A maţha (also written math, matha or mutt) is a term for monastic and similar religious establishments of the Hindu tradition.^[1] A maţha is usually more formal, hierarchical, and rule-based than an ashram.

[edit] Advaita Maţhas

The oldest such institutions follow the Advaita tradition, where the head of a maţha is called a Shankaracharya, a title derived from Ādi Śankara. Śankara was a prominent religious teacher of the eighth century, from whose philosophies originate the environment of popular modern Indian thought.^[2] Ādi Śankara established the following mathas, with each of his four main disciples in charge: Sureshwaracharya, Hastamalakacharya, Padmapadacharya, and Totakacharya respectively. The four Āmnāya maţhas founded by Ādi Śankara, all of the Smarta tradition, are:

• Śringeri Śāradā Pīţham, at Sringeri, Karnataka
• Dwaraka Pītham, at Dwaraka, Gujarat
• Govardhana matha, at Puri, Orissa
• Jyotirmath, in Uttarakhand

In addition, these Advaita mathas also claim they were founded by Ādi Śankara:

• Swarnavalli Mutt [1] at Swarnavalli, Sirsi
• Ramachandrapura Math at Haniya, Hosanagara, Karnataka
• Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, at Tamil Nadu

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Ashta matha

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