Parakala Matha

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Parakala Matha, also called Bramhatantra Swatantra Parakala Matha, is a Hindu Sri Vaishnava monastery in Mysore, Karnataka. It was founded in 1268 during the Hoysala Empire by Brahmatantra Swatantra Jeeyar and mainly worships Vishnu and Lakshmi as Hayagriva and Vageesha. It is one of the oldest medieval monasteries of the Vadakalai tradition in Vaishnavism and serves as the gurupeeta, the royal guru seat, for the Mysore royal family.

Originally based in Mysore, the matha now has branches across southern India and one abroad. The name Parakala comes from a Sanskrit word meaning “beyond time” and is an epithet of Vishnu as Narasimha. The monastery got this name after the scholar-saint Tirumangai Alvar, who earned the title parakala.

Parakala Matha follows Vedanta Desika as the torchbearer of Ramanuja’s Vishishtadvaita. It is part of a network with Ahobila Matha and Andavan Ashramam (Srirangam and Poundarikapuram). The Hayagriva idol worshipped here is believed to have been handed down from Vedanta Desika. There have been 36 acharyas (head seers) of the matha so far. The head of the matha is the hereditary Raja Guru of the Mysore royal family, and many royal ceremonies are conducted by its seers, reflecting the strong historic ties with the Wadiyars and the Mysore palaces.