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Re: The words maTham and ASramam.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sreenivas Chakravarthy • November 30, 2002 


Sir,
I think, coming to the Srishnavan usage, the
difference between Ahramam and Matham(Matam) is
basically of the lineage of the Pontiff.
A Matham is one established by one of our Acharyas and
which has got a lineage of Pontiffs. For example, 
the Tirupati Jeeyar Mutt, which takes care of the
daily activities of the temple was established by Sri
Manavalamamunigal and service to Lord Srinivasa is the
only activity of the Jeeyars of the 2 Mutts in
Tirupati. 
And most of the mutts are associated with a
temple(Divyadesam). 

An Ashram, on the other hand, is the hermitage or
again a mutt of a Jeeyar who does not belong to any
Mutt which is already being established; any person
can take Sanyasam and after that he cannot continue to
live in his house. So, he takes up a life of a
Sanyasi. Thus his hermitage is called an Ahram. For
example the Tridandi Sriman Narayana Jeeyar took
Sanyasam; but he does not belong to any of the
established Mutts. So his hermitage is called an
Ashram. Andavan Ashramam is another example.

This is only my interpretation and I thought of just
sharing with the elders of the group and I request
them to correct me if I am wrong.

Regards
Chakravarthy

(Note from Moderator:    I have always thought that many ASramam-s are established lineages, such as the Srirangam ANDavan ASramam, the pouNDArIkapuram ASramam, etc.  It will help if someone who has contacts can approach our AcArya-s and get clarification on the difference.  Eveything, including maTh-s, were established starting at some point in time.  This is true of established ASramam-s as well as established maTh-s).

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