Mantralaya: Overview Mantralaya is one of the important pilgrimage centers in South India as it houses the original samadhi of the great Vaishnava saint Sri Raghavendra Swamy of Madhva siddhanta. Sri Ragahavendra Swamy selected Mantralaya for his Jeeva Samadhi. Devotees visit Mantralaya to have the darshan of the Brindavan of Sri Raghavendra. The mutt is situated on the banks of river Tungabhadra in the state of Andhra Pradesh bordering Karnataka. Manchalamma is the presiding deity of the Manchale village and one has to offer prayers to Manchalamma first, before they enter Sri Raghavendra Swamiji's mutt Guru Raghavendra Swami is in the Vrindavana from the past 339 years and is believed to be in the Vrindavana for another 361 years. While entering the Vrindavana, Guru Raghavendra Swami stated that he would be there (in the Vrindavana) for 700 years. Aradhana at Mantralaya is very popular and numerous devotes reach Mantralaya at the time of Aradhana. This is the day when Sri Raghavendra Swamy, entered the Sajeeva samadhi. It usually falls in the month of August. As Mantralaya is located in the Raayal seema region of Andhra pradesh, temperature is always high. Especially from April till June, the temperature is above 40’. Transportation: The nearest railway station is Mantralaya Road, 16 kilometres away. This station is on the Guntakal - Raichur railway route. There are frequent bus services from Adoni, Yemmiganur, Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh and from Raichur and Bellary in Karnataka. Mantralaya is about 53 km from Adoni,24 km from Yemmiganur,100 km from Kurnool and 250 km from Hyderabad, 35 km from Raichur, 120 km from Bellary and 320 KM from Bangalore. There are frequent buses from Bangalore between 7:30 PM to 11:30 PM. Accomodation There is a choultry managed by Sri Raghavendra SwamyMutt authorities. In recent years, the Mutt authorities built a choultry, named Jayathirtha Mandir and many other new choultries for the convenience of visiting pilgrims. There are all amenities in these choultries. Besides, there are Hubbali Chhat, Panchamukha Choultry, Arya vysya choultry, Karnataka choultry, Pravasa Mandir, Sree Nikethan, Central tourist home. There are many bookshops, where books of religious and spiritual importance and books relating to the life and work of Sri Raghavendra Swami are sold. There are also restaurants to cater to the needs of the pilgrims. Pooja timings Temple will be open for Darshana from 06-00 AM to 14:00 PM and 16:00 PM to 21:00 PM For sevas, you need to make a booking at the temple office by 8 AM. It will be good if you can book the Seva previous day as you will be able to attend the morning jal Abhisheka and Sarva Seva, which starts around 7.00 AM. At about 6am daily will take place the cleansing of the Sri Raghavendra Brindavan with water , after the remnants of the previous days puja offerings are removed. . In the evening between 7.00 to 9, Rathotsava takes place concluded by "Swasti" and Mangala Harathi. Free Prasada meal Free meal is served to all the pilgrims from 11 Am to 3 PM and in the evening 8 PM to 9:30 PM. Near By places: Panchamukhi Anjaneya temple. Panchamukhi temple is located nearly 21 kilometers from Mantralaya across the Tungabadra River in Karnataka. Lord Hanuman is said to have appeared before Raghavendraswamy in a unique way amalgamating within him the avataras of "varaha, garuda, anjaneya, narasimha and hayagreeva", thus five-headed. Raghavendra swamy performed tapassu for 12 long years in a cave. In appreciation of his devotion, Lord Panchamukhi Pranadevaru, Kollahpura Mahalakshmi, Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati and Kurmavathara gave darshan to him. Bichale Bichale is the birth place of Appanacharya who was a prime devotee of Sri raghavendra swamy. To this day the place where Guru Raghavendra and Appanacharya spent time together near mantralayam called bikshalaya is preserved intact. The house of Appanacharya and the place where he used to talk to Guru Raghavendra everything is preserved well. After Raghavendra Swamy entered Sajeeva samadhi, Appanacharya built a similar Vrindavana in Bichale.

• published: 22 Mar 2015
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