Sri Adi Shankaracharya installed four Deities - Sri Kalabhairava (East), Sri Anjaneya (West), Sri Kalikamba (North), and Sri Vana Durga(South) - to protect Sringeri and Sri Sharada Peetam.  The shrines are small, beautiful and mind-calming.  The pilgrims who visit Sringeri regularly, do not leave the town without visiting these divine shrines.  Records have it that twice in the past, when most of the regions in the state were in turmoil, these 4 Deities safeguarded this holy Peetam as well as the residents of Sringeri.  During the reign of the 33rd Jagadguru Sri Sacchidananda Shivabhinava Nrisimha Bharathi Mahaswamiji, people of Sringeri and its surroundings were affected by the plague.  His Holiness prayed to Sri Durga through an extempore verse ‘Durgastava’ beseeching Her grace.  The merciful Goddess removed the epidemic from the whole region.  It is reported that the dreadful disease has not reappeared in the region till date.