Jayatirtha) the first bifurcation of the main matha took place. Main Matha continued in the lineage of Kavindra Tirtha (a disciple of Vidyadhiraja Tirtha) as Uttaradi Matha to spread Tattvavada (Dvaita) in the Northern part of Karnataka and beyond. At the same time, Rajendra Tirtha (a disciple of Vidyadhiraja Tirtha) established "Poorvadi Matha", which is now known by the name of Vyasaraja Math to spread Tattvavada (Dvaita) in the Southern parts of Karnataka and beyond until Tamil Nadu. Second bifurcation The second bifurcation of the main matha took place during the times of Ramachandra Tirtha. Initially, ashrama was given to Vibudendra Tirtha by Ramachandra Tirtha, and even named as his successor. It is not known what happened but Vibudendra Tirtha couldn't return from the pilgrimage tour during Ramachandra Tirtha's last phase of life. So Ramachandra Tirtha chose to initiate another pontiff and named him "Vidyanidhi Tirtha" and declared him as his successor. Vibudendra Tirtha returned from the pilgrimage tour after the death of Ramachandra Tirtha. Hence two mathas were established. Uttaradi Matha continued in the lineage of Vidyanidhi Tirtha and the other matha was formed by Vibudendra Tirtha. It was known as "Dakshinadi Matha" or "Kumbakona Matha (which is now known by the name of Raghavendra Matha). These lineages were formed and continued for the benefit of the Madhva philosophy so that more and more individuals consequently have access to the philosophy and get Upadeśa (spiritual guidance). According to Surendranath Dasgupta, Uttaradi Math was divided twice, and so we end up with three mathas, the other two being Vyasaraja Math and Raghavendra Math. Uttaradi Math, along with Vyasaraja Math and Raghavendra Math, is considered to be the three premier apostolic institutions of Dvaita Vedanta and are jointly referred as Mathatraya. It is the pontiffs and pandits of the Mathatraya that have been the principal architects of post-Madhva Dvaita Vedanta through the centuries. Among the mathas outside of Tulu Nadu region, Uttaradi Matha is the largest. Pontifical lineage Origin As per authoritative Hindu scriptures, "The Supreme God also wanted to bless the souls with divine knowledge, by which they can attain salvation. For this purpose, the Supreme God — Śrī Nārāyana Himself incarnated as Śrī Hamsa and adorned the pontifical seat called the Hamsa-Pīṭha." Indian anthropologists Surajit Sinha and Baidyanath Saraswati says that: List of Pontiffs The complete list of pontiffs (Peethādhipathis / ācāryas) who had taken the seat of this