About Govardhan Math

Shankaracharya established the GovardhanaPeetha at Puri whose presiding diety is Purushottam to deal with the knowledge of Rig Veda, the SharadaPeetha dedicated to Yajur Veda at Sringeri in Karnataka in the south, DwarakaPeetha with presiding deity of Dwarakadheesh dedicated to Sama Veda at Dwaraka in Gujarat in the west and finally, in the north, at Badarinath as Jyotirmath dedicated to Atharva Veda. He also appointed his disciples Padmapada, Hasthamalaka, Sureshwara and Totaka as the Shankaracharyas of the four Peethas in East, south, west and north respectively. Within a short period of time he overpowered Buddhists, atheists and contaminationsand established a vedic social order that was impartial, free of exploitation and driven by dharma (as in scriptures) and also Bharat as a sub-continent. At the age of 32 years he attained samadhi by his divine play. At the time of Shankaracharya, Bharat was a conglomeration of many political, social and dharmic entities. Travelling was difficult and communication was limited. He grouped his disciples into ten categories - vana, parvata, aranya, tirtha, ashrama, giri, puri, bharati, sagar and saraswati. These sanyasis were tasked to propagate dharmic values after due inquiries in the areas assigned to them and unify the society. The GovardhanaPeetha was established in 486 BC in the Karthika month of the Hindu Calendar. Sri Nischalanda Saraswati Maharaj is the 145th Shankaracharya of this peetha.