Thirtha Prabandha is one of the main Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 works by Sri Vadiraja Swamy

Vadirajatirtha

Sri Vadirajatirtha , traditionally 1480 - 1600, a Haridasa, is said to have been a Shivalli Tulu Brahmin and native of the village of Hoovinakere, near Kumbhashi in Kundapura taluk, Udupi District in Karnataka state...

, the 16th century Dvaita

Dvaita

Dvaita is a school of Vedanta founded by Shri Madhvacharya....

 philosopher and saint. The document is written in the form of a travelogue and contains descriptions of pilgrim centers throughout India.

The work comprises 235 shloka

Shloka

A ' is a category of verse line developed from the Vedic Anuṣṭubh. It is the basis for Indian Epic verse, and may be considered the Indian verse form par excellence, occurring, as it does, far more frequently than any other meter in classical Sanskrit poetry. The Mahabharata and Ramayana, for...

s and is divided into 4 chapters, one for each direction. Sri Vadiraja Swamy composed this document during his extensive pilgrimage throughout India. The shlokas, in addition to describing the places, also provides information on the sacredness of the places and praises the deities.

The chapter covering North India mentions important places such as Pandarapur, Prayag, Kashi

Varanasi

-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...

, Gaya

Gaya, India

Gaya is the second largest city of Bihar, India, and it is also the headquarters of Gaya District.Gaya is 100 kilometers south of Patna, the capital city of Bihar. Situated on the banks of Falgu River , it is a place sanctified by both the Hindu and the Buddhist religions...

, Mathura and Ayodhya. The chapter on South India covers Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari and Trivandrum. The chapter on West India covers Pajaka

Pajaka

Pajaka is a village in Udupi Taluk and district of Karnataka state in India. Pajaka is the place where Dvaita philosopher Sri Madhvacharya was born. Madhvacharya is also known by name "Poornaprajna" and "Anandathirta".The place is near Kunjarugiri Durga temple...

, Udupi, Gokarna

Gokarna, India

Gokarna is a village in the Uttara Kannada district of the Karnataka state, India. It is a Hindu pilgrimage centre as well as a tourist destination in India. Gokarna is a temple town and is referred to in a number of Hindu historical literature pieces. The main deity is Lord Mahabhaleshwara, a...

 and Kolhapur. The chapter on East covers Puri

Puri

Puri is district headquarter, a city situated about south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Orissa. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple . It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages...

, Ahobila and Hampi

Hampi

Hampi is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, it continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple, as well as several other...

. A total of about 100 places are covered in the document. In addition to holy places, a lot of rivers, including Ganges, Yamuna

Yamuna

The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...

, Kaveri and Godavari are mentioned.

Thirtha Prabandha is held in high esteem amongst practising Madhvas

Madhwas

The Madhwa are one community of Brahmins of India, whose members follow the doctrine of Dvaita or Dualism as codified by Madhwa Acharya ....

 and a recitation of all the shlokas is considered equal to an actual pilgrimage covering all the mentioned places.

See also

• Works of Madhvacharya
  Works of Madhvacharya
  The extant works of the Dvaita founder-philosopher, Sri Madhvacharya, called the Sarvamūla Granthas, are many in number. The works span a wide spectrum of topics concerning Dvaita philosophy in specific and Vedic thought in general. They comprise of commentaries on the Vedas, Upanishads,...
  
  
• Sodhe
  Sodhe
  Sodhe or Sodha or Sonda is a village near Sirsi in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka in India. The place is also the headquarters of the Sodhe Matha, one of the Ashta mathas established by Sri Madhvacharya, the famous Dvaita philosopher...
  
  
• []VADIRAJARU]
• http://www.sumadhwaseva.com/granthagalu/theertha-prabandha/ [TIRTHA PRABANDHA]