place : Sringeri
goddess : Saradhambal
goddess : Saradhambal
How to reach?
Mangalore airport is the nearest airport. Railway station
is there both in Mangalore and Bangalore. Buses(sleeper, AC, non AC,etc) to
Sringeri is frequent throughout the day from Mangalore. From Bangalore night
sleeper bus is the best option because the buses go through lots of diversion
and takes lot of time. Cab can also be hired from both the places. Bangalore has
the facility for hiring cars for yourself to drive. The road from Mangalore to
Sringeri is very scenic and densely green. The place gets very cool after short
distance. Remember to carry an umbrella as it may rain any time in this
mountainous region. Also carry a torch light, mosquito mats and extra
blanket.
The best place to stay in Sringeri is the Devasthanam
rooms. The office is directly opposite to the entrance of temple. A very
remarkable building. The rooms are spacious. The water supply is also good.
Annadhanam (Free food) is served in temple to devotees.
About the Temple
The temple offers a very peaceful and happy atmosphere. The
main goddess of the temple is Sharadhambal, a form of Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge. People bring their little children to temple and initiate first lines of
study here. The temple is ideal for meditating and so are the gardens and its
surroundings. The temple lies on one side of river Tunga. On the other side is the mutt. A bridge connects both the ends. The mutt was established by Adhi
Sankarar, who also established four other main mutts at Puri, Badhrinath, Dwarka and kanchipuram.
Sringeri is very famous for the
marvellous architecture of Vidhyashankar temple, right beside the main
Sharadhambal temple. The temple’s construction is so marvellous that the temple
is one of the heritage sites in India.
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| Vidhyashankar temple |
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| Tunga river view from bridge |
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| Adi Shankara shrine |
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| Vidhyashankar temple |
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| Bridge over river Tunga, connecting the temple and the mutt |
History
Once sage Duruvasa went to Sathyalokha to worship Goddess Saraswati and Brahma. The recited sloka to please the gods. As he was reciting, he made a small mistake, which goddess saraswati noticed and very small smile flowered in her face. Enraged by the smile, Duruvasa cursed Saraswati that she would be born in Bhulokha and would be married to Brahma, who in turn will get sanyasa. God could have easily refused the curse but to lay a strong foundation of dharma in the world, Saraswati decides to take birth as Ubhaya Bharathi in a brahmin family. She is married to Mandana Misrar, a vedic scholar. Adi shankara visits Mandana misrar's house, after hearing about his vedic knowledge and disciplined life. The day Adi shankarar visits happens to be the shraddha day of Mandana misrar's parent. Seeing the great ascetic, Mandana misrar tells he has to perform ceremony at his house, for which Adi shankarar respond. Seeing the intellect of Adi shankara, the guests urge Mandana mishrar to invite him for the Vishnu bhojan. Adi sankarar politely refuses saying he is hungry for a verbal competition with the scholar. Satisfied with the request, Mandana mishrar agrees and sets the day for argument. Adi sankarar seeing Ubhaya Bharathi's high intellect and requests her to be the judge. On the day of the competition, Ubhaya Bharathi gives flower garlands to both Adi sankarar and Mandana mishrar. She sets the condition that whose flower garland fades first would be runner and the other would be winner. Mandana mishrar seeing the ascetic put a condition that if Adi sankarar loses, he have to marry and lead a life with family. Adi sankarar agrees with the condition that if he wins, Mandana mishrar should get sanyasa and become his disciple. The strong verbal arguement began. In between the arguement, Mandana misrar realise that Adi sankarar has no knowledge of kama and challenges him. Seeing the situation, Adi sankarar requests Ubhaya bharathi to give him some time to research on the topic. Ubhaya bharati agrees after seeing that it would be unjustifiable to not give adi sankarar the permission. Adi Sankarar takes his three disciples and goes to a safe place. After instructing his disciples, his soul leaves his body and enters the body of the king, who had passed away on that day. The disciples guard Adi sankarar's body not allowing anyone near the place. The queen notices the change in king's attittude and intellect. It took her little time to realize that Adi sankarar is in king's body. Queen is intrigued by the questions from the king about kama and learns about the debate taking place in Mandana mishrar's household. Seeing the happiness among the people and wanting to preserve it, queen orders few servants to find and burn Adi sankarar's body. Adi sankarar learns about the queen's plan immediately and realizes it is time to go back to his own shell. As queen's plan was about to take place, Adi sankarar enters into his own body and leaves the safe place along with his disciples. He comes back and the arguement continues. Mandana misrar's garland began to fade and he accepted his defeat and accepts sanyasam. Adi Sankara has never before went in search of a disciple. He was the first and He was given the title Sureshwaracharya. Ubhaya bharathi realize that it is lord shiva, who has come in the form of Adi sankarar. She requests to leave from bhulokha but Adi sankarar pursue her to come along with him to establish his matt. Ubhaya bharathi agrees. When they reach Sringeri, they witness a beautiful scene where a big snake protects a frog, which about to give birth to its offspring, from rain. Seeing that the greatest enemies are living in harmony, Sankarar is mesmerized. He requests ubhaya bharathi (saraswathi mata) to stay there as sharadhambal. Gladly, Ubhaya bharathi stays in Sringeri as Sharadhambal. Adi sankarar establishes a mutt in Sringeri and leaves Suresvaracharaya as the Guru of the mutt.
