Puthige matha seer ascends Paryaya Peeta

Team Udayavani, Jan 18, 2024, 11:23 AM IST

Udupi: Sri Sugunendra Teertha, chief of the Sri Puthige Matha, ascended the ‘Paryaya Peeta’ at Udupi Sri Krishna temple amid festivities in the early hours on Thursday.

For the next two years, the Paryaya seer will oversee the administration and pujas at the Udupi Sri Krishna temple, as per the traditional cyclic rotation of the administration among the eight Mathas of Udupi.

Sri Sugunendra Teertha Swami took a holy dip at Dandatheertha Lake in Kaup at 1.30 am and reached Jodukatte to take part in the rituals and grand Paryaya procession. He was accompanied by his junior pontiff Sri Susrheendra Teertha.

After having darshan of Lord Krishna, the Puthige seer was handed over the charge of the Udupi Sri Krishna temple by Sri Adamaru Matha seer Sri Vishwapriya Teertha by leading him to the Sarvajna Peeta.

Earlier, various tableaus, ‘pili vesha’ teams and music bands joined the colourful Paryaya procession. The Puttige seers were taken in a beautifully decorated palanquin placed on open vehicles.

Udupi district in-charge minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP and Union Minister Shobha Karandlanje, MLAs Yashpal Suvarna, V Sunil Kumar and former minister Pramod Madhwaraj were present.

Sri Puthige Matha

Udupi is an ancient city situated in the coastal belt of Karnataka, having rich cultural heritage dating back thousands of years. One can find the greatness of this holy land even in the ancient scriptures like Puranas. The ”Krishna matha” of Udupi is a world-famous center for Krishna devotion which attracts millions of devotees from all over the world.

This Krishna matha was established over 800 years ago by a great saint Sri Madhvacharya – an avatar of Sri MukhyaPrana himself, propagated the philosophy of “Tatvavada”, which later came to be known as “Dwaita philosophy”. At Krishna Matha, he (Sri Madhvacharya) consecrated a 5000-year-old idol of lord Krishna, which had come sailing on a boat from the shores of Dwaraka in the state of Gujarat to Malpe near Udupi. This is probably the testimony for the highest level of grace bestowed upon by the Lord Krishna to his staunchest devotee, – Sri Madhvacharya.

Sri Madhvacharya had also laid the foundation for 8 monasteries or mathas to support and perform the religious rituals in the Krishna Matha. Sri Puthige Matha is one of them. Sri Upendra Teertha was the most important direct disciple of Sriman Madhwacharya, whose name finds mention in the “Sri Sumadhwa Vijaya“ the biography of Sriman Madhwacharya.

The monastery that has come down to us through him is called Sri Puthige Matha. The present pontiff Sri Sugunendra Teertha Swamiji was anointed as the 30th pontiff of Sri Matha at the age of twelve. Swamiji studied under “Sri Vidyamanya Theertha Swamiji”, one of the greatest scholars of Vedanta in the modern times.