The warning that went unheeded

A few years before he passed away in 1564, Purandara Dasa warned the people of Vijayanagar about the dangers of forsaking god and falling into the trap of gaining wealth and leading an improper life. He sang, “Neechadhiree Bhagya” but the Emperor and the masses remained oblivious. Retribution was swift and the Vijayanagar forces lost in 1565 and Hampi was plundered and thousands of people put to the sword.

He also sang,

“Dharma shravana vetake  murkhage

Karma anushtana vansega dhiruva ,

Durmargi etka Brahmana Janma”

Konage veene gana videtake,

Manikhyavetake  markatge,

Tranavu tolagida hennigethake ,

Katani muthina haravu koralige.

Sadhu rasannavidetake,

Garthabha  udugore  sahithale shvananige,

Kadu vratthavahage  mai neardu hennina,

Odane  bhogipenembabila seyake.

Huttu kurudage  deepavidetake,

Bharastannigetke  kula dharma,

Srushtiyola damage  purandara vittlana

Muti bhajipenemba abhilaksha vetake.

Both Vyasa Raja (1447-1539), the Guru of Purandara Dasa (1480-1564) and the Dasa himself had foreseen the fall of Vijayanagar after the death of Krishna Deva Raya.

Krishna Deva Raya (1509-1530) was an Emperor who had upheld the Hindu dharma and he laid great store by the advice of Vyasa Raja, his Raja Guru. Krishna Deva Raya had immense respect and devotion to Vyasa Raja and he always went by his advice.

When Vyasa Raja warned him about the Kuhu Dosha, Krishna Devara Raya had gone by the perceptor’s advice. He had made Vyasa Raja the Emperor of Vijayanagar and he was reluctant to take back the Kingdom. But Vyasa Raja insisted that Krishna Deva Raya take back the Kingdom.

When Krishna Deva Raya pointed out that he had handed over the Kingdom to a saint and ascetic and that he could not take back what he had given as Dhana or offering, the erudite Madhwa seer turned this very same argument against the Emperor.

Vyasa Raja pointed out gently to the Emperor that he was only a wandering mendicant. He said a mendicant or sage had no interest in worldly things and that a sage could not be expected to take on the duties of a King.

Vyasa Raja then buttressed his arguments by quoting from the Bhagavath Geetha. He said Krishna had clearly said in the Geetha that one must do what one is asked to do or what one is best suited to do. “I am a wandering mendicant and I have no wordly attachment. I was taken away by my guru, Brahmanye Theertha, when I was young. I was brought up to lead a scholastic and monastic way of life. I am best at it. You, who are a King, know how to rule”, said Vyasa Raja.

He said a man who had given up everything to be near Hari had no attachment and even a Kingdom held no interest. Moreover, OI was sent to earth to fulfill a mission and I am still discharging the duty. O, King, I give back the Kingdom to you in the same manner that you gave me. Hence, there is no dosha or sin. No blame will accrue on you and you rule in a just and fair manner. That is all I ask of you”, Vyasa Raja said.

Though Krishna Deva Raya and Vyasa Raja did have difference of opinion, it never came in the way they respected each other. Krishna Deva Raya’s respect to the seer increased manifold when he was saved from the Kuhu Dosha and after he emerged victorious over the Adil Shah forces from Bijapur at the battle of Raichur.

Krishna Deva Raya then inscribed the sign, “Vyasa Raja is mu guru” on a panel in the Virupaksha Temple in Hampi. Krishna Deva Raya passed away in 1529 or 1530, grieving deeply over the death of his only male heir, Tirumala Raya, who appeared to have been poisoned to death.

Though Achuta Deva Raya, the brother of Krishna Deva Raya,  ascended the throne of Vijayanagar and ruled from 1529 to 1542, he had a tough time quelling challenges from Krishna Deva Raya’s son-in-law Rama Raya, also known as Aliya Rama Raya.

