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98-682: The text glorifies the Shenvis (identified as Sarasvatas ), and slanders their traditional rivals, such as the Chitpavans and the Karhades . Historically, the text's authenticity was a matter of debate among Brahmins, with some using it to assert the Brahmin status of the Shenvis, while others - especially Chitpavans - denouncing it as a fabricated Puranic text. The Sahyadri-khanda existed by

196-507: A Hindu community of contested caste status and identity. They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue. They claim to be Saraswat Brahmins who initially migrated to Konkan from Gaud , per Puranic accounts. Upon moving out of Goa during Portuguese occupation, their claims of Brahminhood were rejected both to the north of Goa, by the Deshastha , Chitpavan and Karhade Brahmins of Maharashtra , and to

294-626: A critical edition in 1877. Ramchandra Bhikaji Gunjikar (1843-1901), who wrote on the history of Brahmin communities of Maharashtra, noted that the copies of the Sahyadri-khanda then available in Mumbai, did not mention the founding myth of the Chitpavans. He concluded that the original text contained the story, which was removed as a result of Peshwa's censorship. The Sahyadri-khanda narrates stories that are variations of legends from

392-756: A Hindu army to overthrow the Muslim rule in the Deccan region, and re-establish a powerful Hindu kingdom from Hampi . In his counsel, the Vijayanagara founders lead an expansive conquest of much of the southern Indian peninsula, taking over lands from the Sultanates that had formed after several invasions by the Delhi Sultanate . According to tradition, the monk's efforts were supported by the 10th and 11th pontiff of Sringeri peetham. Vidyaranya later became

490-541: A different, now- lost work. José Gerson da Cunha prepared a critical edition (1877) of the text based on 14 manuscripts: Cunha notes that there are several differences between these copies, which are results of incorrect copying as well as deliberate interpolations. Nagendra Rao notes that there are several variations of the text, and provides the following English-language names of the chapters, based on Cunha's edition: Shenvi Gaud Saraswat Brahmins ( GSB ) (also Goud or Gawd), also known as Shenvis are

588-570: A document from 1694 AD and another from 1863 AD in which the Brahmins and Shenvis are separately listed. University of Michigan scholar Madhav M. Deshpande cites R.V.Parulekar and states that " British administrative documents from the early nineteenth century Maharashtra always list brahmins and Shenvis as two separate castes". Irawati Karve and G. S. Ghurye consider GSB's as part of larger Saraswat Brahmins and overall Brahmin community. The Hindu scripture Sahayadhri Khanda provided support for

686-607: A part of "established Gaud or Dravid groups". After Parashuram created the Chitpawans from fishermen who had assembled around some funeral pyre in Konkan, their later actions displeased him. As if to rectify his mistake, Parashuram brought ten sages from North India, specifically, Trihotra (Trihut, Bihar) and set them up in Goa for performing ancestral rites, fire sacrifice and dinner offerings. The fourth chapter of Sahyadrikhanda describes

784-649: A part of the defeated contingent of the Marathas, that is, the irregular Pindaris returned through Sringeri and looted the monastery temples of its gold and copper, statues, killed some Brahmin priests, and destroyed property. The news reached Tipu Sultan , who sent funds to restore the damage. Tipu Sultan, a Muslim, also sent a letter requesting the Jagadguru to perform penance and Hindu worship for "good showers and crops". Scholars have interpreted this event both as an evidence of Tipu Sultan's religious tolerance and

882-673: A prominent researcher on Konkan 's history, also rejects the Brahmin claim of the Shenvi GSB as well as their "gauda-ness". He argues that the Seṇavīs adopted the term Gauḍa-Sārasvata in the latter part of the nineteenth century. According to Bambardekar, the (Shenvi)GSBs have falsified the Kannada word gowḍa meaning 'village chief' as being identical with the Sanskrit word gauḍa and challenges their Brahmin status itself. Bambardekar cites

980-500: A sanctum with linga and a circumambulation passageway around it. The passageway opens to smaller shrines dedicated to Hindu gods and goddesses from various Hindu traditions. According to George Michell, the current Vidyashankara temple reflects the 16th-century additions. Saraswati , the goddess of knowledge and arts in the Hindu tradition, is the presiding deity of the monastery. The monastery tradition states that Adi Shankara installed

1078-405: A sandalwood image of Saraswati as Sharadamba in a simple shrine, one that was replaced with its current copy in gold during the Vijayanagara era. The shrine was rebuilt in the 15th century and expanded in the early 20th century. The temple has a maha-mandapa (main hall) with images of saptamatrikas (seven mothers) sculpted. The goddess sits in a golden chariot. Along with Saraswati in the sanctum,

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1176-492: A snake unveiling its hood like an umbrella to shield a pregnant frog from the hot sun on the banks of the river Tunga in Sringeri. Deducing that non-violence amongst natural predators was innate to a holy spot, Sri Adi Shankara decided to establish His first Peetham in Sringeri. Sringeri is independently associated with Sage Rishyasringa of Ramayana fame, son of Sage Vibhandaka. According to tradition, Shankara also instituted

