Shringeri, where the founder of the Advaita philosophy, Adi Shankara, discovered a cobra sheltering a frog from the torrential rains, has its spiritual centre on the banks of the Tungabhadra river in the evergreen forest of Chikmagalur. The Vidyashankara Temple located here is a architectural marvel-its 12 sculpted pillars, each representing a sign of the zodiac, are placed so that the sun's rays fall on each successively in the order of the solar months.