Sringeri Sharadamba Temple

The Sharadamba Temple stands in Sringeri, Karnataka, beside the Tunga river, and is dedicated to the goddess Sharadamba. It is held to date from the 8th century and to have been founded by Adi Shankara, who set up his first peetham and monastery at the same spot. The temple is part of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham, the southern seat among the cardinal monasteries Shankara established; the others are at Dwarka in the west, Puri in the east and Jyotirmath in the north.

In 1791, during the Third Anglo-Mysore War, Pindari raiders destroyed the temple. Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore at the time, was angered by the attack. Though a Muslim, he respected the monastery and its Jagadguru, and he wrote to the Sringeri Shankaracharya to express sympathy, offering protection, money and gifts for the temple's restoration.