ABSTRACT
At present there continue to be differences among scholars regarding the origins, originators and original motives of the Vijayanagara Empire. Some scholars, such as Hermann Kulke, consider Vidyaranya, who wrote the Shankara-Dig-Vijaya biographical text, where the chapter finds the story of Shankara establishing the four mathas, to be originator of Shringeri matha tradition. In that case, Vidyaranya, and royal patrons who supported him, shaped Hindu traditions creatively and decisively by putting Shringeri on the map and endowing it with prestigious associations with the past. The chapter looks at how Hindu tradition revered Vidyaranya as both an ascetic philosopher and a biographer who could write interestingly about sexual matters. Whilst there are some signs of convergence and assimilation of Islamicate fashions in the lives of the rulers and their officials. The Vijayanagara leaders may have built up the Shringeri matha's tradition in such a way that they covered their tracks because it is typically affirmed in India.
