Puttige Matha - Sri Vittala

The main branch of Putthige maTha is in a village called Putthige in Puttur taluk, Daskhina Kannada district, Karnataka. Sri Upendra teertha, one of the direct disciples of Sri Madhvacharya was the first peeThAdhipati of this maTha. Sri Madhvacharya gifted the main deities Sri ViThala with Rukmini and Satyabhama to the first yati. The ViThala icon has a smiling face, conch in one hand, and other hand with abhaya mudra on the waist.

Yati parampara:

1. Sri Upendra Teertha
2. Sri Kavindra Teertha
3. Sri Hamsendra Teertha
4. Sri Yadavendra Teertha
5. Sri Dharanidhara Teertha
6. Sri Damodara Teertha
7. Sri Raghunatha Teertha
8. Sri Srivatsanka Teertha
9. Sri Gopinatha Teertha
10. Sri Ranganatha Teertha
11. Sri Lokanatha Teertha
12. Sri Ramanatha Teertha
13. Sri Srivallabha Teertha
14. Sri Srinivasa Teertha
15. Sri Srinidhi Teertha
16. Sri Gunanidhi Teertha
17. Sri Anandanidhi Teertha
18. Sri Taponidhi Teertha
19. Sri Yadavendra Teertha
20. Sri Kavindra Teertha
21. Sri Raghavendra Teertha
22. Sri Vibudhendra Teertha
23. Sri Surendra Teertha
24. Sri Bhuvanendra Teertha
25. Sri Yogindra Teertha
26. Sri Sumatindra Teertha
27. Sri Sudhindra Teertha
28. Sri Sujnanendra Teertha
29. Sri SugunendraTeertha (present)

Present swamiji: Shri Sugunendra teertha

Born: 1961
Purvashrama name: Hayavadana
Birth place: Maniyuru near Udupi
Father: Govinda Acharya
Mother: Kamalamma
Initiated to sanyasa: 8 April 1974 at the age of 13 years
Guru: Sri Vidyamanya teertha of Bandarakeri maTha
Paryaya: 1976-77, 1992-93, 2008-2009

Sri Sugunendra teertha swamiji established Suguna Trust which is now publishing two periodicals “Sugunamaala” in Kannada and “Suguna Digest” in English. He also established Sri Putthige Vidya PeeTha to produce full-fledged priests to perform various religious rituals.

During his second paryaya he built Geeta Mandira in Udupi which contained Dhyana mandir, Madhwa mandir and Akshara mandir. All the sholkas of Bhagavad geeta and Vishnu Sahasranaama are inscribed on black granite and fixed on the inside walls of this mandir. This architectural masterpiece was inaugurated by the then King of Nepal Sri Bir Bikram Shahdev in December 1993.

In 1997 Swamiji was invited by the NRI members of Cyber Madhwa Sangha and Venkateshwara Temple in Pittsburg to pay a visit to USA which, the swamiji accepted. He toured the length and breadth of USA and gave discourses, conducted seminars and attended philosophical conferences at many places. He also addressed the students of Arizona State University and other universities. He received honours from the Mayors of Oklahama City and other cities. Shri Swamiji established Vishwa Madhwa Sangha for the propagation of spirituality and Tatvavaada far and wide. He was elected the President of World Conference on Religion and Peace for a team of five years.

In 1999 Swamiji paid second visit to USA and got involved in various religious, educational and cultural activities. There he met the US President George Bush and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Swamiji was able to inspire the NRIs to establish three Hindu temples at cities of Phoenix, New Jersy and Los Angeles, and assured that all the prescribed rituals were conducted regularly. The world famous Daily, The Washington Post highlighted Swamiji’s personality and achievements and paid him rich tributes. He also addressed the World Conference on Religion and peace held art Amman, Jordan.

Back home, his third paryaya had a controversial beginning with a section of Madhwas objecting about he ascending the PeeTha and touching the Krishna idol at Udupi. After timely intervention and pressure by other yatis, he finally decided to perform Krishna pooja without physically touching the idol. The alankara pooja, abhisheka, etc. are currently being performed by other AshTha maThas yatis.