mathas work to propagate the Dvaita philosophy. They also administer the famous Udupi Krishna Temple by way of a formal rotation scheme called Paryaya.

When the ashta mathas were formed, Sri Madhvacharya initiated the Swamijis of the mathas in pairs. Each pair of mathas is called Dwandva (literally, two or dual). In the event the current Paryaya Swamiji has difficulty performing his duties, the Swamiji from the Dwandwa matha takes over the responsibility. The four pairs of mathas are: Palimaru and Adamaru; Krishnapura and Puttige; Shirur and Sodhe; and Kaniyooru and Pejavara.

See also

• Paryaya

References

• Udupi Ashta Mathas and other Madhva Mathas
• Around the Car Street
• The Festival of Paryaya

External links

• Sri Puthige Matha
• Sri Pejavara Adhokshaja Matha