Matha

For the town in France, see Matha, Charente-Maritime.

A maţha (also written matha and mutt) is a term for monastic and similar religious establishments of the Hindu religion. A maţha is usually more formal, hierarchical, and rule-based than an ashram. The oldest such institutions follow the Advaita tradition, where the head of a maţha is often called a Shankaracharya, a title derived from Ādi Śankara.

Important establishments include the four Āmnāya maţhas:

Śringeri Śāradā Pīţham, at Sringeri, Karnataka
Dwaraka Pītham, at Dwaraka, Gujarat
Govardhana matha, at Puri, Orissa
Jyotirmath, in Uttaranchal

Other Hindu religious traditions also have their own mathas, such as,

Sri Krishna Matha (Ashta Matha-s), in Udipi - Madhva tradition
Uttarādi Matha - Madhva tradition
Andavan Ashramam - Sri Vaishnava tradition
Ahobila Matha - Sri Vaishnava tradition
Kanchi matha, in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu - Advaita tradition.
Kashi Mutt - Vaishnava tradition of Goud Saraswat Brahmins
[Chitrapur Matha] - Advaita tradition of Goud Saraswat Brahmins

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