Jyotirmath, also called Jyotir Math and Joshimath, is a place and a matha in Uttaranchal, India in the Himalayas. It is the original uttaramnaya matha or northern monastry, one of the four cardinal pithas established by Adi Sankara, the others being those at Sringeri, Puri and Dwaraka. Their heads are titled "Shankaracharya". According to the tradition initiated by Adi Shankara, this matha is in charge of the Atharva Veda.
Jyotrimath: [image: Inline image 1] As it is close to the pilgrimage town of Badrinath, and the matha has not always been active, it is sometimes said incorrectly that the original northern matha was established at Badrinath. In its most recent history, the Jyotirmath became inactive in the early 19th century. The formal occupation of the matha was restarted with the aid of the heads of some of the other mathas from about 1940 onward. However, there is an unresolved controversy over the succession to the headship of Jyotirmath. The best known of the claimants to be the current head or Shankaracharya is Svarupananda Sarasvati who is also head of the Dwaraka matha. The other two claimants are Vasudevananda Sarasvati and Madhavasrama. Source: 'Jyotirmath' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyotirmath On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 2:10 PM, Richard Williams <pundits...@gmail.com>wrote: > Maybe it's time to review where our tradition comes from. > > http://www.templenet.com/hima1.html > > [image: Inline image 1] > > The image of Shri Badri Narayana here is fashioned out of a Saligramam > stone. Shri Badri Narayana is seated under the badari tree, flanked by > Kubera and Garuda, Narada, Narayana and Nara. Lord Badri Narayan is armed > with Conch and Chakra in two arms in a lifted posture and two more arms > rested on the lap in Yoga Mudra. There is also a shrine to Adi Sankara, and > the procedures of daily pujas and rituals are supposed to have been > prescribed by the Adi. > > Are we agreed so far? > > Description - The principal image is of black stone and it represents > Vishnu seated in meditative pose. > > According to Kathleen Cox, a recent visitor to the shrine, "The Badrinath > shrine is a famous vastu-designed temple that has been renovated through > the centuries. Certain beliefs consider this image to be that of the > Buddha, given the seated posture and the placement of the arms. The > meditative pose of the black stone representation of Vishnu certainly > recalls the Buddha, which is not a coincidence - the Buddha was the ninth > avatar of Vishnu." > > Mythology - According to Lama Govinda, "There can be no doubt about the > symbolical relationship between the Mahayana-Buddha Amitabha, the Buddha of > infinite light, and Vishnu, the sun-god." > > Both of them are supposed to incarnate their love and compassion in the > form of helpers and teachers of humanity as bodhisattvas and avatars. Both > of them have the wheel of the law as their attribute. > > Other common attributes are the tree of enlightenment and the stupa. Thus > the solar symbolism of the world tree came again into iconography, while > the hemisphere of the stupa became the element of vertical spiritual > development." > > Work cited: > > 'The Psycho-cosmic Symbolism of the Buddhist Stupa' > by Lama Anagarika Govinda > Dharma Publishing 1976 > Paper. 102 p. Illustrated. Index. > p. 41-42 > > 'Vastu Living' > Creating a Home for the Soul > by Kathleen Cox > Marlowe and Company 2000 > 247 p. Paper. Illustrated. Glossary. Index. > p.76-77 >
