Dvaraka Pitha - History

History

Sri Trivikrama Tirtha was the leader of the monastery until 1921 when he was succeeded by Sri Bharati Krishna Tirtha. Bharati was invited to lead the Puri matha in 1925 after the position became vacant. Bharati was succeeded by Shri Swarupananda and Shri Yogeswarananda. In 1945, Shri Abhinava Saccidananda Tirtha was nominated to the position. Before assuming his position at Dvaraka, Abhinava was the leader of the Mulabagal matha in Karnataka which was the 17th century branch of the Dvaraka matha. As a result the cumulative lineage of Mulabagal matha was merged with Dvaraka when Abhinava took office there. Years later Saccidananda helped to mediate the Shankarcharya successions at Puri and Jyotir Math. Since Abhinava died in 1982 this pitha or monastery has been led by Swami Swarūpānanda Saraswatī who is one of the claimants to the position of Shankaracharya of the northern matha called Jyotir Pitha or Jyotir Math.