Appannacharya: An Ardent Disciple of Sri Raghavendra Swami

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This book titled "Appannacharya: An Ardent Disciple of Sri Raghavendra Swami" is a humble attempt to study the life and work of Sri Appannacharya of Bichhale, a model disciple of Sri Raghavendra Swami. What was the family background and formative influences of Appannacharya? What kind of a Gurukulam he had set up in his native village? Why was the place known as 'Bhikshalaya' in olden times? How did the idol of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha come to be installed on the banks of holy river Tungabhadra by the great saint Sri Padaraja Teertha and visited by many great saints? What was the holiness of the Ashwata tree on the branches of which the bhiksha (offerings) brought by his students in the form of cereals was collected and tied to the tree? How come the cereals were cooked mysteriously without fire and ready to be served as meals to the students of the Sanskrit Pathashala? What were the legendary episodes left behind? How important it has become as a place of spiritual pilgrimage? What was the literary contribution of Appannacharya?

Answers to these questions are attempted in this small book with the blessings of Sri Raghavendra Teertha and which is perhaps the first at- tempt to write on this outstanding disciple in English.

Dr Prabha Ravi Shankar (M.Phil, Ph.D. University of Mumbai) is Associate Professor of History at the M.A. Post Graduate Department of History in the affiliated college of the S.N.D.T. Women's University. She has been the recipient of several academic awards, honours and fellowships. She is a reputed historian and author and has over twenty-five years of teaching and research experience at the reputed colleges affiliated to the University of Mumbai and at the S.N.D.T. Women's University. She has presented many research papers in the subject Modern Indian History in national and international conferences. She has published five books on the political and social history of Modern India and has over fifty articles published in reputable journals of history.

She is also much interested in spiritualism and is an ardent devotee of Sri Raghavendra Swami on whom she has authored a monograph.

Sri Raghavendra Swami (1595-1671) is one of the most illustrious saints in the line of Sri Madhavacharyas. He is considered as an avatar (incarnation) of Bhakta Prahalad and Sri Vyasaraya or Vyasaraja Teertha. He is divinity personified and of scholarly disposition who excelled in many fields such as Logic, Mimamsa, Music, Yoga, Sastras and had mastered all the sixty-four arts. For nearly fifty years (1623-1671) he was the head of the Mutt whose predecessors were eminent scholars and seers such as Sri Vijayendra Teertha and Sri Sudeendra Teertha. Soon after his initiation into sanyasa, Sri Raghavendra Teertha went on a vijayayatra with the chief mission to propagate the Dwaita philosophy of Sri Madhavacharya and to lead the people towards worship of Shri Harisarvotamma. He defeated several scholars in literary debates and performed many miracles to prove the existence of God. He established a Matha on the banks of the holy River Tungabhadra at Manchale or Mantralayam in the Kurnul district of Andhra Pradesh. The Swami chose this place as it was sanctified by Bhakta Prahalad (his first incarnation), who performed Yagya. Since then this Matha came to be known as the Sri Raghavendra Swami Moola Rama Matha. The Matha has assiduously fostered the Vedas and the sacred traditions of Sri Madhava philosophy over three centuries through an unbroken tradition of Guru-Shisya Parampara, who have adorned the Moola Brindavanam. All of them were learned scholars, had renounced everything in life and endeavoured to uphold its traditions and guide the seekers in meaningful living. Their work almost since 1671, both in terms of literary scholarship and service to humanity has been commendable.