“The Math has a long history of more than one thousand years and being a multi-dimensional institution has contributed immensely to the cause of societal advancement”
Jagadguru Sri Ghanalingadeva Shivayogi Mahaswamiji
Jagadguru Sri Ghanalingadeva Shivayogi Mahaswamiji was seated as the 11th pontiff of the Sri Math in 1530. He was one of the most revered pontiffs of Sri Math and was also a noted Vachanakar (Vachana Poet) and a contemporary of Sri Tontada Siddhalinga Shivayogi.
For His Holiness, the Math environs were conducive for reaching the heights of mysticism. In one of his vachanas, he describes the Guruparamapara of the Math and his meeting with Siddhalinga Shivayogi. After spending a few years at Sri Math, Sri Ghanalinga Shivayogi travelled all over Karnataka and the neighbouring states along with Sri Thontada Siddhalinga Shivayogi.
After Immadi Sri Shivarathreeshwara as his successor, His Holiness spent the twilight years of his life in the company of Sri Siddhalinga Shivayogi and attained Samadhi at Kaggare, Kunigal Taluk, Tumkur Dist., where his shrine is also situated.