1274-477: A social outreach programme. Sri Sharada Peetham is located in Sringeri about 85 kilometres (53 mi) east of Udupi and 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast from Mangaluru across the Western Ghats, and about 335 kilometres (208 mi) west-northwest from the state capital, Bengaluru . Sringeri can be accessed from Bangalore and Mangalore via road. According to tradition, Sri Adi Shankaracharya,

1372-611: A strategically important hub for regional politics. Its operations were a target of surveillance, its collection of Hindu texts on Dharma and its counsel given its regional significance were sought by the British authorities. The Sringeri matha includes two major temples. One is dedicated to Shiva and is called the Vidya Shankara temple, the other to Saraswati and is called the Sharada Amba temple. The earliest version of

1470-514: A structure to manage the monastery, its succession and its branches. Some of the key positions and features include: The Sringeri Sharada Peetham has a network of branches in India. Some of the major branches include those in Varanasi, Haridwar, Nasik, Gaya, Mysore, Hyderabad, Madurai, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Tirupati, Coimbatore, Ramesvaram, Kalady, Ramnad and Bengaluru. The monastery also supervises

1568-548: A verse from the Skanda Puran to prove his assertion. Alexander Henn says that "modern scholars have questioned the myth of the northern descent". According to modern scholars, arguing that their origins instead come from local priests who, at some point in history, gained Brahmanhood". Gaud Saraswats of Goa during the long Portuguese rule have had their Brahmin claim challenged by the locally smaller brahmin communities of Deshastha , Chitpavan and Karhade as well as by

1666-489: Is Jagadguru Bharathi Teertha Mahaswami . His guru was Jagadguru Sri Abhinava Vidyatirtha Mahaswami. The successor-designate (the 37th Jagadguru acharya) was appointed in 2015, and was given the Yogapatta (monastic name) Sri Vidhushekhara Bharati Mahaswami. While tradition attributes the establishment of Sringeri Sharada Peetham to Adi Shankara, situating him in the 5th century BCE, the history of Sringeri Peetham from

1764-553: Is not necessarily supported by other communities such as the Namboodri Brahmins . The GSB from Goa were considered to be non-Brahmin by the Pune Brahmin Shastris of late 1800s and therefore did not allow, RG Bhandarkar , an eminent orientalist and Sanskrit scholar to participate in a Brahmin only debate in the British era as he was a GSB and not a Brahmin. This caused GSB caste activists to claim

1862-647: Is one amongst the four cardinal pīthams following the Daśanāmi Sampradaya - the peetham or matha is said to have been established by acharya Śrī Ādi Śaṅkara to preserve and propagate Sanātana Dharma and Advaita Vedānta , the doctrine of non-dualism . Located in Śringerī in Chikmagalur district in Karnataka , India , it is the Southern Āmnāya Pītham amongst the four Chaturāmnāya Pīthams, with

1960-534: Is set on a high plinth like the Hoysala temples, with the basement adorned with sculpted animals and balustrades with yalis flanking the steps. The outer walls of the Shiva temple have large sculptured panels at right angles to each other and these show the major gods and goddess of Vedic tradition and post-Vedic Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Saurism (Surya) and Ganapatya (Ganesha) traditions of Hinduism. The base of

2058-539: Is some evidence that by the end of the 18th century, it was difficult to find a copy of the text in the Bombay region. For example, in 1787, when some people in Bombay decided to consult the Sahyadri-khanda to resolve a dispute over ritual entitlements, they had to request a copy from the Sringeri monastery in present-day Karnataka. The debates over the text's authenticity continued after José Gerson da Cunha published

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2156-412: Is still strongly under dispute, particularly in the coastal districts of Karnataka". Gaud Saraswat Brahmins have both Madhvas and Smarthas among them. The Gaud Saraswats following Dvaita Vedanta of Madhvacharya are followers of Kashi Math and Gokarna Math , while the followers of Advaita Vedanta of Adi Shankara are followers of Kavale Math and Chitrapur Math . Among Gaud Saraswat Brahmins

2254-816: Is the 36th Jagadguru in the since-unbroken spiritual succession of pontiffs. The Pītham is one of the major Hindu institutions that has historically coordinated Smārta tradition and monastic activities through satellite institutions in South India , preserved Sanskrit literature and pursued Advaita studies. The Pītham runs several vedic schools (pathashalas), maintains libraries and repositories of historic Sanskrit manuscripts. The Śringerī Mutt has been active in preserving Vedas, sponsoring students and recitals, Sanskrit scholarship, and celebrating traditional annual festivals such as Śaṅkara Jayanti and Guru Purnima (Vyāsa Pūrnima). The Pītham has branches across India and maintains temples at several locations. It also has

2352-660: The Malabar Coast , Karnataka , Kerala and Tamil Nadu regions are followers of Madhvacharya . In Goa , the GSB's who follow Madhvacharya and are mainly concentrated in the Bardez and Salcete regions. Gaud Saraswat Brahmins are primarily fish and other seafood eaters but there are also vegetarians among them. Historian Kranti K Farias states that "Their main food is rice – called congi or Pej . Shaktas offer and then consume mutton , fowl and liquor during