Adi Shankarar once visited kailash, abode of lord Shiva. When he visited, Lord shiva presented him 5 Shiva lingas. The five lingas are present even today. One of them is at Sringeri mutt. The devotees can see Shankaracharya guru performing pooja to the lingam in the evening time. This pooja is called Chandramouleeswara pooja.
Once sage Duruvasa went to Sathyalokha to worship Goddess Saraswati and Brahma. The recited sloka to please the gods. As he was reciting, he made a small mistake, which goddess saraswati noticed and very small smile flowered in her face. Enraged by the smile, Duruvasa cursed Saraswati that she would be born in Bhulokha and would be married to Brahma, who in turn will get sanyasa. God could have easily refused the curse but to lay a strong foundation of dharma in the world, Saraswati decides to take birth as Ubhaya Bharathi in a brahmin family. She is married to Mandana Misrar, a vedic scholar. Adi shankara visits Mandana misrar's house, after hearing about his vedic knowledge and disciplined life. The day Adi shankarar visits happens to be the shraddha day of Mandana misrar's parent. Seeing the great ascetic, Mandana misrar tells he has to perform ceremony at his house, for which Adi shankarar respond. Seeing the intellect of Adi shankara, the guests urge Mandana mishrar to invite him for the Vishnu bhojan. Adi sankarar politely refuses saying he is hungry for a verbal competition with the scholar. Satisfied with the request, Mandana mishrar agrees and sets the day for argument. Adi sankarar seeing Ubhaya Bharathi's high intellect and requests her to be the judge. On the day of the competition, Ubhaya Bharathi gives flower garlands to both Adi sankarar and Mandana mishrar. She sets the condition that whose flower garland fades first would be runner and the other would be winner. Mandana mishrar seeing the ascetic put a condition that if Adi sankarar loses, he have to marry and lead a life with family. Adi sankarar agrees with the condition that if he wins, Mandana mishrar should get sanyasa and become his disciple. The strong verbal arguement began. In between the arguement, Mandana misrar realise that Adi sankarar has no knowledge of kama and challenges him. Seeing the situation, Adi sankarar requests Ubhaya bharathi to give him some time to research on the topic. Ubhaya bharati agrees after seeing that it would be unjustifiable to not give adi sankarar the permission. Adi Sankarar takes his three disciples and goes to a safe place. After instructing his disciples, his soul leaves his body and enters the body of the king, who had passed away on that day. The disciples guard Adi sankarar's body not allowing anyone near the place. The queen notices the change in king's attittude and intellect. It took her little time to realize that Adi sankarar is in king's body. Queen is intrigued by the questions from the king about kama and learns about the debate taking place in Mandana mishrar's household. Seeing the happiness among the people and wanting to preserve it, queen orders few servants to find and burn Adi sankarar's body. Adi sankarar learns about the queen's plan immediately and realizes it is time to go back to his own shell. As queen's plan was about to take place, Adi sankarar enters into his own body and leaves the safe place along with his disciples. He comes back and the arguement continues. Mandana misrar's garland began to fade and he accepted his defeat and accepts sanyasam. Adi Sankara has never before went in search of a disciple. He was the first and He was given the title Sureshwaracharya. Ubhaya bharathi realize that it is lord shiva, who has come in the form of Adi sankarar. She requests to leave from bhulokha but Adi sankarar pursue her to come along with him to establish his matt. Ubhaya bharathi agrees. When they reach Sringeri, they witness a beautiful scene where a big snake protects a frog, which about to give birth to its offspring, from rain. Seeing that the greatest enemies are living in harmony, Sankarar is mesmerized. He requests ubhaya bharathi (saraswathi mata) to stay there as sharadhambal. Gladly, Ubhaya bharathi stays in Sringeri as Sharadhambal. Adi sankarar establishes a mutt in Sringeri and leaves Suresvaracharaya as the Guru of the mutt.
Adi Shankarar once visited kailash, abode of lord Shiva. When he visited, Lord shiva presented him 5 Shiva lingas. The five lingas are present even today. One of them is at Sringeri mutt. The devotees can see Shankaracharya guru performing pooja to the lingam in the evening time. This pooja is called Chandramouleeswara pooja.
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