Nava Brindavana

Navabrindavanam (also known as Navavrundhavana and Navabrindhavan) (Kannada:ನವ ಬೃಂದಾವನ) is located at Anegundi, near Hampi, Karnataka. India. It contains the tombs or Brindavanam of nine Hindu Madhwa saints.which is located in the bay of Tungabhadra River.^[1] The nine saints are

1. Sri Padmanabha Teertharum, direct disciple of Jagadguru Shri Madhvacharya
2. Sri Kavindra Teertharu
3. Sri Vageesha Teertharu
4. Sri Raghuvarya Teertharu
5. Sri Govinda Vodeyar
6. Sri Vyasa Thirtha or Vyasarajaru
7. Sri Sudheendhra Thirtha
8. Sri Srinivasa Thirtha
9. Sri Rama Thirtha

There are also shrines for Lord Ranganatha and Lord Hanuman inside the premises.

Avathaarathraya Hanuman

This idol of Hanuman installed here by Sri Vyasaraja is indeed unique.

It depicts the three avatars - Hanuma, Bheema, Madhva in one form. The face is like Hanuman, the arms and shoulders well - rounded and muscular with the Gadhayudha symbolises Bheema, the avatar of Hanuman in the next yuga and the manuscripts in his hand symbolises Madhvacharya.

The Nine saints of Navabrindavana and their holy background

Nava Brindavana is a small island in the Tungabhadra river near Hampi or Vijayanagar.

Hampi is in Bellary district and it is approachable from Bangalore by rail or road. The nearest airport is Bellary. The nearest train stop is Bellary. There are direct buses from Bangalore and other places in Karnataka to Hospet and even Hampi apart from Bellary.

This is one of the most holy spots for Madhwas as it contains the Brindavanas (final resting place of nine Madhwa saints).

The Brindavana of Vyasa Theerta is at the centre while the Brindavana of other eight saints are in a rough circle. There is a yellow line drawn around the periphery of the Brindavanas.

Do not cross this line.

You have to go in a boat or Theppa from Hampi to visit Nava Brindavana. It is located east of Anegundi, which was the earlier capital of the Vijayanagar dynasty before it was shifted to Hampi.

You can catch a ferry either from Gangavathi side or Hampi side (Talagarighatta Gate).

There are shrines dedicated to Ranganatha and Hanuman here.

Poojas commence around 10-30 a.m., Devotees and visitors are advised not to do pradakshina of the Brindavanas in wet clothes. Try to time your visit in the morning.

It is on this island that Vyasa Raja in his earlier avatar as Prahalada had meditated to get rid of his dosha of getting his father, Hiranyakashapyu, killed by Lord Narasimha.

Some of the saints who have visited Nava Brindavana are Raghavendra Swamy and Raghottama Theertha among others and Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa.

Padmanabha Theertha

He is the first Madhwa saint to enter Brindavana at Nava Brindavana .

Padmanabha Theertha was the first disciple of the Madhwacharya. He also ascended the Dwaitha throne after Madhwacharya.

His original name was Shobana Bhatta. He was a well-known logician of his times and he lost a marathon debate to Madhwacharya after which he converted to Dwaitaism.

He was regarded highly by the fifth head of the Dwaitha Samrajya,

Jayatheertha or Teekacharyaru, is the pioneer of Tatvavada literature.

He was the first to write a commentary on the Bhasya of Madhwacharya. This was called Sattarkadipavali.

Other works are Sanyaayarathnavali, Gitabhashya and Gitatatparya. He has also written commentaries on all the ten Nirnaya Prakshikaas. He headed the Dwaitha Matha for six years and nine months.

He took Sanyasa from Madhwacharya in 1263 and entered Brindavana in 1324 or 1325. He gave Deekshe to Lakshmidhara Theertha to set up the Sripada Raja Matha at Mulabagal.

His Aradhana Thithi is Karthika Bahula Chaturdashi (Nov-Dec).

Kavindra Theertha

The second Brindavana here is that of Kavindra Theertha. He is believed to be the brother of Rajendra Theertha, the founder of Vyasaraja Matha. He was earlier known as Vasudeva Shastry.

The first bifurcation of the Madhwa or Dwaitha Matha or Peetha took place when Vidyadhiraja handed over the reigns to Kavindra Theertha,

Vidhyadhiraja Theertha had appointed Rajendra Theertha as his successor. Vidhyadhiraja fell ill and he could not get in touch with Rajendra Theertha as he was away on Sanchara. He then appointed Kavindra Theertha as the successor and passed away. When Rajendra Theertha came back he found what had happened and he travelled further south towards Mysore and founded the Vyasa Raja Matha.

Kavindra Theertha is supposed to have entered Brindavana in 1398. Kavindra teertha continued to reign in the Peetha of the already established Matha/Peetha by Shri Madhvacharya through Shri Padmanabha Tirtha which is known as Shri Vidya Matha or Shri Raghavendra Swamigalavara Matha(name changed after Shri Raghavendra swami, Mantralaya who comes in the same lineage as that of Shri Madhvacharya, Padmanabha tirtha, Jaya Tirtha, Kaveendra teertha & Vageesha teertha and so on.... )

His Aradhane Thithi is Chaitra Krishna Tritiya (April–May)

Vageesha Theertha

His Poorvashrama name was Raghunathacharya. He was one of the greatest scholars of his time. He was the third Madhwa saint to enter Brindavana at Nava Brindavana.