2450-514: The Puranas . Several smaller texts, aimed at establishing identities and histories of various Brahmin communities, claim affiliation with it. The text narrates the legend of Parashurama , identifying the Sahyadri mountain range as Mount Mahendra , where he performed his penances. According to the text, Parashurama reclaimed lands from the sea and settled them with Brahmins. The original core of

2548-403: The mathas can be found before the 14th century CE. Until the 15th century, the timespan of the directors of Sringeri Math are unrealistically long, spanning 60+ and even 105 years. After 1386, the timespans become much shorter. According to Hacker, these mathas were probably established in the 14th century, to propagate Shankara's view of Advaita. The history of Sringeri Peetha is recorded in

2646-502: The 12th acharya of the Sringeri peetham in 1375 CE. Shortly after the start of the Vijayanagara empire in 1336 CE, the rulers began building the Vidyashankara temple at the Sringeri peetham site. This temple was completed in 1338. The Vijayanagara rulers repaired and built numerous more Hindu and Jain temples in and around the Sringeri matha and elsewhere in their empire. This is a period where numerous inscriptions help establish

2744-402: The 13th century, as Hemadri 's Chatur-varga-chintamani (mid-13th century) quotes its fragmnets. German academic Alexander Henn , citing Stephan Hillyer Levitt and João Manuel Pacheco de Figueiredo, describes the Sahyadri-khanda as an "apparently recently organized and somewhat deficient edition of disaparate texts". Based on Levitt's work, he states that the earliest of these texts dates to

2842-697: The 13th-14th centuries. The text characterizes the Shenvi Brahmins (whom it calls Sarasvatas ) as heroes, while ascribing ignoble origins to their rivals such as the Chitpavans and the Karhades. In 1631, a Brahman judicial assembly ( dharma-sabha ) at Varanasi, the most authoritative of such assemblies, cited the Sahyadri-khanda to assert the Brahmin status of the Shenvis. In 1564, the Portuguese had destroyed an Advaita monastery at Kusasthal , and its spiritual leaders had migrated to Varanasi. When

2940-611: The 17th-century records show that the matha received special gifts from the Lingayat rulers on festive occasions such as acharavicharas and Diwali . Some of the Nayaka princes studied at a school run by the monastery. The Sringeri matha was supported by the Maratha rulers when they came to power in the post-Aurangzeb Mughal era. The monastery provided the Marathas with counsel in return as evidenced by over two dozen letters, mostly in

3038-487: The 5th century, and the latest to the 13th century. According to Rosalind O'Hanlon, the core of the text was likely written "before or around the end of the first millennium": it contains stories about Brahmin village settlements that have fallen from virtue. The remaining text appears to have been written later, as it describes the Pancha Gauda and Pancha Dravida classification of Brahmins, which became popular during

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3136-598: The Brahmanical genealogy of the GSB. However, Sanskrit scholar Madhav Deshpande, Indologist and Sanskrit Scholar Stephan Hillyer Levitt and historian O'Hanlon consider the portion of the Sahyādrikhaṇḍa that describes Saraswats to be corrupted and recently interpolated by Saraswats themselves in order to improve their status. In Kerala , the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin claim to be Brahmins but this view

3234-476: The Brahmin status by using markers such as "gotra", "kuldeva", village, "allegiance to a lineage of spiritual descent" or "guru parampara" of preceptors (swamis). The movement was active from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Gail Omvedt , while describing the non-Brahman movement in western India, says that Shahu, the ruler of Kolhapur, who encouraged non-Brahmins, sponsored hostels for almost all non-Brahmin communities. Omvedt ways that one of these

3332-506: The Brahmin status of the Shenvis. As a result, Vitthal became the leader of the revived monastery, adopting the name Sacchidananda Sarasvati. Madhav's Sata-prashna-kalpa-lata (1577 CE), which is sympathetic to the Karhades, characterizes the Sahyadri-khanda as a fabricated Puranic text. Raghoba Mahadevrao, a famous Chitpavan performer, recited stories from the Sahyadri-khanda , as recorded by Arthur Crawford , who served as an assistant magistrate in Konkan during 1859-1862. Raghoba dismissed

3430-625: The GSB, when dominating the merchants of Cochin, received exterritorial rights granted by the Dutch. South Kanara is part of the Kanara coast from Goa to Kerala. In the sixteenth century, the increase and export of rice production here was brought about by the GSB, the Bunts and Billava coconut growers. The Gaud Saraswat Brahmin – which Marine Carrin and Lidia Guzy describe as a "Konkani speaking community of traders [who were] already established along

3528-656: The Gaud Saraswats group has migrated from Trihotra in northern India as per the text. There is a reference to Kānyakubja in this verse and Kanoji in the previous although they are the same. Bambardekar, a scholar on Konkan History, does not accept the Gauda or Brahmin claim of the Gauda Saraswats. According to Bambardekar, the Pancha Dravid Brahmins are the original Gauda Brahmins and he cites

