 The first and major one is called Agni Theertham, the sea (Bay of Bengal).The temple is one of the holiest Hindu "Char Dham" (four divine sites) sites comprising Badrinath, Puri, Dwarka and Rameshwaram .Though the origins are not clearly known, the Advaita school of Hinduism established by Sankaracharya, who created Hindu monastic institutions across India, attributes the origin of Char Dham to the seer.