In every Ashada Fridays, the presiding deity Sri Sharadamba will be decorated as Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Gajalakshmi, being the reincarnation of Goddess Sharada.
The Shankar Mutt in the city has a glorious history behind it. The 33rd pontiff of Sringeri Mutt, Sri Sacchidananda Shivabhinava Nrisimha Bharathi Swamy (1829-1917) was instrumental in bringing to light the collective works of Adi Shankara. Being an ascetic and a profound scholar in Shankara’s philosophy, several great personalities of his time, not just Kings and rulers but even commoners, irrespective of caste and creed, had become his disciples.
Some of the prominent ones being the great freedom fighters Balagangadhar Tilak and Madan Mohan Malaviya, the adopted son of Jhansi Lakshmi Bhai, Bapu Saheb, Sri Brahma Chaitanya of Gondavali, Sri Seshachala of Agadi and several others.
Interestingly the place where the majestic Shankar Mutt is presently standing was the birth place of this pontiff Sri Kunigal Ramashastry, whose popularity extended not only in the entire South India but also upto West Bengal, was a great Palace scholar during the reign of then ruler of Mysore, Sri Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. His third son, Shivaswamy, took Sanyas when he was merely nine years old under Sri Narasimha Bharathi Swamy who later became known as Sri Sacchidananda Shivabhinava Nrisimha Bharathi Swamy.
Nrisimha Bharathi Swamy traveled all over South India and went upto Pune spreading the message and philosophy of Adi Shankaracharya. It was he who started the tradition of celebrating Adi Shankaracharya’s Jayanti on Vaishaka Shuddha Panchami. He collected all the works of Shankara, got them researched by the great scholars of his time and published it in the year 1910 running into 20 volumes.
Kalati in Kerala, the birth place of Adi Shankaracharya was a neglected place till then. It was due to the untiring efforts of Nrisimha Bharathi Swamy, the birth place was clearly identified and Sri Sharada, Sri Shankaracharya temples were constructed at that place.
Devotees of Nrisimha Bharathi Swamy decided to build a memorial at his birth place in Agrahara, Mysore. Sri Chandrashekara Bharathi Swamy, the succeeding pontiff of Sringeri Mutt, with the financial assistance provided by the Mysore King, Sri Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, acquired the house of Kunigal Ramashastry along with several houses and vacant lands.
The marble statue of Nrisimha Bharathi Swamy was consecrated in the year 1924 by Sri Chandrashekara Bharathi Swamy in the presence of thousands of devotees naming it as “Abinava Shankaralaya.”
Speaking to Express Dharmadhikari H ramachandra said that during every Ashada Fridays, the presiding deity Sri Sharadamba will be decorated as Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Gajalakshmi, being the reincarnation of Goddess Sharada.
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