3626-615: The Gaud Saraswats supposedly intermarried with women from other castes after their arrival in Goa. After commercial activities in the Indian Ocean increased after the 1400s, Pius Malekandathil states that "many Indians, particularly the banyas, the Gowda Saraswat Brahmins began to move to different parts of this maritime space to conduct trade, where they eventually set up nucleus for Indian diasporas". Harald Tambs-Lyche notes that trading communities such as

3724-577: The Goldsmith, Maratha, and other non-brahmin communities. Sanjay Subrahmanyam says that in the 15th and 16th century Saraswats did business with the Portuguese at the port of Basrur . They claimed Brahminhood sometimes but were more associated with trading activity and referred to as "chatins" from the word chetti by the Portuguese. They were a "caste of open status" according to Subrahmanyam. M.R. Kantak says that in 16th(1500s), Brahmins were

3822-452: The Gotras of these Brahmins and praises them as "best brahmins, honored by the kings, good-looking, with righteous behavior, and expert in all rites". The Gauḍa Sārasvat Brahmins from southern India, whose claim to Brahminhood was often not accepted by the surrounding Dravid Brahmins, could use this text from Sahyadrikhanda to address the conflict. Wagle makes no judgement on the validity of

3920-488: The Hindu Dharmasutras and Dharmasastras texts preserved and interpreted by the matha , one composed by a range of authors and generally dated to be from the second half of the 1st-millennium BCE through about 400 CE. In the late 15th century, the patronage of the Vijayanagara kings shifted to Vaisnavism. Following this loss of patronage, Sringeri matha had to find other means to propagate its former status, and

4018-487: The Hindu residents of Kusasthal revived the monastery, a Shenvi named Vitthal wanted to become its leader. However, Brahmins from other communities opposed him, disputing the Brahmin status of Shenvis. The opponents argued that unlike the traditionally vegetarian Brahmins, the Shenvis customarily ate fish. The assembly at Varanasi cited the Sahyadri-khanda to rule that Parshurama had allowed different Brahmin communities to follow different customs, and eating fish did not affect

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4116-631: The Keladi Nayakas, as evidenced by ledger records and literature preserved by the monastery. Unlike the copious epigraphical evidence from the Vijayanagara era, few inscriptions from the Keladi era history are available and the history of this period is mostly discernible from the literary records. The lands held by the monastery and the goods meant for its operation were treated by the Nayakas as tax-exempt and not subject to any tariffs. Additionally,

4214-573: The Madhvas are Vaishnavites, while the Smarthas are considered as Shivites and Shaktites. According to author A B de Bragnanca Pereira says, "The main deities worshipped by Shaivite are Mangesh , Shantadurga , and Saptakoteshwar, while the Vaishnavites deities are Nagesh, Ramnath, Mahalakshmi, Mahalasa, Lakshmi , Narasimha , Venkataramana, Kamaksha, Bhagwati and Damodar". Most of the GSB's in

4312-528: The Maratha Peshwa ruler learned about the Pindari sacking, he took corrective action and sent his contingents to locate the loot, the statues, gold and copper, to return it along with compensation. In the years and decades that followed the Pindari sacking of 1791, the cordial relations and mutual support between the Sringeri monastery and the Maratha rulers returned. However, according to Leela Prasad,

4410-455: The Marathi language and some in Sanskrit using Kannada script. These have been preserved by the monastery. According to the letters and ledger entries, the Maratha rulers delivered gifts and bestowed grants to the monastery between 1738 and 1894. The letters of the Maratha rulers are typically in Marathi, while the replies from the Sringeri pontiff are in Sanskrit. In addition to these records,

4508-454: The Peshwa disgraced a Brahmin from Wai for possessing a copy of the text. Arthur Crawford, in his Legends of Konkan , writes that the Peshwa ordered the burning of all the copies of the text. He then decreed anyone subsequently found in the possession of a copy to be hanged; a Deshastha Brahmin was hanged as a result. It is not clear how successful Peshwa's censorship attempts were, but there

4606-413: The Portuguese rule and later, they were again one of the main trading communities. They also served as "village – Kulkarnis , financiers, tax-farmers in the intra-Asian trade, and diplomatic agents". Many sources of government income in Goa, Konkan and elsewhere, including taxes on cloth and tobacco , were controlled by them. Some engaged with Tobacco trade with Brazil in the early eighteenth century. In

4704-730: The Prabhus and the GSBs to support Vishnubawa Brahmachari 's Hindu revival in the 19th century. Historian John Roberts also considers them as coming after the Brahmin community of Maharashtra in the jati hierarchy. According to sociologist Dabir, ritually higher non-Brahmin castes in Maharashtra, the Saraswats and CKP, have tried to follow Brahmin customs in the treatment of women. She calls this process as Brahminisation . Sociologist Ramesh Bairy says that "Saraswat claim to Brahminhood