Achuta Deva Raya continued to pay respect to Vyasa Raja who was his Raja Guru too. When the time for entering Brindavana came in 1539, Vyasa Raja appears to have warned the Vijayanagar Emperor about the dangers that the Kingdom faced.

Unfortunately, Achuta Deva Raya was unable to rectify the faults that Vyasa Raja and Purandara Dasa pointed. Rama Raya, for some reason, appears to have taken a hostile attitude towards Madhwas and this led to the gradual erosion of support to the Emperors.

The Hindus had been the mainstay of the Vijayanagar Empire for close to three centuries. Once Rama Raya began antagonizing them, they began moving away from Vijayanagar.

The movement of the Hindu intelligentsia, including Haridasas like Kanaka Dasa 1509-1609 (he moved away from Hampi after the death of Purandara Dasa and in his last days, he lived in Tirumala), Vadiraja 1480-1600 (he went back to Sonda after the passing away of Vyasa Raja), Vijendra Theertha (he came to Vijayanagar to pay respect to the Brindavana of his ashrama Gurugalu Vyasa Raja, and then went back to Kumbakonam), Belur Vaikunta Dasa 1480-1550 (He went back to Belur in Hassan district after the death of Vyasa Raja) signaled the decline of Hindu literature.

Vijendra Theertha (1517-1614) too foresaw the fall of  Vijayanagar and he too warned the Vijayanagar Emperor but alas his warning was not taken seriously.

Purandara Dasa’s youngest son Madhwapathi Dasa continued composing Devara namas after his father passed away at the Purandara Mantapa in Hampi in 1564. He too was mildly critical of the epicurean lifestyle of the people of Vijayanagar and its Kings.  

Srinivasa Theertha, who ascended the Vyasa Raja Matha pontificate after Vyasa Raja, ruled till 1564. He passed away in 1564 and he was buried near his guru, Vyasa Raja in Nava Brindavana. Being the Raja Guru of Vijayanagar, he too warned the Vijayanagar Emperor, Achuta Deva Raya and other Kings who followed him but to no avail.

Srinivasa Theertha was followed by Rama Theertha and he became the Raja Guru of Vijayanagar in 1564. He headed the Vyasa Raja matha till 1584 and even he too appears to have forsaken Hampi once the Vijayanagars lost the battle of Rakasa Tangadi or Talikota.    

When the battle of Talikota took place in 1565, Rama Raya was beheaded by the Muslim forces who then converged onto Hampi or Vijayanagar and completely sacked it.  

Madhwapathi Dasa fled to Pune, while Kanaka Dasa took himself away from Hampi and wandered all over Karnataka. Belur Vaikunta Dasa spent his last days in Belur itself. Vijendra Theertha ruled from the Sri Matha pontificate in Kumbokanam.      

The Hindu and Muslim rocks

Thousands of years ago, when Hanuman was returning back home-flying in the air- from Sri Lanka, he saw a huge boulder which was slowly rolling down from its perch on a hill.

He saw the havoc that the boulder would pose to the people of the village below the hill if it rolled down. He then pushed back the huge boulder with his thumb and ensured that it would remain firmly rooted to the ground.

To prove this legend, there is still a thumb mark that you can see on the face of the boulder. The thumb impression is frozen on the rock and it is popularly called the “Hand of God”.

The rock stands as it is today, precariously perched at the edge of the hill. It would look as if it is going to fall any time but it has remained as it was put back by the money God. In case it falls today, it still has the potential to destroy at least half of the town below the hill.

Locals believe that the rock would stay as it is as long as civilization exists. There are so sure of the hand of Hanuman that nobody talks of the boulder or even fears that it would roll down.

This rock has got its own name, one of the few to do so. It is the Hindu rock. By the way, there is a Muslim rock too.

The Muslim rock too has romantic tale to narrate.

A little over two and half centuries ago, a Muslim soldier, who was the son of a Palegar of Budhikote, climbed the rock here and offered prayers. He was born in Budhikote and he knew the area around very well. A devout Muslim, he clambered on to the rock and offered prayers facing Mecca.

