Sringeri Sharada Peetha (Part-1 of 2)

Sringeri is famous for the Peetha of Adi Shankaracharya. There are many guest houses by the temple trust. We took a room in the guest house. The room was simple but comfortable. After resting for a while we went to visit the temples.

There is a huge boad at the entrance of the Sharada peetha complex, showing the route map of the temple area. First there is the temple of Adi Shankaracharya. There are various images and paintings of Adi Shankaracharya depicting his life and teachings. Next to Adi Shankar temple there is Sharadamba temple. Sharadamba is the main goddess worshiped in this whole place. The peetha is named after the goddess and is called as Sharada peetha.

Next to Sharada temple, there is Vidya Shankar temple. Vidya Shankar is the name of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is worshiped here in the form of Linga. This is the most beautiful temple in the whole complex. There are beautiful stone pillars in this temple called as zodiac pillars. The sculpture and architecture of this temple is awesome. Apart from Sharada and Vidya Shankar temples, there are other temples like Torana Ganapati temple, Malayala Brahma temple and Kodanda Rama temple.

There is a huge Sabha mandapa or meeting place in front of Adi Shankara temple. This is a huge floor where people sit and listen to Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swamiji. Next to Sabha mandapa, there is Jagna mandapa (yaga mandapa) which is meant for jagna. There are beautiful images lord Shiva and Parvati in the yaga mandapa. There is a huge floor at these center of all these temple temples. It is very peaceful to sit on this floor and enjoy the magnificient view the temples at all sides. You can enjoy beautiful air here in the evening.

Another attraction of Sringeri is river Tunga. The river is full of fishes. It is also called as matshyadhama. People buy fried rice and feed the fishes. The fishes jump out of water in order to catch the food grains, thus making the scenery very spectacular. There is a long bridge on the river to go to the other side of the river. The bridge is called as Vidyateertha setu. I will narrate the other side of the river in the next part of the video.