Following the trail of travel from Udipi and Kollur, the next stop is the beautiful town of Sringeri on the banks of the Tunga River, a supreme spiritual centre established by the great seer Adi Shankaracharya. Strangely, every holy city in these districts stands on a river bank. While Udipi and Dharmasthala are on the Netravati, Sringeri stands on the serene Tunga which joins the Bhadravai to form the Tungabhadra which later confluences with the Krishna!
By Vimla Patil
Most of us are familiar with the incredible, almost magical life of Adi Shankaracharya, the greatest philosopher and seer of India who, without any known means of transport and without knowing the innumerable languages of diverse communities that live in the Indian subcontinent, traveled on foot three times to cover the entire country and united India as one nation by establishing the four holy Dams in the four corners of India – one in Dark, one in Purim, one in Sringeri and one in Josh math near Baronet. Additionally, he established the first Sharada Peeth in Kashmir. Most of us have heard the famous shloka – Namaste Sharda Devim Kashmirpuravasinim – meaning; we salute Sharda Devi who resides in Kashmir. This is a litany to the first Peeth or centre which Adi Shankaracharya founded in Kashmir to begin his expeditions all over India to reestablish the Sanatan Dharam and the unchallengeable philosophy of Advaita which is the backbone of our spiritual beliefs today. Shankara argued that the human soul is an integral part of divinity just as a drop of water is an integral part of the ocean. He said that there was no difference between the individual soul and the universal soul and that the universe was created out of the same source of energy and was unicellular. This theory later hugely influenced western scientists who used this knowledge in propounding the Quantum theory of physics.
Sringeri, the second Sharda Peeth founded by Adi Shankaracharya, stands on the River Tunga in South Kanara. Here, India’s greatest philosopher/seer built his ashram and launched his expeditions to bring new life to Sanatan Dharam, the glorious heritage of India. He is revered as the author of magnificent literary and philosophical works of rare wisdom that are studied and recited in every university in the world today. He is the one-man power which united India as one nation through the establishment of the Char Dhams or four holy destinations of India. His own Samadhi stands on the banks of the Mandakini River behind the Kedarnath temple in the Himalayas. Though born in Kaladi on the Poorna River in Kerala, he came to South Kanara to start his movement of rescuing the Sanatan Dharam from the coils of blind beliefs and superstitions which led to animal sacrifices, worship of black magic deities and several other distasteful practices. Legend says that Shankara traveled the length and breadth of India on foot, resurrecting holy shrines and temples and conducting dialogues with famous scholars to propound his Advaita philosophy. One of the masters with whom he conducted his discourses was Mandan Mishra whom he defeated in the dialogue. Challenged by Mandan Mishra’s wife Sharda – who was Saraswati incarnate, testing the seer – Shankara resolved her doubts too, and won. As a result, Sharda and Mandan Mishra followed him, desiring to become his disciples.
History says that Mandan Mishra accepted the title of Sureshwaracharya and became the first pontiff of the Sringeri Math. He was among the four important disciples of Shankara each of whom headed one peeth established by the seer in Joshimath in the Himalayas, Dwarka in the west, Puri in the east and Sringeri in the south. Sharda, who was Saraswati incarnate, waited on the banks of the Tunga and was consecrated by Shankara in the Sharda Peeth in the same place. Today, the Sharda Peeth in Sringeri is one of greatest centres of learning and pilgrimage in India. The present pontiff, the 36th Shankaracharya of the Sringeri Peeth, Bharati Tirth Swamigal, is a highly respected and learned master of spiritual knowledge and lives in the legendary ashram across the river, which is connected with the Peeth with a foot bridge. Every day, the Peeth conducts poojas and there is a free lunch for every visitor in a huge hall adjacent to the Peeth.
A heritage wonder of Sringeri is the ancient Sanjeevan Samadhi of the 12th seer of the Peeth, Vidya Tirth Swami, who history says, became Vidyaranya Swami, the spiritual inspiration of brothers Harihara and Bukka, the founders of the Vijayanagar Empire on the banks of the Tungabhadra River. Vijayanagar registers one of a glorious period of Indian history that has never been equaled. Coins and records of the empire show Vidyaranya Swami leading the procession of victory of the two brothers when the established the kingdom. Several books describe the reign of Krishnadevaraya, the greatest king of this empire who built incredible cities with unheard of facilities and sculptured temples. At the Vithal temple in Hampi, Purandaradasa composed beautiful bhajans which are sung even today by great musicians like Bhimsen Joshi. However, Vijayanagar was razed to the ground by Islamic attackers and history says that it was a pile of stones within 24 hours. Some of the buildings – including the elephant pavilion, the Virupaksha temple and the Vithal temple without the idol – stand as sentinels to the tragedy of this inhuman destruction!
The Samadhi of Vidyaranya Swami is a wonder of temple architecture and has fascinated generations of visitors. It has twelve sculptured pillars, each with one sign of the zodiac carved on it artistically. It is said that the sun’s rays fall on the relevant pillar as the sun traverses from season to season. People from all over Indian swarm to see this wonder during the spring when the first rays of the sun touch the pillar of the Mesha Rashi or Aries! The outer walls have seven layers of sculptures based on the cosmic concept of Hindu temples.
Next on our itinerary is Dharmasthala on the River Netravathi. This grand temple is dedicated to Lord Manjunatha Shiva. In a rare show of the unity of Indogenic religions, the priest here is a staunch Vaishnav and the Chairman of the temple trust is a Jain called Hegde! As in Udipi and Kollur, this temple also feeds thousands every day and provides free food to all pilgrims. Dharmasthala is a huge complex with literally tens of thousands of people bringing their newly wedded sons and daughters or new born children for blessings. Elephants welcome you to the site and are seen blessing everyone who offers them some food or money.
On the return journey towards Mangalore, a stop in the Jain heritage town of Karkal is a must. It is a magnificent sight to climb a hillock to see the 42-ft monolith of Gomateshwara-Bahubali, the Jain Tirthankara. Next to it is the beautifully carved Basadi or meeting hall for scholars on top of a rocky hill. Legend says that two learned Jain monks – Bhadrabahu and Sthulibhadra – traveled away from Magadha in the 2nd century BC to avoid the tragic 12 year famine in the kingdom. They came to Kalinga to seek refuge from King Kharavela who built the Udayagiri-Khandagiri caves to house the Munis and their followers. However, Bhadrabahu traveled to the south to Karnataka to spread Jainism. The State of Karnataka and parts of southern Maharashtra, therefore, have a reasonable population of Jains. The ancient Munis who came southwards created huge monoliths of Tirthankaras in this part including the Sravana Belgola statue and the ones in Karkal and other places in South Kanara. The climb to the Karkal hill entails 172 steps and there is a Kshetrapal at the entrance. The carved Basadi or meeting hall is worth seeing. Having seen so many facets of Indian culture and religion, one can return to Mangalore to rest and next day begin the journey to Talakaveri, the origin of the Kaveri River and the Abbey Falls which are wonders of Nature in the nearby Coorg district of Karnataka.
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Long Live Sanatan Dharam
Email feedback to: vimla@vimlapatil.com
January 2008