[519] This maṭh has an endowment of about £5000 a year, instituted by the kings of Vijayanagar. The Guru is treated with great respect. His palankin is carried crossways to prevent anyone from passing him and he wears a jewelled head-dress, not unlike a papal tiara, and wooden shoes covered with silver. See an interesting account of Śringeri in J. Mythic Society (Bangalore), vol. VIII. pp. 18-33.
Schrader in his catalogue of the Sanskrit MSS. in the Adyar Library, 1908, notices an Upanishad called Mahâmâyopanishad, ascribed to Śaṅkara himself, which deals with the special qualities of the four maṭhs. Each is described as possessing one Veda, one Mahâvâkyam, etc. The second part deals with the three ideal maṭhs, Sumeru, Paramâtman and Śâstrâthajnâna.
[520] There is some reason to suppose that the Maṭh of Sringeri was founded on the site of a Buddhist monastery. See Journal of Mythic Society, Bangalore, 1916, p. 151.
[521] Pracchanna-bauddha. See for further details Book IV. chap. XXI. ad fin.
[522] The old folk-lore of Bengal gives a picture of Śiva, the peasant's god, which is neither Vedic nor Dravidian. See Dinesh Chandra Sen, Bengali Lang. and Lit. pp. 68 ff. and 239 ff.
[523] J.R.A.S. 1899, p. 242.
[524] See some curious examples in Whitehead's Village Gods of South India.
[525] Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions, pp. 27 and 204.
[526] The early Brahmi inscriptions of southern India are said to be written in a Dravidian language with an admixture not of Sanskrit but of Pali words. See Arch. Survey India, 1911-12, Part I. p. 23.
[527] See Rice, Mysore and Coorg, pp. 3-5 and Fleet's criticisms, I.A.. XXI. 1892, p. 287.