4802-544: The Sadvidyā Sañjīvini Samskrita Mahāpāthashālā. The Pītham is traditionally headed by an ascetic pontiff belonging to the order of the Jagadguru Śankarāchārya. According to tradition, the first pontiff of the Pītham was Śrī Ādi Śaṅkara 's eldest disciple, Śrī Sureshvarāchārya , renowned for his treatises on Vedānta - Mānasollāsa and Naishkarmya-Siddhi. The current pontiff, Śrī Bhārathī Tīrtha Svāmin

4900-658: The Sahyadrikhanda is considered corrupted by many modifications and interpolations to the original. As an example, Madhav Deshpande cites the 4th verse from chapter-I which when translated is: The Trihotras, the Āgnivaiśyas, the Kānyakubjas, the Kanojis, and the Maitrāyaṇas, these five are said to be the five Gauḍas. Deshpande considers this as a "sloppy interpolation" to get Trihotra in the list of Brahmin migrations as

4998-487: The Saraswat section of the northern Gaud division, in contrast to their Maharashtra and Karnataka Brahman neighbours of the southern division. Many Saraswats left Goa after the invasion of Malik Kafur to the neighbouring regions and during the period of religious persecution of the Portuguese also Saraswats migrated to Uttar Kannada , Udupi , Dakshina Kannada , Kerala and South Konkan . Historian Farias states that

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5096-666: The Saraswats in the Brahmin category. The brahmin status of the Saraswats was affirmed by the Kashi pandits in 1630. Later in the 17th century, Shivaji (1630-1680) had asked Gaga Bhatt , a Benares based Deshastha Brahmin pandit, to resolve the issue regarding the Shenavis' ritual status when they met before his coronation. Fifteen pandits in Benares proclaimed that the Shenavis were Brahmins. This proclamation includes Prashasti (praise) from both Shivaji and his father, Shahaji for

5194-712: The Shenvi Brahmins and Deshastha Brahmins. After Mahadji's death, his widows favoured the Shenvis to the Deshastha. Balloba Pagnis and Lakhwa Dada held high posts - Pagnis was a minister and Dada was a Viceroy. A sample study in the 1970s in Kota , Karnataka found that the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins owned most of the grocery and general merchandise stores. As per Sahyadrikhanda , "Chitpavan and Karhade brahmins are "new creations of base-origins" and not

5292-433: The Shiva temple was built in the 14th century, of goddess Saraswati in the 15th century. The Vidyashankara temple is a fusion of pre-Vijayanagara Hindu temple architecture traditions with Hoysalas and Vijayanagara styles, giving it an unusual appearance. The temple has an apsidal shape with its interior chambers and sanctum set on the square principle while the spire and outer walls use an almost circular plan. The temple

5390-437: The Sringeri matha's Jagadguru to visit him and the pontiff accepted the invitation, when Hyder Ali – whose hostility to the Marathas had been legendary – heard about the trip, Hyder Ali sent the Jagadguru gifts and an escort consisting of a palanquin, five horses, an elephant and cash for the travel expenses. After the third Anglo-Mysore war in 1791 between the armies of the British and Maratha coalition and those of Tipu Sultan,

5488-448: The Sringeri matha. The matha managed the land and therefore operated as a sociopolitical network and land-grant institution for over 600 years beyond its religious role and spiritual scholarship. This relationship between the monastery and the regional population has been guided by a mutual upcara (hospitality, appropriate conduct) guideline between the matha and the populace. According to Leela Prasad, this upcara has been guided by

5586-423: The Sringiri matha ultimately came under the control of the Nayakas of Keladi from the Lingayatism tradition, who has previously served as governors for the Vijayanagara emperors. The Keladi dynasty supported the Sringiri peetham for nearly 250 years, from 1499 to 1763, when the Keladi Nayakas rule was ended by Hyder Ali seeking to create a sultanate from Mysore. The Sringeri matha received gifts and grants from

5684-417: The Vijayanagara empire regularly visited the monastery and made a series of endowments to the Sringeri matha as evidenced by various inscriptions. They also established the agrahara of Vidyaranyapuram with a land grant for the Brahmins, and in the 15th century established the earliest version of the Saradamba temple found at the Sringeri peetham site. The tradition of establishing satellite institutions under

5782-507: The Vindhyas. References to Saraswat names are found in Shilaharas as well as Kadamba copper plate inscriptions . The inscriptions found in Goa bear testimony to the arrival of Brahmin families in the Konkan region. The Shilahara kings seem to have invited supposedly pure Aryan Brahmins and Kshatriyas from the Indo-Gangetic plain to settle in Konkan . These castes are the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (CKP). The GSB ancestors identified themselves as of

5880-404: The area around Goa.In the last three hundred years, they migrated south towards Mangalore and north towards Rajapur in present day Ratnagiri district , Alibag and further north. He identifies seven sub-castes among the Saraswats, namely Bardeshkar, Bhalawalikar, Kudaldeshkar , Lotlikar, Pednekar , Sashtikar and Shenvi -paiki. From early twentieth century there have been many initiatives by

