Visit to Nava Brindhavan, Karnataka

Hampi-Anegundhi, the twin cities:

Hampi, located on the bank of Tungabadra river, was THE richest city of the world in its times and now it is known as the ruined city of Vijayanagara empire. It is said that the devastation went on for 6 months but is very beautiful even after so much devastation
On the opposite shore of Tungabadra, Anegundhi town is full of sacred places and ancient temples (most of them connected with Ramayana), Rayar mutts and the Brindhavanas of great Madhwa saints.
Both Hampi and Aneguni regions are collectively known as the Kishkintha of Ramayana. The whole Kishkinta kandam of Ramayana is based out of this region.
Nava Brindhavan is a beautiful island between the two branches of Tundabadra in between Hampi and Anegundhi.

Google map location of Nava Brindavan

Nearest railway station is Hospet, from where Hampi is about 10 kms. Nearest Airports are Hubli and Kurnool (New Airport opened in 2021 and so only limited flights).

Read my following detailed articles to cover the entire Hampi and Anegundi regions:

• Ramayana places of Anegundi
• Ramayana places of Hampi
• Hampi – THE Richest city of the World in its times

It will take more than 5 days to visit all the places of Hampi and Anegundhi for serious travellers.

Update from Mar 2022 trip:

Bridge connectivity between Hampi and Anegundi:
River Tundabadra is flowing in between Hampi and Anegundi and so you need a bridge to travel across. There are 3 bridges and 2 are not in use.

1. An ancient Vijayanagara bridge connection that had been destroyed due to natural calamity or invasion
   
2. A modern day unfinished bridge at Thalavari Gottha which was started around 1993, finished 90% but was ‘suspended’ for the reason that this will enable heavy vehicle flow to Hampi which will spoil the city. After my 2008 trip, this bridge work was started again in May 2009 but the scaffolding collapsed killing several workers, thus stalling the work. May be it is His wish not to complete the bridge!  So this remains unfinished in 2022 and I think there is no plan to revive it (Photos of the incomplete bridge from my 2008 trip).
   
3. Luckily, yet another new bridge called Bukkasaagara bridge has been built in 2017 (Modi ji has to come even for this to happen!) which is now in full use. This bridge reduces the travel between Hampi and Anegundi from 48 kms/ 1.5 hours (through Hampi-Kamalapur-Kambli-Gangavathi-Anegundhi)  to just 20 kms/ 30 mins. With this new bridge, now people can go back and forth between Hampi and Anegundi to cover the entire region. So, after 2017, people who plan for Nava Brindavana dharshan are lucky to visit the Ramayana places of whole Kishkinta as well.
   

So, now you can stay either at Hospet (modern lodges are available) or Hampi (decent homestays are there in congested streets, no lodges are allowed being a heritage city) or Anegundi (only few options like Sri  Raghavendhra Mutt and 2 homestays). We stayed 1 day at a resort close to Hampi, 2 days at a Hampi homestay and 1 day at Anegundi homestay during the 2022 trip.

Mar 2008 Trip:
As soon as we reached the hotel, we immediately started off to Nava Brindhavan by 4 PM.  First we were confused by different distance details given by different people. Some said it is 50 km (since the Bukkasaagara bridge was not there at that time) and some said it is 15 kms and yet both of them were correct! Additionally, we had the bottleneck of the coracle ride getting closed by 5:30/ 6 PM. We didn’t have enough time to analyse/ discuss etc., and at one point we became so helpless that we left it to the car driver himself to choose the way he wants. Finally he took the shortest path where one can see only Nava Brindhavan and it was all one could have done if started by 4 PM and the driver did the right thing indeed.

Hampi side river crossing:

It was a coracle ride from Hampi side. The river crossing is shortest (about 5 minutes) in this route but slightly unsafe with coracle ride. We have to walk for about 200 meters. Use this if you stay at Hampi and want to visit Navabrindavan and come back. For coracle ride, call a lady by name Ramzanamma @ 8394204380. In 2008 we had to walk across banana fields and narrow paddy field paths to reach the starting point of the coracle ride but in 2022 trip, we saw a good cement ride till the starting point of the coracle ride and 4 wheelers can go straight to this starting point.