He was the successor of Kavindra Theertha. He gave Deekshe to Vadiraja Theertha (of Sode Matha). Deva Rama Bhatt and Saraswathi Devi were blessed by Vageesha Theertha to beget a son. The couple were told by Vageesha Theertha that they would have to hand over the son to the matha. When the couple expressed their appprehension, Vageesha Theertha said they would have another son.

He also told the couple that they could keep the first born if he is born within their house. But if he is born outside, he must be handed over to the Matha. Vadiraja is born ina field outside his home. He is then handed over to Vageesha Theertha.

Both Vageesha Theertha and his relative Vidyanidhi Theertha (who became the Peetadhipathi after Ramachandra Theertha) took special interest in the education of Vadiraja. It was Vageesha Theertha who named Vadiraja as Bhoo Varaha. Vadiraja mentions Vageesha Theertha with respect in his Theertha Prabhabandha.

He entered Brindavana sometime in 1406. His Aradhane Thithi is Chaitra Krishna Tritiya (April–May).

=== Raghuvarya Theertha === (Brindavana believed to be the same as that of Shri Jaya Tirtharu situated on the Island by Uttaradi math followers) He was the Guru of Raghottama Theertha (of Tirukoilur).

He travelled all over the country to spread the message of Madhwacharya. Once when he reached the banks of Bheema river in north Karnataka, the river gave way for him.

Lord Rama appeared in his dream and asked him to bless a couple in Swarnavadi village in the then Hyderabad state of Nizam with a child. Rama said this child should be brought up in the Uttaradi Matha and that the child should succeed him. This child grew up to become one of the greatest scholar of its times and was called Raghottama Theertha.

Raghuvarya Theertha was with his Guru Raghunatha Theertha at Nava Brindavana along with Vyasa Raja and Krishna Deve Raya, the Vijayanagar King, when one of the Vyasa mustis fell into the Tungabhadra. Lord Narayana came in the dream of the Raghunatha Theertha and told him that the Mustis would reappear when some tortoises would swin. This incident happened a few days later after and even to this day it is in the custody of the Uttaradi Matha.

Vyasa Theertha

A renowned scholar, Vyasa Theertha or Vyasa Raja was the Raja Guru of six Vijayanagar Emperors, including Krishna Deva Raya. He had a large number of disciples including Vadiraja Theertha.

He encouraged Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa in penning Haridasa Sahitya. He was the Chancellor of the Vijayanagar University which had 11,000 students.

He consecrated 732 idols of Hanuman in India. His guru was Brahamanye Theertha of Abbur, while his Vidya Guru was Sripadaraja of Mulabaga.

Vyasa Raja was the earlier avatar of Raghavendra Swamy. His works are considered to be among the most significant in Madhwa literature.

Some of his works include Nyayamritam Tarkatandava Tatparya Chandrika.

He entered Brindavana in 1539 when Achuta Deve Raya was the Emperor of Vijayanagar.

Srinivasa Theertha

He succeeded Vyasa Theertha to the Vyasaraja Matha. He was also the Raja Guru of Achuta Deve Raya.He has written a book on Vyasa Theertha. This book along with accounts of Portuguese travelers to Vijayanagar and a biography by Somanatha, a Smartha Brahmin during the period of Krishna Deve Raya, give us a lot of information about Vyasa Raja.

Rama Theertha

He followed Srinivasa Theertha to the Peetha of Vyasaraja Matha.

It was during the period of Rama Theertha that the first split of the Vyasa Raja Matha took place. Both Lakshmikantha Theertha and Sridhara Theertha took Sanyas from Rama Teertha.

Thus the Abbur Matha or Kundapur Matha and Sosale Matha came into existence. In Bangalore, the Abbur Matha has its premises in Hanumanthnagar and the Sosale Matha at Gandhi Bazar.

Sudhindra Theertha

He was the Guru of Shri Raghavendra Swamy. He was also the “Shishya” given to Vijayeendra Theertha by Vyasa Raja himself. He was an unmatched scholar and he shared a close relationship with Vijayeendra Theertha. Some of the books written by him are: Sadukthi Rathnakara (Tarkathandava Vyakhya), Apastamba Shulbasootrapradepa,

Commentary on second and 11th Skandas of Bhagavatha Literary Books, Subhadra Parinaya, Vyasarajabhyudaya,

Amruthaharana, Dayalu Shathaka,

Vairagyatharanga, Alankara Manjaree,

Alankaranishaka and Sahitya Samrajya.

He was the Raja Guru of Raghunatha Bhoopala of Tanjore.

Raghavendra Swamy himself made arrangements for the Brindavana Pravesha of Sudhindra Theertha. His Aradhana Thithi is Phalguna Krishna Dvithiya (Feb-March).

