Veera Anjaneya Swamy Temple, Kakkalur – History
Raghavendra
Swamy visited several holy and pilgrim places in India and many of them such as
Thanjavur where he was given Sanyasa, Kumbakonam where he studied, Bichale in
Raichur district where he stayed with his favourite disciple Appanacharya for
years and Mantralaya where he entered Brindavana is well known. However, there
are many places and temples which are associated with Raghavendra Swamy. One
such place is Kakkalur. Kakkalur has a small but beautiful temple dedicated to Anjaneya
and Raghavendra Swamy prayed regularly at this Temple.
The
Speciality of this Temple is Anjaneya idol was installed by Vyasa Raja or Vyasa
Theertha, the previous avatar of Raghavendra Swamy. Vyasa Raja was born in
Bannur near Mysore and he first studied under Bramanye Theertha at Abbur near
Chennapatna. Bramanye Theertha nurtured Vyasa Raj, then known as Yathiraja, for
a few years before sending him to his cousin brother Sripadaraja of Mulabagal
(Both Bramanye Theertha and Sripadaraja were born in Abbur Doodi and their
mothers were sisters) for further studies. Vyasa Theertha, during his sanchara,
visited Kakkalur among other places in Tamil Nadu, and installed the idol of
Anjaneya here.
This is
one of the 732 Vyasa Pradhishta Hanuman idols in India. All of Anjaneya Idols installed
by him are identical in the fact that they are turning towards north, with a
lotus flower in one hand, and bell at the end of their tail. After Vyasa
Theertha entered brindavan in Nava Brindavana near Hampi in 1539, he was reborn
as Raghavendra Swamy in 1595 in Bhuvanagiri, Tamil Nadu. Raghavendra Swamy is
believed to have spent 14 years at the Kakkalur Temple and prayed to Anjaneya.
There is a small plaque in the temple testifying to this fact.
The
temple has a picture of Raghavendra Swamy placed at the spot where he sat and
meditated and also an inscription containing verses he wrote about Kakkalur
Veera Anjaneya. The verses embedded in a wall on granite and are etched in
Tamil. The present temple structure had been built in the recent past. Sri
Raghavendra Mutt, Perambur, Chennai with the help of a local Madwa family had
taken initiative to rebuild the temple.
Sri
Raghava Acharya of Kakkalur had taken all the possible help from the locals and
had improved upon the temple and maintaining it. The poojas are
conducted as per the prescribed norms of Madwa tradition. The temple had been
neatly maintained by the local Madwa from the meager collection they get from
the devotees. They also perform poojas in the Ganesh mandir nearby.