Sringeri, located in Chikmagalur district in the Indian state of Karnataka is the site of the first matha established by the Adi Sankaracharya, Hindu reformer and exponent of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy, in the 8th century C.E. It is located on the banks of the river Tunga. In a popular legend, Adi Sankaracharya is said to have selected the site when, walking by the Tunga river, he saw a cobra with a raised hood, providing shelter from the hot sun, to a frog about to spawn. Four mathas were eventually established by Sankara, in the north (at Jyotirmath, near Badrinath), south (at Sringeri and according to some disputed accounts, also at Kanchipuram), east (at Puri), and west (at Dwaraka) of India.

The name Sringeri is derived from Rishyasringa-giri, a nearby hill that is believed to have contained the hermitage of Rishi Vibhandaka and his son Rishyasringa. Rishyasringa

The most important temple at Sringeri is the Vidyasankara temple built, in commemoration of the pontiff Vidyasankara, around 1357-58 AD. It was built by Vidyaranya, patron-saint of Harihara and Bukka the brothers who founded the Vijayanagara empire. The niches in the temple have a number of sculptures from Hindu, Buddhist and Jain mythologies. Inscriptions in the temple record contributions made by several Vijayanagara emperors, though the temple was probably built on an earlier Hoysala site, and combines the Hoysala and Vijayanagara architectural features.

The mutt at Sringeri is known as Sringeri Sharada Peetham.The Jagadguru or head of the mutt is called a Shankaracharya.The present Sringeri Shankaracharya is Shri Bharati Theertha swamigal.