A matha, also written as math, muth, mutth, mutt, or mut, is a Sanskrit word that means 'institute or college', and it also refers to a monastery in Hinduism. An alternative term for such a monastery is adheenam. The earliest epigraphical evidence for mathas related to Hindu-temples comes from the 7th to 10th century CE.

Purvamnaya Sri Govardhana Pitham or Govardhan Math is one amongst the four cardinal pithams established by the philosopher-saint Adi Shankara to preserve and propagate Hinduism and Advaita Vedanta, the doctrine of non-dualism. Located in Puri in Odisha, India, it is the Eastern Āmnāya Pītham amongst the five pithams, with the others being the Sringeri Śārada Pīṭhaṃ (Karnataka) in the South, Dvārakā Śāradā Pītham (Gujarat) in the West, Badari Jyotirmaṭha Pīṭhaṃ (Uttarakhand) in the North .It is associated with the Jagannath temple. Their Vedantic mantra or Mahavakya is Prajñānam brahma and as per the tradition initiated by Adi Shankara it holds authority over the Rigveda. The head of the matha is called Shankarayacharya, the title derives from Adi Shankara.