5978-432: The census of 1846 carried out by the british colonial authorities in Bombay presidency, the ongoing feud between the Chitpavans and the Shenvis led to the latter being classified separately from the "Brahmans". Madhav Deshpande writes: The Deshastha , Chitpavan and Karhade were united in their rejection of the brahminhood for the Gauḍa Saraswats, and Wagle himself provides evidence of this animosity. Bambardekar,

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6076-438: The chanting of the gayatri mantra . Next, the text narrates the founding myths of various Brahmin communities, glorifying the Shenvis (identified as Sarasvatas ) at the expense of their rivals such as the Chitpavans and the Karhades. In the text, Shiva narrates the following founding myths to Skanda: The text goes on to describe the smaller Brahmin communities of south-western India, including their customs and history. While

6174-453: The claim of Northern origin and writes: The claim of the Gauḍa Sārasvata brahmanas (= GSB), whether real or imagined, of a north Indian origin is not an obscure historical problem; it is a relevant problem which has been of constant interest to the GSB. Many GSB leaders in the 1870s and 1880s have referred to this northern origin to indicate the solidarity of the GSB in contrast with other brahmana groups of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. In

6272-431: The coast" now became the major rice exporters. The Bunts controlled the land while the GSB controlled the rice trade in the markets. Thus in South Kanara , the GSB were merchants by occupation and not priests who served in temples. The priestly as well as clerical function was performed by Shivalli Brahmins . This remains the case even in modern times although other castes have entered the trading occupations now. During

6370-433: The contributions of castes during Shivaji's rule in the 17th century, says that their education made the Saraswats and Prabhus proficient in account keeping as well as clerical posts in the administration as against the Brahmins who studied Sanskrit for religious literature also. Saraswats and Shenavis were acquainted with Portuguese and English languages, and therefore could act as interpreters during Shivaji's time. During

6468-410: The culprits were never brought to book and neither was any compensation given to the temple. The Sringeri monastery has been a historic politico-religious center at least from the 14th century. Along with the Vijayanagara emperors and the Mysore Muslim rulers such as Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, the colonial British authorities and their Nayak and Wodeyar dynasty appointees considered the monastery to be

6566-404: The different sub-castes to form a unified Saraswat caste but according to Frank O'Conlon (writing in 1974) these attempts failed. These initiatives however, did spur foundation of educational and commercial instituitions which have endured. In Kalhana 's Rajatarangini (twelfth century CE), the Saraswats are mentioned as one of the five Pancha Gauda Brahmin communities residing to the north of

6664-412: The existence of the Sringeri peetham from the 14th century onwards. The Vijayanagara rulers Harihara and Bukka gave a sarvamanya (tax-exempt) gift of land in and around Sringeri in 1346 CE to the Sringeri matha guru Bharati Tirtha, in a manner common in the Indian tradition for centuries, to help defray the costs of operating the monastery and temples. The grant is evidenced by a stone inscription by

6762-424: The king who reverentially refers to the 10th pontiff of Sringeri matha as a guru (counsellor, teacher). This grant became a six-century tradition that ended in the 1960s and 1970s when the Indian central government introduced and enforced a land-reform law that redistributed the land. The Vijayanagara empire gift also began a regional philanthropic tradition of endowments by the wealthy and the elderly population to

6860-461: The late 19th century the GSB spokesmen wrote books and articles, gave public speeches, cited documentary evidence in the native Indian as well as English court of law to prove that they belonged to the Northern stock of brahmanas. In this, their claim was in line with their efforts to be recognized as brahmanas, a right which was challenged by the Chitpavan , Deshastha and Karhade , among others. In addition, as per some modern scholars like Hewitt,

6958-443: The major meeting place for the traders. British and Portuguese interests clashed during this time. In Maharashtra, Saraswats had served as administrators under the Deccan Sultanates such as the Adil Shahi. In the eighteenth century during the Maratha empire era, the Shinde and the Holkar rulers of Ujjain and Indore recruited Saraswats to fill their administrative positions. R.C.Chaurasia says that Mahadji Shinde favoured

7056-466: The manuscripts containing such stories. According to East India Company administrator Mark Wilks , the illiterate Maratha troops indiscriminately destroyed a large number of manuscripts as a result of this order. James Grant Duff , in his History of the Mahrattas (1826), states that the Maratha state officials "carefully suppress or destroy all copies" of the Sahyadri-khanda . Duff also writes that

7154-518: The matha's literature as well as in kadatas (ledger records and inscriptions of various forms) and sanads (charters) from the 14th century onwards. A pivotal figure in the history of the matha is Vidyaranya (sometimes referred to as Madhava Vidyaranya or Madhavacharya ) who was an ideological support and the intellectual inspiration for the founders of the Vijayanagara Empire . He helped Harihara I and his brother Bukka to build

7252-474: The mid-nineteenth century, in Portuguese India , the trade in Goa changed focus from luxury items to essential items only. Coconut, salt, areca-nuts , fruits and poultry were exported, while rice and timber were imported. According to Borges, Pereira and Stubbe, of the trading communities, the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins and Gujarati Vania played the major role in this trade and Mormugao city became

