Monday, July 28, 2008

Mantralayam.

Mantralayam’ which is popular worldwide is situated here. Saint Sri Raghavendra whose ‘Brindavan’ is at Mantralayam has devotees in every corner of the world. Tungabadra, the tributary of river Krishna flows by the place. The Brindavan of Sri Raghavendra has been established also in several other parts of India. Anobilam is where a cluster of three ancient temples can be seen.


One of them is dedicated to ‘Lord Narasimha’ an incarnation of ‘Lord Vishnu’ who assumes the unique form of Narasimha with a lion’s head and a human body. Here all the nine forms of Lord Narasimha are worshipped. The place is also marked by picturesque hills and scenic surroundings.

The Nallamalai forests with a captivating landscape punctuated by hills and replete with typical sylvan flora and fauna also covers historic and pilgrim spots like Srisailam, Mahanandi, etc.

Srisailam apart from being the centre of one of the 12 ‘Jothirlingas’ of Lord Siva is also the place of a fascinating wildlife sanctuary. The unique ‘Nava Brahma Temple’ is situated at Alamapuram, the place which abounds in legends – Kurnool has everything to appeal to every visitor of every taste and liking.

ManthralayamThis sacred place is situated on the sumptuous banks of the splendid river Tungabadra which is a tributary of the magnificent river Krishna. This tranquil place is where Saint Raghavendra, a prominent saint in the holy hierarchical order of ‘Sri Madhvacharya’, shed His mortal coils.

The ‘Brindavan’ here entombs the mortal remains of the saint. The air is filled with divine serenity here. It is believed that the saint exists in His Holy subtle form after he had relinquished the material world and that He will continue to dwell in this form till the point of time which marks the completion of 700 years from the time he attained ‘Jeeva Samathi’.

Saint Sri Raghavendra took the ‘Dwaita’ philosophy promulgated by Sri Madhavacharya to places beyond horizons. ‘Dwaita’ the philosophy upheld by the Madhva School of thought is one of the Madhva School of thought is one of the three great philosophies, the other two being ‘Advaita’ and ‘Visishtadvaita’ promulgated by the Saivaite Saint Sri Adisankara and the Vaishnavite Saint Sri Ramanuja respectively.

Saint Sri Raghavendra is believed to be the reincarnation of ‘Prahlada’, the divine prodigy who as an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu even in His childhood displayed extraordinary wisdom impeccable stagacity and untarnished courage against all odds imposed by his demon father Hiranya whom the all merciful Lord Killed assuming the Lion- head and human-body form to rid Prahlada of the turmoils He was faced with.

Sri Raghavendra has a lot of devotees belonging to various castes and creeds far and wide as a result of which a number of ‘Brindavans’ have been established all over the country. These centres of worship follow the tradition unique to Madhva culture.

‘Annadhana’ or free meals is provided to the devotees every day at Manthralayam and also at certain other ‘Brindavans’.Manthralayam has road links with all major cities. The nearest railway station ‘Manthralayam Road’ is 15 km away.

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