Shankaracharya, he walked all the way from Sringari Mat which is long distance away by foot and here, although on the order of the lord he preached all mayavad philosophy. He was actually vaishnavanam yatha shambhu, he is Shiva expansion, greatest vaishnava. His isthadev was Narsimhadev. His deity is still there at Jhoshi Math. He established the worship of Vishnu in Badrikashram and here he worshiped Vitthala Dev with great love. And here in his expression of love for the supreme person, he wrote the Panduranga Ashtakam, 8 beautiful prayers glorifying the form of Vithala Dev. We find Madhava Acharya. He had eight sanyasis, that he made the leaders of his eight maths the ashta maths. And each one he gave a particular deity which was the isthdev of that math and I know at least one, more than one, Pejewar Math, the deity that Madhava personally gave to the original Pejavar Math swami was the deity of Vitthal Dev. Until this day eight hundred and fifty years later, the Pejavar math swami wherever he goes in the world, he takes the deity of Vitthal Dev to worship.