7350-419: The monastery literature mention land grants from the Marathas as well as records of the visit by the jagadguru (pontiff) to Maratha ruled regions and towns such as Pune and Nasik. The religio-political significance of the Sringeri monastery was such that both the Marathas and the Muslim ruler Hyder Ali sought "cordial relations" with it. According to Leela Prasad, after the Maratha ruler Raghunatha Rao invited

7448-474: The northern and southern banks of the river. The three prominent shrines on the northern bank of the Tunga are dedicated to the presiding deity of the Pītham and the divinity of Ātma-vidyā - Śrī Śāradā , Śrī Ādi Śaṅkara , and Jagadguru Śrī Vidyāśankara Tīrtha, the 10th Jagadguru of the Pītham. The southern bank houses the residence of the reigning pontiff, the adhisthānam shrines of the previous pontiffs and

7546-426: The only caste that had access to higher education and learning in Sanskrit. Saraswats and Prabhus, who came next to the Brahmins, also educated their children and home, but only in accounting and vernacular literature. Apart from these three communities (Brahmins, Saraswats and Kayasthas), other communities did not receive much education as during those times only higher castes received education. Kantak does not consider

7644-685: The others being the Dvārakā Śāradā Pītham (Gujarat) in the West, Purī Govardhana Pīṭhaṃ (Odisha) in the East, Badri Jyotishpīṭhaṃ (Uttarakhand) in the North. The head of the matha is called Shankarayacharya , the title derives from Adi Shankara . Śri Śringerī Mutt, as the Pītham is referred to in common parlance, is situated on the banks of the Tuṅgā River in Śringerī. The Mutt complex consists of shrines on both

7742-442: The predatory habits of some contingents in the Maratha army, or alternatively as a strategic political move by Tipu Sultan to request the monastery to perform "superstitious rites" to "conciliate with his Hindu subjects and to discomfort his Maratha enemies", quotes Leela Prasad. The sacking led to a protest by the pontiff of the Sringeri matha who started a fast to death on the banks of the Tunga river. According to Shastri, after

7840-513: The principal exponent of Advaita Vedanta, established four pithams (dioceses) in India to preserve and propagate Sanatana Dharma and Advaita Vedanta. These were Sringeri Sri Sharada Peetham (Karnataka) in the South, Dvārakā Śāradā Pītham (Gujarat) in the West, Purī Govardhan Pīṭhaṃ (Odisha) in the East and Badri Jyotishpīṭhaṃ (Uttarakhand) in the North. A hagiographic legend states that Sri Adi Shankara, during His travels across India, witnessed

7938-459: The regional Kannada language, are donative or commemorative. Though useful in establishing the significance of the matha, they lack details to help establish the early history. According to Hermann Kulke, the early history of Sringeri is unknown and the earliest epigraphical evidence in the region is from the 12th century and belongs to the Jainism tradition. According to Paul Hacker, no mention of

8036-459: The same as Maṇḍana Miśra , as the first acharya of the Peetham at Sringeri before resuming his tour to establish the three remaining Peethams at Puri, Dwaraka and Badarinath. The math holds one of the four Mahavaakyas, Aham-Bramhasmi. The math claims to have a lineage of Jagadgurus, stretching back straight to Sri Adi Shankaracharya himself. The present and 36th Jagadguru acharya of this peetham

8134-715: The site its name, with "Sarada peetha" meaning "seat of learning". The temple was renovated to its current form in 1916. Sringeri matha has preserved and been a source of ancient Sanskrit manuscripts to scholars. In the contemporary monastery, a library is located on the first floor of the Saradamba temple. It has about 500 palm-leaf manuscripts and a large collection of paper manuscripts, most of which are in Sanskrit. These manuscripts are not only related to Advaita philosophy, but to classical subjects such as Sanskrit grammar, Dharmasutras , ethics, and arts. The Sringeri Sharada Peetham, over its centuries of operations has evolved

8232-506: The south, by the Nambudiri Brahmins of Kerala . The GSBs were traditionally traders and even as early as the 1400s they conducted commerce across the Indian Ocean . In the Maratha empire, they also served as administrators. There are many interpretations on how the Gaud Saraswat Brahmins received the name "Gaud" and the information about it is scant. Authors Jose Patrocinio De Souza and Alfred D'Cruz interpreters that

8330-525: The story of Shankara establishing the four cardinal mathas may have originated in the 16th century. According to Shastri, following the traditional accounts, the Vijayanagara kings visited the Sringeri monastery many times over some 200 years and left inscriptions praising the monks, revering their knowledge of the Vedas and their scholarship. The monastery also provided the Vijayanagara empire administration with guidance on governance. The descendant rulers of

8428-485: The supervision of the Sringeri peetham started in the Vijayanagara empire period. For example, Vidyaranya organized a matha in Hampi. After the defeat of the Vijayanagara empire and the destruction of Hampi by a coalition of Deccan sultanates, the Vijayanagara empire territories faced a political turmoil. The Deccan region was largely divided among five Islamic sultanates. The coastal regions of Karnataka that included

