The Nava Brindavana at Chennai

The Nava Brindavana at Anegundi near Hampi is in Bellary district in Karnataka. This is perhaps the first Madhwa or Dwaitha site where several saints have their final resting place called Brindavana.

This is also the oldest Nava Brindavana. The first saint to enter Brindavana here is Padmanabha Theertha, the first of the four direct disciples of Madhwacharya. The other three disciples are Narahari Theertha (His Brindavana is in Chakratheertha in Hampi), Madhava Theertha (Brindavana at Mannur in Gulbarga district) and AkshobaTheertha (Brindavana at Malkhed in Gulbarga district).

The other eight Madhwa saints who entered Brindavana in Nava Brindavana, which is a small island in the Tungabhadra, are Kavindra Theertha, Vageesha Theertha and Raghuvarya Theertha (Uttaradhi Matha), Vyasa Theertha, Srinivasa Theertha and Rama Theertha (all Sosale Vyasa Raja Matha), Sudhindra Theertha (Raghavendra Swamy Matha), and Govinda Odeyar, a Bidi Sanyasi and a disciple of  Vyasa Theertha.

Apart from this place, there are Nava Brindavanas at Shenbakkam, Vellore and Erode. The Nava Brindavana at Erode is at the Sripadaraja Matha and it has nine brindavanas belonging to the seers who headed the Sripadaraja Matha.

The Nava Brindavana at Shenbakkam has brindavans of seers from different mathas. A few years ago, the Sosale matha seer constructed a Nava Brindavana at Sosale near T. Narsipura for none saints of the matha.

In 2012, Chennai became the latest or rather newest place to have a Nava Brindavana.

The Nava Brindavana at Chennai was consecrated by the senior seer of the Pejawar Matha, Visvesha Theertha, during his Chaturmasa Vrata at Chennai in 2012.

The nine brindavanas are situated at Varadarajapuram near Tambaram on the outskirts of Chennai. Tambaram, as we all know, is well connected to Chennai by local trains and buses and it is 27 kms from Chennai.

Varadarajapuram is a small village near Tambaram. It is 8 kms from Tambaram and it has the nine Brindavanas of  Vadiraja Theertha,  Jaya Theertha, Sripadaraja Theertha, Vyasa Theertha, Vijayendra Theertha, Vijayadhwaja Theertha, Raghuttama Theertha, Raghavendra Swamy and Vadeendra Theertha.

Here are some details of the seers whose Brindavana is located at Varadarajapuram.

Vadiraja Theertha

Vadiraja Theertha belongs to the Sode Matha and he is considered to be the next in importance to Madhwacharya in the Dwaitha Parampare. Born Bhuvaraha at Hoovinakere near Sirsi, he was schooled in Dwaitha philosophy by Vageesha Theertha of Uttaradhi Matha.

He lived from 1480 to 1600. He is considered to be an avatar of Lord Latavya. His moola Brindavana is at Sode near Sirsi.

   

Jaya Theertha

One of the greatest Dwaitha scholars, he was the first to write commentaries on texts of Madhwacharya. He was given Deekshe by Akshoba Theertha. He was the fifth seer to occupy the Dwaitha pontificate after Akshoba Theertha. (The other four were Padmanabha Theertha, Narahari Theertha, Madhava Theertha and Akshoba Theertha).

He is considered to be an amsha of Arjuna. In his previous birth, he was born as a bullock which carried the works of Madhwacharya. His moola Brindavana is at Malkhed near the Brindavana of his Guru Akshoba Theertha. Malkhed is approachable from Gulbarga by bus or taxi.

  

Sripadaraja Theerta

He belongs to the Sripadaraja Matha of Mulabagal. He is the first Madhwa seer to write songs and compose in Kannada. He is considered to be the Bheeshma of Dasa Sahitya.

Sripadaraja was the cousin brother of Bramanya Theertha, the seer of Abbur or Kundapura Vyasa Raja Matha. Both Sripadaraja and Bramanye Theertha were born at Abbur in Chennapatna taluk of Ramanagar district near Bangalore.