Govinda Odeyar

He was a disciple of Vyasa Theertha. He was an Advaitha scholar and he entered into a debate with Vyasa Theertha and lost. He accepted the Dwaitha way of life and joined the large number of disciples of Vyasa Theertha.

He entered Brindavana at Nava Brindavana much earlier than Vyasa Theertha. He did not belong to any Matha but he was a Bidi (Independent) Sanyasi.

Apart from these Brindavanas, the final resting place of Narahari Theertha, the second pontiff of the Dwaitha Samrajya after Padmanabha Theertha is at Chakra Theertha in Hampi.

Credits: Samyuktha Harshitha

General Instructions

• Avoid throwing plastics,carry bags or dusts inside island-always keep the place clean and if you find any carry bags or plastics, please take them to put in a dustbin at anegundi village
• Gents are advised to remove shirts and vests before entering to island and highly suggested to wear dhoti (Tamil: வேட்டி)
• Please maintain silence inside shrine

Sankalpa Parihara(Prayers)

As a remedy for people having problem in getting child birth for the family, A.M.Rajagopalan, famous astrologer suggests pilgrims to visit Navabrindhavan and perform sankalpa parihara (prayer) by walking around all nine tombs (by not crossing the yellow line) twelve times and light a lamp using cow ghee (at srinivasa shrine within navabrindhavana) which will resolve astrological dosha on child birth!

Kindly avoid crossing yellow lines around nine shrines

In order to maintain peace and politeness around jeevasamathi of nine shrines, a circle of yellow line painted on the shrine and pilgrims are requested pray before this line to pray to madhwa saints and avoid crossing this line to avoid disturbing meditation of holy saints.

Rama shown Navabrindhavana Island to Lakshman in early days

When Rama and Lakshman was in search of Sita,Rama pointed an island (called 'navabrindhavana' now) to Lakshman and suggested him to perform namaskara to that island since it will be a sacred place in future when nine powerful saints born in different occasions and they all come down to stay in navabrindhavana to continue their holy meditation.

Tara visiting Navabrindhavana often

Even now it is believed that Tara (wife of Sugreev) visit as a star to navabrindhavan from sky and make a round before disappearing again! Many of the villages acknowledged that they see a star travelling towards navabrindhavan from Tara parvadam (the mountain next to Anegundi)

Miraculous experience of pilgrims visiting Navabrindhavana Shrine

It is understood that a family from Tamil Nadu requested astrologer A.M.Rajagopalan for solution to sort out their only daughters' interest to marry one of her colleague who has bad habits; Since daughter is not interested to listen to parents, astrologer carefully verified dosha in charts and suggested them to immediately visit holy shrine at navabrindhavana islands with their daughter; Though she was not interested and believed to visit, due to parents request, she travelled to navabrindhavana along with parents and surprisingly realised that she had become unconscious the moment she entered into islands near tombs! When she got the conscious back after few minutes, it is understood that she conveyed to parents an apology and wished to abide by parent's choice of marriage decisions and also she informed that there was an elderly saint appeared when she was unconscious and blessed her from tomb!

On another occasion, family brought a younger child who fell off by mistake within the shrine and stood back immediately without any pain or wounds which they found really miraculous experience!

Similarly one of the pilgrim lost job from his factory and he travelled to stay in anegundi for three days and all three days he visited holy shrine and navabrindhavan island (from anegundi) and returned to his native. As a surprise he got the same job at same factory where he worked earlier due to his sincere prayers to madhwa saints at navabrindhavana!

Also it has been informed by the priest serving at navabrindhavana that he is not getting hunger while staying in the island until he get the boat return to Anegundi in the evening.

Travel

• Travel to Gangavati City which is located in Karnataka:
  • Regular buses are available from Bangalore to Gangavati
  • Trains are available from Chennai to reach Hospet and it is easy to commute to Gangavati through bus or car
  • Nearby Airport is Hubli and there are few flights from Bangalore to Hubli and it is flexible to commute to Gangavati/Anegundi using Cars or Bus services
• Reach Anegundi village from Gangavati in a 25-minute journey using auto, car or bus from Gangavati bus stand and walk towards the river shore (refer to the Anegundi Map location 19)
• Take a boat from Anegundi to reach Navabrindhavana

Routes:

Train route:

Chennai – Guntakkal – Hospet.

There is no straight train to Hospet and you have to change train at Guntakkal

Bus route:

Chennai -Bangalore -Tumkur – Sira -Chitradurga – (moved from NH-4 to NH-13) – Hospet – Anegundi. Distance: approximately 365 km

An Alternate route from Chennai is:

Chennai – Tirupati – Anantapur (all along NH205); Anantapur – Gooty (on NH7); Gooty – Bellary – Hospet (on NH63) – Anegundi

Direction to visit from Mantralaya to Navabrindhavana:

The direction of travel by road is as follows,

By KSRTC bus, you can travel to Raichur from Mantralayam( 1.5 hrs travel). From Raichur, board KSRTC bus to Ganagvathi (3 hrs travel). From there you can reach Anaegundhi (20 mins travel) by local bus.

References