There are impressions or marks visible on the rock even today which testify to this act. The name of the man who prostrated on the rock and prayed regularly every day for several years: Hyder Ali, the father of Tipu and among the first Mysoreans, to take on the British.   This  perhaps could be the only hill which has rocks named after two religions and each with its own fascinating history.

This is the hill of Mulabagal in Kolar district. The hill rises over the ancient temple town and looks like a guardian of the area.

For the uninitiated, Mulabagal is on the way from Bangalore to Tirupathi. As people crammed in all types of vehicles whiz by, only a few care to stop at the once bustling Eastern capital of the Vijayanagar. Even among them, only a handful make it to the hills, which for the most part of the year lies deserted and desolate.

Even trekkers, climbers and Nature give this hill a miss. They  prefer several other hills around Mulabagal which are more tall or more difficult to climb than this hill.

The hill presets an interesting study in geology. It mainly  comprises a series of rocks of various shapes and sizes and of course the most prominent among them is the Hindu and the Muslim rocks.

The hill is not only a place of trekking climbing but it has its link with history too. Epigraphs and history suggests that on October 4, 1768, the Battle of Mulwagul, which was part of the First Anglo-Mysore War was fought on this very ground.

It was here on October 3 , that Hyder  saw the army of the Nawab of Arcot, Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah. The Nawab had allied himself with the British  in their war against Hyder.

Hyder was on his way back to Bangalore from Guuramkonda when he saw the Nawab’s garrison billeted at hill here.

Hyder then quickly fell on the Nawab’s men and the British sent reinforcements under Colonel Wood.

The combined forces of the British and the Nawab recovered the lower fort of Mulabagal but were unable to beat Hyder out of the upper fort. The next day-October 4- Colonel Wood went out with a few companies to investigate movements and he was quickly surrounded  by Hyder soldiers.

When the battle began, another office, Colonel Brooks, and two other British men of arms dragged two cannons to the top of a nearby hill. Brooks then called out saying “Smith! Smith!, even as he fired the cannons at Hyder’s well-tuned army.

Both Hyder and the British thought that Colonel Smith was arriving with reinforcements. Hyder ordered his troops to fall back, enabling the almost defeated Colonel Wood to rejoin with Brooks and other reinforcements from Mulwagal.

Hyder realised his tactical error and renewed his attack, but the British and the Nawab held firm. Both sides lost men-Hyder close to 1,000 and the British 200.

However, the ferocious manner in which Hyder had attacked the British convinced Colonel Smith that he would be unable to effectively besiege Bangalore without first defeating Hyder in open battle.

The East India Company was left redfaced at the result of the battle and it  blamed Smith for the failure to decisively defeat Hyder. It  recalled him to Madras.

Hyder then regrouped from here and took the opportunity to besiege Hosur. Here again both Hyder and Wood met. Colonel Wood marched in relief of the town. As Wood approached, Hyder  raised the siege, attacked Wood's column and overran his baggage train in the Battle of Bagalur.  Hyder  captured supplies and arms and  drove Wood in disgrace toward Venkatagiri.

Wood was recalled and the East India Company replaced him with Colonel Lang. This was off no consequence as Hyder went from strength to strength and even came upto the gates of Madras and the British were forced to negotiate with him.  

Nothing remains of the battle now save the name of the town Mulabagal. In ancient days, it was known as Mudalabagilu meaning the eastern-door.

It was the eastern most frontier and, therefore, the entrance to the Vijayanagar empire. The town boats of a massive Hanuman temple with the idol being consecrated by Arjuna. Sage Vasishta is believed to have installed the idols of the main deity Srinivasa, Padmavati and Rama-Sita-Lakshmana at the temple.
The town is associated with the Ramayana and there are several tales about it. One of the hills still has the ruins of a fort which is worth a visit.

Another hill nearby is famous for being the first point the sun rises throughout Karnataka.

Mulabagal is about 100 kilometres from Bangalore and it is easily accessible by road. It is situated on the four-laned national highway.