The room, where the Sarvajna Peetha is located in the 800-year-old Sri Krishna Mutt/Temple, is being renovated at a cost of ₹ 23 lakh.
It is at this room that the power is formally transferred from the seer of one mutt to the seer of another mutt of the Ashta Mutts or eight mutts of Udupi during the Paryaya festival. It is also here that the presiding deity of the Paryaya mutt seer is worshipped.
The renovation of this room is one of the projects taken up by Vidyadheesha Tirtha Swami of Paryaya Palimar Mutt during his present (second) Paryaya. The beautiful and intricate wooden sculpting and carvings, done on the existing walls and roof of the room, are attractive and eye-catching.
The images depicting the Dashavatara of Lord Vishnu and the presiding deities of the Ashta Mutts have been carved on the upper portion. The images of Sri Madhwacharya, exponent of Dvaita philosophy, and the reformer seer, Sri Vadiraja, have also been beautifully carved.
The wooden sculpting and carving was carried out by a team of 22 workers led by sculptor Sandeep Acharya from Honnavar.
Vidyadheesha Tirtha Swami told The Hindu here on Wednesday that Indian culture was also reflected in its wooden sculpture. Though he wanted to take up the renovation work in his first Paryaya (2002-04), he could not do it. Instead, he could only get the silver covering done to the Sarvajna Peetha or the Simhasana.
He had seen that the wooden sculpting and carvings in the various mutts and temples, when he had visited them. “Many years ago, when I visited the Ganesh Temple at Honnavar, I was impressed by the wooden sculpting there. Even the Sode seer has got wooden sculpting done for the Simhasana in Sonda. Hence, we decided to do it here too as we wanted to protect the old style of wooden sculpting and carving,” the seer said.
Finishing touches to the sculpting works in the room are on. The lighting and ventilation facilities in the room too would be improved. The inaugural function would be held within a month after the completion of these works. Of the ₹ 23 lakh meant for renovation, ₹ 18 lakh was for wooden sculpting and ₹ 5 lakh for granite flooring of the room.
