Chitrapur Saraswats

[Balaji Hebbar]

Dear  Mr. Sundaresan:

Thanks  for  the  info.  Also,  vide:  History  of  the  DakShiNAtya
SArasvats  by  V.N.Kudva  (SGS  Sabha,  T. Nagar,  Madras).

The  reason  I  said  that  was  until  recently  there  was  no
inter-marriage  between  SArasvats  and  Kavle  MaTha  GauDa-SArasvats
even  if  they  were  both  SmArtas.  Further,  in  all  GauDa-sArasvat
institutions  anywhere,  you  will  find  only  the  photos  of  3
abbotts  not  4.  The  3  are  the  current  heads  of  the  GokarNa,
KAshI  (both  MAdhva)  and  Kavle  (SmArta)  MaThas.  Hence  the  name
SAmyukta  GauDa-SArasvat  (SGS  SabhA).  The  ChitrApur  MaTha  and  its
head  are  conspiciously  missing.  Also,  mostly  ChitrApur  SArasvats
will  keep  village  names  as  their  surnames  e.g.  Girish  Karnad,
Prakash  Padukone  etc.  while  GauDa-SArasvats  will  have  their
usual  9  or  so  common  surnames  such  as  Baliga,  Prabhu,  Kamath,
Kini,  Nayak,  Shenoy  etc.

Further  to  show  that  common  maTha  origins  need  not  mean  same
community  is  the  fact  that  the  GauDa-SArasvat  MADhvas  until
1476  were  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  PhalimAr  MaTha  of
UDupi  (A  TuLu  MAdhva  maTha  and  one  of  the  ASThamathas  of
UDupi).  RAmacandra  Tirtha,  the  10th  pontiff  of  the  PhalimAr
MaTha  decided  in  1476  that  the  GSBs  must  have  their  own  maTha
with  somebody  from  their  own  community  as  pontiff.  A  young  lad
was  chosen  (all  TuLu  and  KonkaNI  MAdhva  maThas  follow  the
bAlasannyAsa  system  of  ordination)  from  the  GSBs  and  ordained
in  Bhatkal  as  NArAyaNa  TIrtha  who  became  the  1st  pontiff  of
the  GokarNa  MaTha  which  today  is  based  in  PartagALi  (Goa)  and
governs  the  GS  MADhvas  in  ThAnA,  KolAbA  and  Ratnagiri  Distts
of  Maharashtra,  Goa  and  North  Kanara.

Vide  my:  On  the  Evolution  of  the  24  Apostolic  Institutions  of
the  MADhva-VaiShNava  SampradAya  (foreword  by  Dr. P.Nagaraja  Rao)
(Madras  1981)

Regards,
Hebbar