8526-459: The temple has small shrines for Ganesha and for Bhuvaneshvari. The Sharadamba temple and nearby structures additionally house a library, a Vedic school, a shrine for Adi Shankara, and other facilities of the monastery. It has been the historic epicenter of Sringeri's annual Navaratri festival celebrations, as well as the chariot festival held in February or March every year. The temple also gives

8624-409: The temple have relief friezes depicting a large variety of stories from Hindu epics and Puranas. The sanctum has a linga, the southern side of the sanctum features Brahma-Sarawati, the western side Vishnu-Lakshmi, and the northern side Shiva-Parvati. The temple can be entered from four directions. Inside the temple is a large mandapa with intricately carved pillars, several antechambers with artwork,

8722-402: The ten divisions of Brahmins ( Pancha Gauda and Pancha Dravida ). He describes the different customs of various Brahmin communities, stating that each of them have their own shortcomings, which are forgivable. He justifies the existence of these differences, and emphasizes that a Brahmin must only follow the customs of his own community. He also refers to practices common to all Brahmins, such as

8820-418: The text attempts to express a cohesive Brahmin identity, such stories express the social tensions among the Brahmin communities. A Kannada -language text with the same title contains the chapter Grāmapaddhati , which describes Brahmin family names and villages. Y. C. Bhanumati notes that the Kannada version has no similarities with Sanskrit text, and theorizes that the original Sahyadri-khanda must have been

8918-481: The text's founding myth of Chitpavans as a "malicious invention" by Shenvi slanderers, and narrated another founding myth glorifying the Chitpavans. Bajirao II (r. 1796-1818), the last Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy and a Chitpavan, systematically attempted to censor the performances that narrated stories ascribing an ignoble origin to the Chitpavans. He sent agents with Maratha armies to destroy

9016-450: The text, comprising 30 chapters, contains stories about Brahmin village settlements that have suffered because their residents engaged in sexual misconduct, degrading work, or neglect of rituals. The second part, composed in the later centuries and narrated as a conversation between Shiva and his son Skanda , contains stories about various social groups of the Brahmins. In this part, Shiva tells his son Skanda that ancient sages established

9114-479: The time of Adi Shankara (8th century CE) to about the 14th century is unknown. This may be because the sources are contradictory about the dates and events, in part because of the loss of records, and also because the pontiffs of the monastery adopted the same name which has created confusion in understanding the surviving records. Yet, it may also be because the peetham was not founded by Shankara, but only centuries later. The early inscriptions that mention Sringeri, in

9212-533: The tradition of appointing a succession of monastic pontifical heads, called the Jagadgurus, to each of the four monasteries, installing Sri Sureshvaracharya, Sri Hastamalakacharya, Sri Padmapadacharya and Sri Totakacharya as the first Jagadgurus of the Peethams at Sringeri, Dvaraka, Puri and Badri respectively. According to tradition, Sri Adi Shankara installed Sri Sureshwaracharya , believed by tradition to be

9310-475: The verdict. However, there was a debate in Shivaji's court in 1664, which reached the consensus that they were not "full-fledged Brahmins" but only trikarmi brahmins who do not have the full rights of a Brahmin. A late 20th century study showed that Konkani communities - Shenvis, Sastikars, Bardeshkars, Bhalvalikars, Rajpurkars and Pednekars currently have trikarmi status only. M.R. Kantak, while discussing

9408-442: The word Gauda or Goud may have been taken from Ghaggar , with Goud and Saraswat having the same meaning, that is an individual residing on the banks of river Saraswati . Scholars write that "Shenvi" and "Gaud Saraswat Brahmin" are synonyms. Historically, Jana Tschurenev states that the Shenvis were a community that claimed to be Brahmins. According to Ghurye, five hundred years ago Saraswats were mainly confined to

9506-606: The worship of the female divine. Sringeri Sharada Peetham Shaivism/Tantra/Nath New movements Kashmir Shaivism Gaudapada Adi Shankara Advaita-Yoga Nath Kashmir Shaivism Neo-Vedanta Inchegeri Sampradaya Contemporary Shaivism/Tantra/Nath Neo-Advaita Hinduism Buddhism Modern Advaita Vedanta Neo-Vedanta Dakṣiṇāmnāya Śrī Śāradā Pīṭham ( IPA: [d̪ɐkʂiɳaːmn̪aːjɐ ɕriː ɕaːrɐd̪ɐ piːʈʰɐm] ) or Śri Śṛṅgagiri Maṭha ( IPA: [ɕriː ɕr̩ŋɡɐɡiri mɐʈʰɐ] ); Sanskrit : मठ , maṭha )

9604-577: Was the Saraswat hostel. Sociologist Sharmila Rege also considers the Saraswats(Shenvis) as different from Brahmins while discussing matriculation from Elphistone after the fall of the Peshwa rule. In mid 19th century Bombay, the Pathare Prabhu and the GSB were both considered lower in ritual status in the varna system as compared to the Brahmins of Maharashtra although they had a high secular status. This ambiguous position caused

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