Saturday, May 12, 2018

Veera Anjaneya Swamy Temple, Kakkalur – History

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.