Anegundi side river crossing:

The ride from Anegundi side possibly could be safer with boat ride. (I had come from Hampi side only both in 2008 and in 2022) – use this if you want to see so many other sacred places of Anegundi as well.

Mar 2008 Trip:
We started by 4 PM from Hospet, took the road travel for about 45 minutes, took the boat ride for about 10 minutes and entered Nava Brindhavan by 5:30 PM. We had been just lucky to be in time since the priest had left immediately after completing the pooja for us.

This is the view from Hampi side and we have to take the coracle ride from here only.

View while going in the coracle, the small white building seen at the centre is the Nava Brindhavan.

We have to walk for about 200 meters through some unconventional paths (we had 4 senior citizens but no problem) after reaching the Nava Brindhavan shore.

Nava Brindhavan is located in an island between two branches of Thungabadra in an awesome location. It houses the Brindavanas of nine great Madhwa acharyars in the lineage of Sri Madhwacharya, the founder of the Dwaita or dualism tenets. The brindavans are called the “Jeeva Brindhavans” since they are considered still alive and are resting eternally there. There is a yellow mark around the Brindhavans indicating the border into which we are not supposed to go and disturb the saints. There is a Tamil board saying not to go beyond the yellow mark (meaning lots of Tamils are visiting this place).

The nine sacred saints, in their order are (the periods given in bracket are the period during which they headed the Mathwa peeta) :

1. Sri Padmanabha Theerthar, the prime sishya of Sri Madhvacharyar (1317-1324)
2. a) Sri Jaya Theerthar (1365-1388)
   b) Sri Raghu Variyar, Guru of Raghothama Theerthar whose Brindhavan is at Thirukkoyilur near Thiruvannamalai (1502-1537)
3. Sri Kaveendhra Theerthar (1392-1398)
4. Sri Vaageesa Theerthar (1398-1406)
5. Sri Vyasaraja Theerthar (1447-1539), Raja guru of Krishna Deva Raya and the next avatar of Brhalatha and the earlier avatar of Sri Raghavendhra
6. Sri Srinivasa Theerthar (1539-1564)
7. Sri Rama Theerthar (1564-1584)
8. Sri Suseendhra Theerthar, Ragavendhra swami’s guru (1614-1623)
9. Sri Govindha Odeyar (1534)

Sacredness of Nava Brindhavan:

• Each and every Brindhavan, by itself is very sacred and had they been located in different places also, every place would have become very sacred and popular on its own. Now, if all of them are concentrated in one single place, a place chosen by nine great saints in a period of about 300 years, you can understand the sacredness of the place.
• Anegundhi is the birth place of Sri Hauman, the avatar of Sri Madhwar in the previous yugas and so there is no surprise that Sri Padmanabha Theerthar, the 1^st sishya of Sri Madhwar and other Madhwa saints chose this place.
• The brindhavan of Sri Vyasaraja Theerthar is found at the center of the place. Though he comes in the middle in the order, the others who brindhavanised before him left the central place for him for some reasons. Sri Vyasarajar, the Rajaguru of Krishna deva raya is considered the next avatar of Brahalatha and the previous avatar of Sri Raghavendhra Swamy. The place where Sri Vysarajar is brindhavanised is considered the place where Brahalathar had penanced in the Grutha yuga to cleanse the sins for being instrumental in killing his father Hiranya kasibu. Vyasaraja stayed at Hampi-Anegundhi for nearly 40 years before, during and after the Krishnadevaraya period. This is the place between Tara parvatham and the Chakra theertham of Kishkintha

Other shrines of Nava Brindhavan:

On one side of the Nava Brindhavan, there is an elevated platform that houses a small Ranganathar shrine, an Anjaneyar shrine and a cave between them.

