Shringeri Math
One of the four mathsor monastic cen-
ters traditionally believed to have been
established by the great philosopher
Shankaracharya; the others are the
Jyotir Math, Sharada Math, and
Govardhan Math. These four sacred
centers are each associated with one of
the four geographical corners of the
Indian subcontinent; the Shringeri Math
is in the southern quarter, in the city of
Shringeriin the southern Indian state of
Karnataka. Shankaracharya is tradi-
tionally cited as the founder of the
Dashanami Sanyasis, the most presti-
gious Hindu ascetic order. The
Dashanami (“ten names”) ascetics are
devotees (bhakta) of the god Shiva, who
are divided into ten divisions, each with
a different name. These ten divisions are
organized into four larger organizational
groups—Anandawara, Bhogawara, Bhuri-
wara, and Kitawara—each of which has
two or three of the ten divisions, and
each of which is associated with one of
the four sacred centers. Of these, the
Shringeri Math is associated with the
Bhuriwara group.
Shrirangam
Island in the CauveryRiver, just north of
the town of Tiruchirappalliin the state
of Tamil Nadu. The site is most famous
for the Ranganathaswamy Temple, ded-
icated to the god Vishnuin his form as
Ranganatha, who is sleeping on the
back of his serpent couch Sheshain the
sea of cosmic dissolution (pralaya). The
temple is built in the Dravidastyle of
architecture, in which the temple build-
ings are of modest height but cover an
immensely large area and are surrounded
by a boundary wall with massive towers
(gopurams) over each wall’s central
gateway. In the temple’s outer zones one
often finds shops and houses, making
such temples veritable cities in their
own right. The Ranganathaswamy tem-
ple has a series of seven concentric pro-
cessional streets, making it one of the
largest temples in India. It was built in
stages by the various dynasties that
controlled this part of southern India—
Chera, Pandya, Chola, Hoysala, and
Vijayanagar—although the bulk of the
construction was done by the last two.
Since Vishnu’s image is that of the divine
king, it is hardly surprising that each of
these regional dynasties patronized this
site, as a way of using this divine
imagery to support and validate their
own right to rule.Shrirangapatnam
Demolished fortress city just outside the
city of Mysore in the state of Karnataka.
Shrirangapatnam formerly served as the
capital of Tipu Sultan (r. 1782–1799), the
last ruler of Mysore. Throughout his
reign he fought against the encroach-
ment of outside powers. However, in
1799 he unsuccessfully took up arms
against the British and was killed in bat-
tle, leaving the city largely destroyed.
The city got its name from a temple
there to the god Ranganatha, a form of
Vishnuin which he is sleeping on his
serpent couch Sheshain the sea of cos-
mic dissolution (pralaya). The temple
survived the demolition and is still func-
tioning today. Ranganatha is considered
a divine king, and his most famous
image, on the island of Shrirangamin
Tamil Nadu, has strong associations
with southern Indian kings and king-
ship. Even though Tipu was a Muslim,
invoking Ranganatha’s powerful sym-
bolism would have been an astute polit-
ical move, to legitimate his rule in the
eyes of his Hindu subjects.Shri Sampraday
One of the four branches (sampraday)
of the Bairagi Nagaascetics. The Bairagi
Nagas are devotees (bhakta) of the god
Vishnu, organized in military fashion
into different anisor “armies.” Until the
beginning of the nineteenth century
their primary occupation was as merce-
nary soldiers, although they also had
substantial trading interests; both of
these have largely disappeared in con-
temporary times. The Shri SampradayShri Sampraday