By about mid 1st millennium CE, archaeological and epigraphical evidence suggest numerous larger institutions of "gurus" existed in India, some near Hindu temples, where guru-shishya tradition helped preserve, create and transmit various fields of knowledge. The first epigraphical evidence of a Shaiva "matha", for example, dates to around 800 CE, which was attached to a temple. It hosted scholars and students for theosophical studies. Another inscription from about 1100 CE, states Hartmut Scharfe, attests that a "matha" was the center of medieval medical studies (Charaka Samhita) and of Vedic grammar in Tamil Nadu.