• The Anjaneyar is called Jagrathai Hanumar and seen with Ravana’s son Akshaya Kundran under his feet.
• The Ranganathar shrine is having Ranganathar in the bed of Adhiseshan with Thayar standing separately by his leg side.
• The cave in between the two shrines is where Brahalathar is considered to have stayed.

One the other side of NavaBrindhavan there is a shrine of Avadharathraya Hanumar.
Vayu Bhagwan took the avatar of

• Sri Hanumar in the Theertha yuga to do Rama seva
• Beeman in Dhwabara yuga to do Krishna seva and
• Sri Madhwar in the Kaliyuga to do Vedavysa seva

So, the Hanumar here is seen with the Hanumar face, a big shoulder indicating Beema and with the veda plam leaves bundles in hand indicating Madhwar. Also, Sri Lakshmi Narasimhar is present at the back of Hanumar and He can be noticed only during Deepa aradhana etc.,

I knew about Nava Brindhavan mainly through ‘Kumdham Jothidam’ where the Author A.M.R is suggesting this place for almost all kinds of problems as a parihara sthalam. Also this finds a sure place in all the spiritual tours around Hampi, Manthralaya, Shiridi etc.,

Needless to say, the ambience and the sacredness of the place had given us immense peace and pleasure when we came out.

Prayer procedures:

• It is customary and recommended to light 9 ghee lamps (get the pure ghee from your known vendor, don’t buy the adulterated ghee from any random shop) for Nava Brindavan, 1 ghee lamp for Sri Ranganathar and 1 ghee lamp for Avadharathraya Hanumar in the exclusive place in front of Sri Ranganathar shrine
• In the same way, you can do 11 circumambulation, one for Sri Ranganathar, one for Sri Avadharathraya Hanumar and the remaining 9 for the Acharyars
• There are various kinds of sevas at Nava Brindavana, details given in the photo below. You can do any seva right from 200 Rs to around 5000 Rs of Sarva Samarpana Seva that includes all abhishegams, archanas and vasthra samarpana. Pls inform and pay at the Anegundi Raghavendhra Mutt prior to the seva.

Before you visit:

• Please be warned that Nava Brindavan can be visited only on good weather, when there is no rain or flood in Tungabadra. Nava Brindavana is completely submerged in water atleast for a month in an year. So check the whether before you visit.
• Before the trip, call up Sri Ragavendhra Mutt at Anegundi for the full details like accommodation, seva details, boat ride etc.,
  Latest photos from my Mar 2022 trip:
  
• Read my 3 articles on Anegundi and Hampi (the links are given at the beginning of this article). Anegundi is the Kishkinta of Ramayana period and there are so many sacred places in Anegundi that are connected with Ramayana.
• Diagonally opposite the Ragavendhra mutt, Triplicane, Chennai, there is a divine shop at Thirumala flats (phone no: 42663545/ 42663546) selling the Nava Brindhavan DVD and book by Sri Amman Sathyanarayanan. It’s a must to watch this DVD fully before your trip. Even if you don’t go, pls watch the DVD and you will feel as if you are visiting the holy place. (Unfortunately I came to know about the DVD and the book only after the trip and I have missed out all the ancient temples and sacred places of Anegundhi)
• Manjunath @ 09449284490 / 09449653598, an authorised ASI guide, is a good contact who can help in all fronts like lodging, food, dharshan etc., for Hampi and Anegundi

2008 Trip:
There is also a Mayura Group of hotels called Hotel Mayura Bhuvaneshwari, (Govt of Karnataka undertaking) at Kamalapur (near Hampi) – PIN: 583221, Tel: 08394 – 241474/ 241574
We took lunch here and the rooms start from Rs 450. The ambiance is very nice.

