Tourism

Location

Mantralayam is around 360 km from Hyderabad, the journey from Hyderabad takes about 6-8 hours by road. It takes about 10 Hours by road from Bangalore. If you are driving from Hyderabad, you need to take the NH7 - the highway to Bangalore and take a diversion to Jadcherla. Various state roads will take you to Mahboobnagar and Raichur in Karnataka. Mantralayam is around 600 km from Chennai. It can be reached through the route of Chittor,Cuddapah,Gooty,Adoni to Mantralayam. The nearest rail head is Mantralayam Road. It lies on the Mumbai-Bangalore, Delhi-Bangalore and the Mumbai-Chennai train routes. Regular rail service is available for this route. There is one train that goes from Hyderabad Deccan station to Mantralayam Road en route Tirupati. Mantralayam Road is about 16 km away from Mantralayam. You can travel to Mantralayam from Mantralayam Road station by private Jeeps, taxis, autorickshaws or public bus. Approximate cost of travel per person is Rs.50 for private transport and Rs.4 for Public Bus.

ROUTEMAP:

BUSES

Many South Indian cities are connected to Mantralaya by bus--Bangalore, Tirupati, Mangalore, Madras, Hyderabad, Bellary and Mysore. The most convenient bus from Bangalore leaves at 9:15 pm & reaches Mantralaya at 6 am, the next day. The conducted tours from Hyderabad are typically 7 hours long (one way), leaving every Saturday at 9.30 am and returning on Sunday at 9.00pm. They usually cover the Brindavan as well as the Raghavendra Swamy Temple.

TRAINS

The nearest Railway station is MANTRALAYAM ROAD, which is about 12KM from Mantralaya. Most of the trains stop here except for the super fast trains. From Bombay convenient trains are Dadar Madras Mail, which leaves Dadar at about 2PM & reaching Mantralaya Road at about 4AM next day, and Bombay Mail. After reaching Mantralayam Road, a bus or rental van can be taken to Mantralaya (about a 1 hr ride).

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 choultry, 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

HISTORY

A shortriem village with a population of 1212 on the bank of the Thungabhadra in the extreme north of the thaluk. The village is widely known as containing the tomb of the Madhwa Saint Sri Raghavendra swamy. The annualt festival in agust which is attended by the large number of pilgrims, including even Lingayats from the Bombay , the Nizam's Dominions and even Mysore . The tomb itself is not of architechural interest. The grant of the landed endowment attached to it, is said one of the Mackenzie Mss, to have been made by Venkanna Pant, the well known Dewan of Siddhi Masud Khan, Governor of Adoni, from 1662 to 1687. A quaint story of Sri Thomas Munro is told about the place. The endowment being threatened with resumption, Munro, it is said, came to make enquiries, after removing his boots and taking of his hat he, approached the grave. The saint thereupon emerged from his tomb and met him. They conversed together for some time regarding the resumption, but though the saint was visible and audible to Munro, who was himself, the people declare, semi-divine, none of the others, who were there could either see him or hear what he said. The discussion ended. Munro returned to his tent and quashed the proposal to resume the endowment. Being offered some consecrated rice, he accepted it and ordered it to be used in the preparation of his meals for that day.