Sripadaraja was the Vidya guru of Vyasa Theertha who was sent to him by Bramanye Theertha. He is considered to be an Amsha of  Dhruva.

His moola Brindavana is at Narasimha Theertha , Mulabagal in Kolar district. Mulabagal is on the Bangalore-Tirupathi Highway.    and this is a red-letter day in the spiritual history of Chennai.

He was the Raja Guru of several Emperors of Vijayanagar dynasty. He set up a Vidyapeetha at Mulabagal.

Vyasa Theertha

Vyasa Theertha was the previous avatar of Raghavendra Swamy. He was born in in 1447 in Bannur near Mysore and he left his mortal body at Nava Brindavana in 1539.

He consecrated 732 temples of Hanuman throughout India. Of them, more than 365 are in Penukonda in Andhra Pradesh. He was the Raja Guru of six Vijayanagar Emperors, including Krishna Deve Raya.

In his previous avatars, he was born Prahalada and Balika Raja. As Balika Raja, he was felled by Bheema in the Mahabharata war.

Vijayendra Theertha

He was the Guru of  Sudhindra Theertha who in turn gave Deekshe to Raghavendra Swamy.

Vijayendra Theertha was the Shishya of Vyasa Theertha and he took over the reigns of the Sri Matha at Kumbakonam. He was an unparelled scholar, he is perhaps the most prolific of all Madhwa seers.

He was well-versed in all the 64 arts. He has written 104 works.

He entered Brindavana at Kumbakonam and even today this matha is known as Vijendra Theertha Matha.

He is believed to have been born in 1517 and entered Brindavana in 1614.

Raghavendra Swamy

The most famous Madhwa saint after Madhwacharya, he has been performing miracles even after entering Brindavana in 1671. He was born in Bhuvanagiri in Tamil Nadu in 1595 and he was a disciple of  Sudhindra Theertha.

Raghavendra Swamy’s moola Brindavana is at Mantralaya in Andhra Pradesh. Mantralaya is approachable from Raichur and Bellary in Karnataka or from Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh.

Raghuttama Theertha

He was the son of the Purvashrama sister of Madhwacharya. His Moola Brindavana is at Tirukoilur. He belongs to the Uttaradhi Matha Paranpare.

He belongs to the Suryavamsha sect. Therefore, his Brindavana has no roof or covering and it is left free for the sun to shine on the Brindavana.

His Guru was Raghuvarya Theertha. Like Raghavendra Swamy, he is a great healer.

Vadeendra Theertha

He is the great grandson of Raghavendra Swamy.

His father was Purushittamacharya. He , in turn, was the son of Lakshminarayanam, the only son of our Rayaru or Raghavendra Swamy.

He wrote  Gurugunastavana, which contains a lot of information on Rayaru. He was just two years old when Rayaru entered Brindavana.

His moola Brindavana is besides the Brindavana of Raghavendra Swamy at Mantralaya. He entered Brindavana in 1750.

Vijayadhwaja Tirtharu

He is the sixth seer of the Pejawar Matha, one of the Asta Mathas established by Madhwacharya.

He has written Commentary on Bhagavatha called Bhakta Ratnavalli.  His moola Brindavana is at Kanva Theertha, which is near Udupi. It is at Kanva Theertha that Madhwacharya gave Deekshe to all his disciples.

Vijayadhwaja Theertha has consecrated a temple to Prana Devaru at Kanva Theertha.

The Maha Kumbhabhisheka and Prana Prathistapane of  the Brindavanas was done by Vishvesha Theertha. The place is called     

Madhvarayara Navabrindhavana. It is run by Sri Narayana Govinda Ramakrishna Trust, Rayappa Nagar, Varadharajapuram,

Chennai – 600 048

The contact numbers, as I could gather, are  9952053499, 9445726026 and 8056099490.

Varadharajapuram is in Kunnattur Taluk, Kanchipuram district. It is 8.8 km from Kunnatturand 5 km from Kanchipuram. It is 24 km  from Chennai. It is easily approachable either by road or by rail.