Food and Stay at Anegundi (Updated after Mar 2022 trip):
Hotels and lodges are not allowed in Anegundi and so only a few options of Mutt and homestays are available at Anegundi. Otherwise you can stay at Hampi (homestays in congested streets, again proper lodges are not allowed being a heritage city) or Hospet (plenty of proper lodges and hotels).
Hampi – Anegundi: 20 kms/ 30 mins
Hospet – Anegundi: 25 kms/ 40 mins
Options at Anegundi:
1.Sri Raghavendhra Mutt
Few rooms with a/c are available, you can plan for Navabrindhavana trip, you will get food as well.
2.Sri Uttaradhi Mutt
It is located very close to Sri Raghavendhra Mutt and they allow only orthodex bakthas – try it out @ 9449253155
3.Tulasi Garden – Private home stay (new one):
Located exactly opposite to the Raghavendhra Mutt. They have new good rooms for 4+ people and also serve homefood. Good for group stay. Contact: 94804 64487/ 94497 43509/ 85332 67880
4.Vaibhav Homestay – Private home stay (old one)
Located diagonally opposite to the Raghavendhra Mutt, they also serve homefood but the rooms are old and very congested. Keep it as the last option
Contact: 94494 32520

Thanks to Dr R.S.Naagarazan (rs_naagarazan@yahoo.co.in) for this added information:

We actually stayed in Manthralayam and worshipped Sri Raghavendra. After a day’s stay there, we arranged a van and reached Anegunthi through Sindhanur, Gangawati and it took three hours, for 170 km route. At Anegunthi, we have to purchase the tickets for archanai at Nava Brindavanam (Thulasi archanai, honey abishekam etc.) We crossed the river Thungabadra through a motor boat on payment.(parisal was in the past). We have to light 11 ghee lamps there, one to the Hanumar and the remaining in the Ranganathar temple. We performed sankalpa through the priest and went round nine times and meditated. It was a nice experience.

Pannaga Travels (Mr E Sambasiva), near Pannaga Hotel, Manthralayam 518 345 arranged our travel to NavaBrindavanand back. Very courteous and good guidance was given. Cell Nos: 09704414178 and 09885247398. We started at 5 a.m. and reached there at 8.45 a.m., present at nava brundavanam between 9 and 11 a.m. took lunch at Raghavendra Swami mutt (we have to inform them in advance). Hoova cafe (run by vaishnavas) and other hotels are available to get South Indian food. We returned to Manthralayam by 4 p.m.

There is a temple of Goddess Lakshmi at Kallur on the route (slight detour inside @ 10 km). For want of time we could not go there but prayed Her mentally seeking blessings.

Nava Brundavan tour was really divine, especially when we remind ourselves that this is the place where Rama and Anjaneya once glorified.

Update from our Mar 2022 Trip:

During our Mar 2022 trip, we stayed at Hampi and took the coracle ride from Hampi side. It was aradhana time at Nava Brindavan and our visit luckily and unknowingly coincided with the first day of the aradhana (for Sri Suseendhra Theerthar, Guru of Sri Raghavendhra). The present pontiff of Manthralayam Sri Raghavendhra Mutt graced the occasion. We again met and got his blessings at Manthralaya two days later.

On the night of 17th/18th July 2019, a group of miscreants (one of them was a history professor/ historian!) vandalised the Brindavana of Sri Vyasaraja Theerthar but could not succeed. This shocked the Madhwa community and other devotees but immediately in the morning they assembled and brought back the Brindavan to its old form within dusk. Since then, grill gates have been installed around the Nava Brindavana.

Sri Ranganathar shrine, Sri Jagarathai Anjaneyar shrine and the Prahalatha cave:

Sri Avadharathraya Anjaneyar shrine:

View from the Hampi side Coracle boarding point – a temporary bridge was being floated for the week long aradhana urchav:

View of the Hampi Coracle boarding point (from Nava Brindavana side Coracle dropping point):

Walking down:

Arrival from Anegundi side boat service:

Happy journey and Stay blessed!